Editing Billiard table (section)

==Parts and equipment==
===Cushions===
Cushions (also sometimes called "rail cushions", "cushion rubber", or rarely "bumpers") are located on the inner sides of a table's wooden {{Cuegloss|Rail|rails}}. There are several different materials and design philosophies associated with cushion rubber. These cushions are made from an elastic material such as [[vulcanized]] [[rubber]] (gum or synthetic). The purpose of the cushion rubber is to cause the [[billiard balls]] to rebound off the rubber while minimizing the loss of [[kinetic energy]].{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

The ''profile'' of the rail cushion, which is the cushion's angle in relation to the bed of the table, varies between table types. The standard on American pool tables is the K-66 profile, which as defined by the [[Billiard Congress of America]] (BCA) has a base of {{convert|1+3/16|in}} and a nose height of {{convert|1|in}}.<ref name="BCA Equip. Spec.">{{cite web |url= http://www.bestbilliard.com/resources/specs.htm |title=BCA Equipment Specifications |access-date=5 May 2007 |publisher=[[Billiard Congress of America]] |via=BestBilliard.com |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070404075919/http://www.bestbilliard.com/resources/specs.htm |archive-date=4 April 2007}}</ref> When installed properly the distance from the nose of the cushion to the covered slate surface is {{convert|1+7/16|in}}<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.poolfelt.com/cushrepl.html |title=Pool Table Cushion Replacement |work=PoolFelt.com |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081015043059/http://www.poolfelt.com/cushrepl.html |archive-date=15 October 2008 }}</ref> while using a regulation {{convert|2+1/4|in|adj=on}} ball set.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

On a carom table, the K-55 profile is used (with a somewhat sharper angle than pool cushions). K-55 cushions have cloth, usually canvas, vulcanized into the top of the rubber to adjust rebound accuracy and speed.<ref name="BCA Equip. Spec." />

Snooker tables use an L-shaped profile, such as the L77 profile.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

===Bed===
The bed table – the cloth-covered, horizontal playing surface&nbsp;– is, on high-quality equipment, made of solid, smooth slabs of [[slate]], most often from Italy, Brazil or China. Small pool tables may use only one or two pieces of slate, while carom, English billiards and tournament-size pool tables use three. Full-size snooker tables require five. The gap between slates is filled with a hard-drying putty, epoxy or resin, then sanded to produce a seamless surface, before being covered with the cloth. When several pieces of slate are joined poorly it is possible for the resin to deform and cause an uneven playing surface; it can also be difficult to move once joined.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Tables for the home market usually use slate beds as well, but the slate is often thinner, down to about {{nowrap|{{frac||1|2}} inch (13&nbsp;mm)}}. The early table beds were made of cloth-covered wooden boards. Today, inexpensive but not very rigid or durable materials used for the beds of low-end tables (e.g. for children's [[recreation room]]s) still include wood, especially [[medium-density fibreboard]] and [[plywood]], as well as plastics and other synthetic materials under various trade names.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

===Cloth===
Billiard cloth (sometimes erroneously called [[felt]]) is a specific type of cloth that covers the top of the table's "playing area". Both the rails and slate beds are covered with 21–24-ounce billiard cloth (although some less expensive 19-ounce cloths are available) which is most often green in colour (representing the grass of the original lawn games from which billiards evolved), and consists of either a woven [[wool]] or wool-[[nylon]] blend called [[baize]].{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Most bar tables, which get much use, use the slower, thicker blended felt because it is cheaper. This type of cloth is called a [[woollen]] cloth. By contrast, high-quality pool cloth is usually made of a napless weave such as [[worsted]] wool, which gives a much faster roll to the balls. This "speed" of the cloth affects the amounts of {{Cuegloss|Swerve|swerve}} and {{Cuegloss|Deflection|deflection}} of the balls, among other aspects of game finesse. Snooker cloth traditionally has a directional [[Nap (textile)|nap]], upon which the balls behave differently when rolling against vs. running with the direction of the nap.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

===Markings===
{{cuegloss|Sight|Sights}}, also known as {{cuegloss|Diamond|diamonds}} (for [[Lozenge (shape)|their traditional shape]]), are inlaid at precise, evenly spaced positions along the rails of some tables (not usually on snooker tables) to aid in the aiming of bank or kick shots. There are six along each long rail (with the side pocket interfering with where the seventh one would go, on pocket billiard tables) and three along each short rail, with each of the four corners counting as another in the mathematical systems that the diamonds are used to calculate. These sights divide the playing surface into equal squares. Books, even entire series of books, have been written on geometric and algebraic systems of aiming using the diamonds.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Spots are often used to mark the {{cuegloss|Head spot|head}} and {{cuegloss|Foot|foot spots}} on the cloth. Other markings may be a line drawn across the {{cuegloss|Head string|head string}} (or across the {{cuegloss|Balk line|balk line}} with {{cuegloss|the D|the "D"}}, in British-style pool). Another case is the outline of the {{cuegloss|Triangle|triangle rack}} behind the foot spot where the balls are {{cuegloss|Rack|racked}} in [[straight pool]], since the outline of this area is strategically important throughout the game. In [[artistic pool]], lines may be drawn between opposite sights putting a grid on the playing surface. Other grid patterns are used in various forms of [[balkline billiards]]. A recent table marking convention, in European [[nine-ball]], is the {{cuegloss|Break box|break box}}.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}