56 tables (7 9-ft Diamond Professional, 9 9-ft Gabriel Signature Pro, 33 7-foot diamond pro-ams, 7 7-ft Gabriels)
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My take on your choice of tables. First of all, the Gabriel 9ft Signature Pro's. The slates are unbacked, so the backing is timber strand mounted to the steel frame. The steel frame has leveling bolts, that are used to raise the level of the slates at the seams to adjust the slates to level. When these bolts are used, and they will be used trust me, the slates sit on top of the leveling bolts instead of the timber strand frame attached to the steel frame. Now, here's the problem with that design. When you have the slate all nice and level, if you'll notice there's a little gap between the bottom of the slate and the timber strand frame. Now, when you bolt on the rails, the first second you start bolting the rails down tight, the rails are going to pull down the slate to the timber strand frame, because the heads of the rail bolts are being held on the bottom of the timber strand frame with huge washers. All that leveling that was done before the rails were bolted on...is a waste, because once the rails are bolted down, the slates will be out of level again.
Here's what you have to do to level a Gabriel 9ft table.
1) Go ahead and install the slates the way Gabriel wants you to.
2) Once you have the slates leveled, do not finish off the seams yet.
3) Do not install the bed cloth yet.
4)From this point, install the rails, but only the top rails, do not attach the side skirts as of yet. Tighten down all 18 rail bolts.
5) Now that you have the rails mounted and tightened down, check the level of the slates, when you find that the slates dip toward the rails, what you have to do now is loosen each rail bolt where the slate needs to be raised, and pound in a shim between the slate and the timber strand so when you tighten up the rail bolt again, the slate don't change level. You're going to have to go around the table all the way doing this, until you have a level slate with the rails bolted down.
6) After the slate has been leveled with the rails bolted down, then take the rails off, seam the slates, install the bed cloth, don't check the level of the slates at this point because they're going to read out of level.
7) Once the slate is recovered, reinstall the rails again, tighten the rail bolts, and check the level of the slates again, adjust as needed, same as before.
8) If at this point, everything is a go, then install the drop pockets, but be very careful as to not pull out the pocket bolt inserts when tightening the pocket bolts, they're only 1/2" inserts threaded a 1/2" into the timber strand frame, repair to a pulled out insert is going to be a problem!
9)With me so far?...OK, now go a head and insert the pocket liners. Then install the rail side skirts.
Note: If the side skirts are installed before the rails have been leveled to the slates, you don't have the room to insert wedges to level the slates to counter the piss poor design of the Gabriel frame and leveling system, and if you don't level the Gabriel 9ft this way....it's NOT going to be level.
IF...you have any questions about this process, feel free to call me, I'll try to explain it over the phone.
Glen 702-927-5689