Or is it Cobracized?
Okay, where do I start?
Glen (Real King Cobra) arrived here at my house on Monday. He just rolled out of the driveway 30 minutes ago, here nearly six days total. I didn't know fixing up a pool table could take six days. I now have a better understanding of how it can. :smile: We did enjoy visiting with each other and there was a day and a half-of pouring rain. All work and no play makes...well, you know.
I started out with a beautiful looking, very early, all matching, original GC-1 that played pretty decent (Glen would dispute the playing decent part). My table did have the bucket 5 " corner pockets (5 1/2" sides) but because of Brunswicks pocket cuts you could still rattle and miss balls, unfairly.
I learned that rebuilding ("calibrating") the rails is about 90% of the job and without a doubt, the most important part. I made it my business to see every step of the rebuild so as to have a better understanding of how it all works. There are so many steps involved in just the rail calibrating, it boggles the mind. It is precision work using absolutely the best quality materials, best glues, etc., etc, etc. It struck me as being very similar to high end cabinet making involving impressive wood joining. And of course, don't forget, everything he does to the rails is x6!
The conditions were tough for a day or two, to the extent that we had to move operations into the small remaining space in my carport. Well, boat & tractorport, actually.
What else I learned was just how meticulous Glen is. I'm not gonna lie to you, it was a little freakin' scary!
Just one example: The wood bases that the slates are bolted to were in some spots extending out past the slate by maybe 1/8" - a small lip. This was bothering Glen. It was day 5 and I wanted this project wrapped up - I told him, it's been working fine that way for fifty years. He said, "yeah, I know, but I'm so deep into this table that if I left anything not perfect it would bother me to the point that I wouldn't sleep right".
Here's the killer, the router job to fix this would make a monumental mess - it couldn't be done in my nice rec room. Okay, so he went out and got his handtruck and heavy strap, next thing I know we're removing three slates from the table, one at a time, humping them up the stairs out to the driveway, onto the sawhorses, routing all wood edges flush, vacuuming them clean, strapping 'em back to the handtruck, downstairs they go and back up onto the table frame. Did I mention it happened to be about 85 degrees and brutal, Louisiana-like humidity that day? :yikes:
I could go on and on about all of the steps and extra time Glen spent making my table as perfect as humanly possible, but to be honest, it would probably take another 6 days to write it. The man is on a mission - and I think it helped some that we really enjoyed each other's company.
I truly wished that schedules and weather were better so we might have had a chance to go fishing - he did get a kick out of my boat!
Glen arrived as a table mechanic and left as a good friend. I have been trying to get the legendary RKC here for more than 2 years and it was unquestionably worth the long wait. While he was here, his cell phone rang plenty from people all over the country trying to get a fix on him. :thumbup:
Glen did tell me something that made my whole week: He said this was the nicest original Gold Crown 1 he has ever worked on.
Thank you, buddy, for your unbelievable attention to detail and huge effort, upgrading my table. I know there are a handful of really good table mechanics out there but no one, and I mean no one, would have gone through what you did to achieve such a brilliant result.
RKC, you really are the man! :thumbup:
Best,
Brian kc
P.S. Yeah, those were some of the famous Kurzweil (TAR sponsor) brats, jalapeno/cheddar and gorgonzola/pear. :lovies: Gotta support our sponsors, right?
P.P.S. I could have done a documentary on this but Glen said much of it was top-secret. :grin:
Okay, where do I start?
Glen (Real King Cobra) arrived here at my house on Monday. He just rolled out of the driveway 30 minutes ago, here nearly six days total. I didn't know fixing up a pool table could take six days. I now have a better understanding of how it can. :smile: We did enjoy visiting with each other and there was a day and a half-of pouring rain. All work and no play makes...well, you know.
I started out with a beautiful looking, very early, all matching, original GC-1 that played pretty decent (Glen would dispute the playing decent part). My table did have the bucket 5 " corner pockets (5 1/2" sides) but because of Brunswicks pocket cuts you could still rattle and miss balls, unfairly.
I learned that rebuilding ("calibrating") the rails is about 90% of the job and without a doubt, the most important part. I made it my business to see every step of the rebuild so as to have a better understanding of how it all works. There are so many steps involved in just the rail calibrating, it boggles the mind. It is precision work using absolutely the best quality materials, best glues, etc., etc, etc. It struck me as being very similar to high end cabinet making involving impressive wood joining. And of course, don't forget, everything he does to the rails is x6!
The conditions were tough for a day or two, to the extent that we had to move operations into the small remaining space in my carport. Well, boat & tractorport, actually.
What else I learned was just how meticulous Glen is. I'm not gonna lie to you, it was a little freakin' scary!
Just one example: The wood bases that the slates are bolted to were in some spots extending out past the slate by maybe 1/8" - a small lip. This was bothering Glen. It was day 5 and I wanted this project wrapped up - I told him, it's been working fine that way for fifty years. He said, "yeah, I know, but I'm so deep into this table that if I left anything not perfect it would bother me to the point that I wouldn't sleep right".
Here's the killer, the router job to fix this would make a monumental mess - it couldn't be done in my nice rec room. Okay, so he went out and got his handtruck and heavy strap, next thing I know we're removing three slates from the table, one at a time, humping them up the stairs out to the driveway, onto the sawhorses, routing all wood edges flush, vacuuming them clean, strapping 'em back to the handtruck, downstairs they go and back up onto the table frame. Did I mention it happened to be about 85 degrees and brutal, Louisiana-like humidity that day? :yikes:
I could go on and on about all of the steps and extra time Glen spent making my table as perfect as humanly possible, but to be honest, it would probably take another 6 days to write it. The man is on a mission - and I think it helped some that we really enjoyed each other's company.
I truly wished that schedules and weather were better so we might have had a chance to go fishing - he did get a kick out of my boat!
Glen arrived as a table mechanic and left as a good friend. I have been trying to get the legendary RKC here for more than 2 years and it was unquestionably worth the long wait. While he was here, his cell phone rang plenty from people all over the country trying to get a fix on him. :thumbup:
Glen did tell me something that made my whole week: He said this was the nicest original Gold Crown 1 he has ever worked on.
Thank you, buddy, for your unbelievable attention to detail and huge effort, upgrading my table. I know there are a handful of really good table mechanics out there but no one, and I mean no one, would have gone through what you did to achieve such a brilliant result.
RKC, you really are the man! :thumbup:
Best,
Brian kc
P.S. Yeah, those were some of the famous Kurzweil (TAR sponsor) brats, jalapeno/cheddar and gorgonzola/pear. :lovies: Gotta support our sponsors, right?
P.P.S. I could have done a documentary on this but Glen said much of it was top-secret. :grin:
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