rikdee said:If not locally, you'd find them at any large, internet fastener house. Funny you should mention, but when I sold my GCI a few years back, I kept the dome washer (heavy duty) replacing the comparatively weak ones supplied with my then new Diamond Pro. Also kept the bridge racks.
realkingcobra said:(heavy duty) or over kill...LOL I use a 3/8" torque wrench and tighten the Diamond rail bolts to 18ft lbs, Brunswick's I only tighten to 15ft lbs. Never have I yet to see one of these "weak" Diamond star washers crush...LOL Not giving you a hard time but, how tight do you have to tighten rail bolts to get the rails tight? I bet you don't use a torque wrench...hehe.
Glen
LOL..I was expecting this reply...LMAO Diamond, nor any other Mfg says anything about torque for rail bolts, other than "Tighten Securely" BUT...I'm the one that first told, then showed Diamond about torquing rail bolts for 2 reasons. (1) If torqued to a specific tightness, rail bolts won't fall out later. (2) Putting a number on "Tighten Securely" with the use of a torque wrench would avoid damaging the rail bold inserts thereby damaging the rails. In all the years that I've been recovering pool tables, I've always used a torque wrench...sorry.magnetardo said:Not giving you a hard time but, where in the Diamond Billiard assembly directions does it give a torque specification other than "Tighten Securely"?
Rick,rikdee said:Glen,
A reasonably applied hand torque has always served me well. My present D/P has been in service for seven years without any perceptible degradation in playability. One of my successes has been the use of a brush-on thread compound designed for use with high vibration machinery. All levelling and rail bolts on my table are applied with this material. Bolt back-out is completely eliminated yet the bolts are easily removed when necessary and the compound remains usable for the re-install. I would very much recommend such an application for tables are to remain set-up for the long term.
Rick
realkingcobra said:Rick,
I know what you're talking about, but the problem that I've encountered is the 18 volt drills used today. I've just seen to many people abuse the rail bolts on tables with these drills. Normally I recommend a torque wrench to those who don't have the common sense to know when enough is enough for tighten bolts, or not enough in some cases as well.
Glen
PS. It's been my experience in the past, as I'm sure yours as well. The most destructive person to the underside of a pool table is not the customers that use them, it's the amateur billiards technicians that have worked on them in the past. To many times I've had to replace broken off, stripped, cross threaded, to long, to short...bolts, not to mention inserts, nut plates, t-nuts and missing bolts, that has had nothing to do with the customers that play pool on the tables.
magnetardo said:As accurate as you may think a torque wrench is, they are only as accurate as the operator. What formula did you use to adjust the setting for each inch of extension you used? I can name 10-12 variables that can all throw off a torque reading 10-20% but I'm guessing you take all of those factors in to your equation before applying a torque wrench, right?
Craftsman 3/8" torque wrench, 4" extension, 9/16" socket. Torque set at 18ft lbs, torqued twice around.magnetardo said:As accurate as you may think a torque wrench is, they are only as accurate as the operator. What formula did you use to adjust the setting for each inch of extension you used? I can name 10-12 variables that can all throw off a torque reading 10-20% but I'm guessing you take all of those factors in to your equation before applying a torque wrench, right?