Shuffleboard Tables at Recent Trade Show in Chicago

We recently displayed our shuffleboard tables at the BCA (Billiard Congress of America) trade show, a show for retail stores who mostly sell pool tables and other game room furniture. We showed our new Veneto model shuffleboard table, now available on our web site, in a two-tone finish with black and natural maple combination. (see pictures below)

Veneto Shuffleboard in Mocha Natural finish with criss cross style legs

It was an interesting show and fun to see old friends we have known in our industry for several years. It is a difficult to get retail stores interested in shuffleboard tables, as their level of expertise and loyalty lies with billiard tables. Most of the pool table manufacturers now offer shuffleboard tables. In fact, one of the largest shuffleboard manufacture recently bought a home pool table in addition to Valley Dynamo who makes foosball, air hockey and coin operated tables. McClure Tables is the only manufacturer of shuffleboard tables, specializing in one product line. Consumers can purchase several items that are finished at the same factory, but they often sacrifice the personal touch of a smaller company who specializing in one product. Factories that make many different products rely on an impersonal assembly line type construction.

At McClure Tables, we do not claim to be the largest shuffleboard manufacturer; nor are we the fastest growing. Our mission is to offer a product that is handmade or handcrafted and is world-class quality. It is difficult to see this quality through images on our web site but we have tried to show several different pictures of every model in several finish colors. While we do not have a showroom, we welcome visits to our factory. Depending on when you visit you will see several different models of shuffleboard tables in production.

At the trade show, we displayed an antique 62-year-old Rock-Ola shuffleboard and our new reproduction Rock-Ola shuffleboard side by side. See some pictures below of our trade show booth with an antique Rock-Ola and brand new one together.

Antique Rock-Ola beside our new Rock-Ola at BCA show in Chicago

One thing that stands out in our tables is our boards’ play surfaces. We introduced a new finish that allows a player to feel the actual wood play surface, as it provides a much thinner coat. You can hear the pucks as they glide down the board and the surface is a full 3 inch thick hard maple. Many manufacturers use a polymer which is basically a 1/4 inch thick bar top epoxy plastic. So it is like putting a piece of Plexiglas on top of a wood board. This is why most manufacturers use soft maple and then pour on the bar top epoxy. This method does not require near as much attention to the sanding and preparation of the board before you do the finish. The finish material we use is more traditional and still has a lifetime warranty. If you remember the way shuffleboard tables used to play and you are a wood worker you will appreciate our new lifetime warranty finish. We plan to make this the standard on all our shuffleboards and only offer the polymer as an option for the customer who prefers this type of finish.