Selecting Rails and Diamonds for your Pool Table...

Four optional rail styles are available on all American Custom Pool Tables. The three illustrated below are available at no additional charge. For pool tables with carved legs and arched frames you may prefer the "scalloped" style. For tables with straighter lines you will probably prefer the "straight" rail; some also prefer "straight" over "scalloped" because it provides a somewhat broader platform to rest your hands on while playing. For pool tables with clean lines or a more contemporary look, like the Scandia, Savannah, Oak Park or Dover, the "rounded" rail is prefered. Both the "straight" and "rounded" rails are a uniform width after flaring out from the pocket; the "straight" rail has a profiled edge (ogee shaped) while the "rounded" rail has a smoothly rounded bull nose edge.

Scalloped Rail

Straight Rail with Profiled Edge

Rounded Rail

All American Custom Pool Table rails are inlayed with genune mother of pearl or colorful abalone shell diamonds. The mother of pearl and abalone diamond inlays, standard on all American Custom Pool Tables, are normally only found on tables costing $6,000 or more, or as an expensive $300 to $400 option. Even at that, they are sometimes plastic substitutes or inferior sea snail shell rather than genuine mother of pearl or abalone. Since each diamond is painstakingly inlayed by hand it adds considerable cost to the table.

Abalone shell is best described as a miniature stained glass window. As you move around the table it catches light from different directions and sparkles with an ever changing array of brilliant colors. It looks best against the background of a light finish. On a dark finish we recommend a double diamond with a mother of pearl outer diamond for contrast and an abalone inner diamond for a colorful accent. With a dark colored cloth such as black, marine blue or spruce, an inner diamond of black onyx is a popular choice. These double diamonds cost a total of $75 for the complete set. We can also supply solid black diamonds ($75) or diamonds in just about any solid color imagineable for an additional charge of $100.

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