MILWAUKIE — Of the roughly 45,000 pool tables sold in the U.S. last year, 5,000 were forged in Oregon using domestic raw materials in a family-owned shop.

As Terry Moldenhauer, sales manager at Golden West Billiards, gave a tour of the factory just north of Milwaukie one recent afternoon, U.S. and Oregon State University flags hung from the ceiling, capturing the national and local allegiances that have kept this family-run company alive for more than 40 years.

All of Golden West’s handiwork, from woodcutting to final laminating, is done at 5505 S.E. Johnson Creek Blvd., where the company moved in 1992 after more than two decades in the Los Angeles area. But the privately held company’s customers are spread across the globe, from Washington, D.C., to Saudi Arabia. They accounted for annual revenue that surpassed $1 million last year, according to Moldenhauer.

“We’ve sold tables to every movie star and big athlete you can think of,” said Don Brostoski, Golden West’s president. “In fact, we just made a real tall pool table for Randy Johnson,” the 6-foot-10 retired major league pitcher.

Moldenhauer said Golden West tables have been in dozens of movies, purchased by scores of A-list celebrities and rented one time by the Rolling Stones.

Cost of quality

The craftsmanship comes with a hefty price tag, climbing all the way to $70,000 for antique restorations. The company sells some of its more affordable tables on Craigslist, starting around $1,500.

For comparison, the typical price of a prefabricated pool table from a chain retailer hovers just under $1,000. Those tables might be more economical, but Golden West says its cachet and big-name clients are a testament to quality. Even the tables it sells on Craigs-list have customizable features, with variations in cloth, wood inlays and table rails. Assembly takes up to six weeks, depending on the order’s complexity.

No matter how granular the wood detailing, all plywood is sourced from North Pacific Lumber in Portland. For hardwood, the company turns to Sherwood-based Hardwood Industries, which gets cherry, maple and pine from the East Coast. For exotic mahogany, Hardwood Industries imports from South America and Africa, adding a caveat to Golden West’s homegrown approval seal for special orders.

Yet even in a highly specialized market, the economy has battered Golden West some; the company has halved its production workers, who make up about 80 percent of the company’s employees, from 60 to 30.

The company has seen demand decline over the past couple of years, notably among national dealers in states that have been hamstrung by debt and low consumer spending.