The Gold Crown IV table has been at or near the top of the list of the great pool tables for a long time. But for a table with such quality of playing surface, it has some really surprising flaws.
The thing that bugged me the most were the cheap, noisy metal hangers on the sides of the table, and the cheap, noisy metal hanger for the rack. What a racket they make!
So I removed the bridge hangars entirely. And store the bridges on the wall. What a relief!
The rack hangar was a more interesting challenge. First of all, I needed a way to store both the wood rack, and the new Sardo rack, and to keep noise to a minimum. This was accomplished with a custom Fast Mikie design which works very well. See photo below.
click here for bigger image
The inside of the wood rack area is lined with rubber (old cut-up mousepad), which deadens all sound. Since this photo was taken, I have covered the rubber with left-over new Simonis 860 so the rack slides in & our slicker'n weasel snot. The brackets for the Sardo rack are also lined with rubber. The entire unit is attached using existing holes that were factory pre-drilled for the uninstalled ball return box. This way the table remains completely unmodified and can be fully restored to original.
Now, for the piece d'resistance! My ever-growing library of pool books & DVDs
was stored under the pool table, on the floor, but it was constantly getting disorganized, and was a bear to vacuum around the mess. So my solution was to design another Fast Mikie exclusive.
(click here for bigger image)
These shelves are completely detatched from the pool table itself, and hang suspended from the major cross-beams on the Gold Crown IV. There are no screws or nails anywhere. Nothing has been done to defile the table. Notice that pool racks are used as shelf supports! (The brass corner trim on the racks adds a nice touch!) One shelf on each side gives perfect balance.
The shelf shown holds my instructional books. The shelf on the other side of the table holds fiction, biographies, DVDs, other tropies, etc.
All the woodwork was done by friend Walter Lilly. Let me know if you want to contact him...
These improvements have proven to be very functional and received praise from serious players and installers. No nails or screws have been used in the construction, or in the installation of the shelves. Only existing holes were used for the rack shelf. Any do-it-yourself guy could put this together quickly and easily. I hope other GCIV owners can find some value in these improvements.
The thing that bugged me the most were the cheap, noisy metal hangers on the sides of the table, and the cheap, noisy metal hanger for the rack. What a racket they make!
So I removed the bridge hangars entirely. And store the bridges on the wall. What a relief!
The rack hangar was a more interesting challenge. First of all, I needed a way to store both the wood rack, and the new Sardo rack, and to keep noise to a minimum. This was accomplished with a custom Fast Mikie design which works very well. See photo below.
click here for bigger image
The inside of the wood rack area is lined with rubber (old cut-up mousepad), which deadens all sound. Since this photo was taken, I have covered the rubber with left-over new Simonis 860 so the rack slides in & our slicker'n weasel snot. The brackets for the Sardo rack are also lined with rubber. The entire unit is attached using existing holes that were factory pre-drilled for the uninstalled ball return box. This way the table remains completely unmodified and can be fully restored to original.
Now, for the piece d'resistance! My ever-growing library of pool books & DVDs
was stored under the pool table, on the floor, but it was constantly getting disorganized, and was a bear to vacuum around the mess. So my solution was to design another Fast Mikie exclusive.
(click here for bigger image)
These shelves are completely detatched from the pool table itself, and hang suspended from the major cross-beams on the Gold Crown IV. There are no screws or nails anywhere. Nothing has been done to defile the table. Notice that pool racks are used as shelf supports! (The brass corner trim on the racks adds a nice touch!) One shelf on each side gives perfect balance.
The shelf shown holds my instructional books. The shelf on the other side of the table holds fiction, biographies, DVDs, other tropies, etc.
All the woodwork was done by friend Walter Lilly. Let me know if you want to contact him...
The trophies shown include:
Right side:
Right side:
APA 8 and 9-ball team Division 1st.
Left side:2004 California US Amateur championships (undefeated)
2005 APA Masters Division Triple Play MVP (undefeated)
2005 APA Masters Division Triple Play MVP (undefeated)
These improvements have proven to be very functional and received praise from serious players and installers. No nails or screws have been used in the construction, or in the installation of the shelves. Only existing holes were used for the rack shelf. Any do-it-yourself guy could put this together quickly and easily. I hope other GCIV owners can find some value in these improvements.
