Diamond Billiard Products has transformed a core component of its professional tournament tables, replacing traditional wooden legs with a high-performance injection-molded composite solution. The change, developed in partnership with custom molder Manar Inc., reduces manufacturing time, improves durability, and accelerates tournament setup.
The original wood legs required cutting, shaping, sanding, finishing, and pre-assembly across multiple departments, involving eight employees and 10 to 12 individual components per leg. Production could take up to three months. Brent Lykins, mechanical engineer at Diamond, said, “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 partnering with Manar to refine the design for injection molding. The final material, 40% long-glass polypropylene, provides the strength required for structural performance. Finite element analysis (FEA) 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. 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 redesigned pocket consolidates parts, 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 changes at Diamond Billiard Products demonstrate how traditional products can be modernized without compromising performance. By converting a core structural component from wood to composite, Diamond reduced labor and manufacturing time, improved installation ergonomics, increased durability, and strengthened supply chain reliability while maintaining tournament-level performance.
