Billiard table manufacturers have produced convertible billiard tables (in the broad sense) that double as dining tables or as table tennis, foosball, or air hockey, tables, with removable hard tops. Home pool tables, which often lack a ball-return system, are commonly either 4 × 8 ft or 3.5 × 7 ft models, a medium between 3 × 6 ft. bar/pub tables and 4.5 × 9 ft tournament-size models. Low-end tables tend toward the smaller range, and may have MDF or wood beds as an alternative to slate; those with light-weight beds may be foldable for storage, as with table tennis. Miniature tables
Billiard table used in the 16th and 17th centuries. Cushions (also sometimes called "rail cushions", "cushion rubber", or rarely "bumpers") are located on the inner sides of a table's wooden . There are several different materials and design philosophies associated with cushion rubber. The cushions are made from an elastic material such as vulcanized rubber (gum or synthetic). The chiefly American jargon "rails "more properly applies to the wooded outer segments of the table to which the cushions are affixed. The purpose of the cushion rubber is to cause the billiard balls to rebound off the rubber while minimizing the loss of