Diamond Billiard Products, a manufacturer of high-performance pool tables used in professional tournaments, has replaced the traditional wooden legs of its tables with a molded composite solution, resulting in significant operational improvements. The conversion reduces labor, improves durability, accelerates tournament installation, and positions Diamond for continued growth.
For decades, professional billiards has been defined by precision, and even the smallest variation in performance matters. Diamond's original table legs were made of wood, which, while durable and traditional, were complex to manufacture. Each leg required cutting, shaping, sanding, finishing, and pre-assembly across multiple departments, involving eight employees and 10 to 12 individual components per leg. From raw material to finished product, production could take up to three months. Brent Lykins, mechanical engineer at Diamond, explained: "I'm here to find better ways of doing things, approaches to reduce manufacturing time and enhance performance. The wood legs were very labor intensive. We wanted to streamline it."
Installation was also inefficient. At tournaments, installers had to access leveling nuts near the floor, often lying on their backs to make adjustments. With tables set up across uneven venues, this process was slow and physically demanding. Diamond spent several years developing concepts and 3D-printed prototypes before moving forward. To make the design manufacturable at scale, they partnered with Manar, a custom plastic injection molding company. Together, the teams refined the design for injection molding while ensuring it could meet tournament-level demands. The final material, 40% long-glass polypropylene, provided the strength required for structural performance. FEA validation confirmed the legs could support a 1,200- to 1,300-pound table with minimal deflection. Diamond also conducted real-world stress testing, lifting and dropping tables to confirm durability.
The operational impact was dramatic. The wood legs that once required months of multi-step handling were replaced with a molded structural component produced in a fraction of the time. Part consolidation reduced 10 to 12 wood components to a primary molded body with a foot block and shaft. The new design also improved tournament setup. Instead of accessing adjustment points from underneath, installers now use a side-access panel and battery-powered tool while seated. Legs can be adjusted up to 1.5 inches to accommodate uneven floors. Installation is three to four times faster, with improved ergonomics without sacrificing precision. At large tournaments with hundreds of tables, the time savings are substantial.
Anthony Neeley, new business development and director of operations at Manar, explained: "This wasn't just about molding a part. It was about applying a design for manufacturability approach to meet the structural demands of tournament-level use and deliver measurable operational improvements. When Diamond needed legs, they needed to know they could count on us, and that's exactly what we deliver." Manar played a critical role early in the process, helping to refine Diamond's initial concepts into a manufacturable solution. As an extension of Diamond's engineering team, Manar provided guidance on material selection, part design and tooling while helping validate performance through analysis and real-world testing. Diamond's facility is located near a Manar location, allowing for close collaboration, rapid sample exchange and hands-on engineering support. Diamond now relies on Manar for leg production and continued innovation.
Following the success of the legs, Diamond partnered with Manar to manufacture its table pockets. Previously, pocket components were molded domestically, shipped to Taiwan for leather wrapping and returned, resulting in long lead times of up to three months, freight delays, quality fallout of up to 50% and risk exposure. The new pocket consolidates parts and eliminates a production step, removes dependency on overseas finishing, uses automated molding with robotic insert placement, and offers improved durability and a modern matte black textured finish. The redesign mitigates risk, reduces scrap and improves supply reliability.
Pool tables are iconic, traditional products, and innovation in this category isn't common. But Diamond saw an opportunity. By converting a core structural component from wood to composite, they reduced labor and manufacturing time, improved installation ergonomics, increased durability, strengthened supply chain reliability, and maintained tournament-level performance. Through its partnership with Manar, Diamond successfully modernized a legacy product without compromising the quality players expect.
For more information, visit www.diamondbilliards.com and www.manarinc.com.
