Wow. I'm kind of upset that the internet connection at the Horseshoe wasn't working. I can't get on AZ for a day, and everyone is fired up all over this thread?! Seems a bit ridiculous to me.
Example, Rob, you seem personally offended/pissed that everyone is not using index cards. I think you're taking that "method" a little too literal. The index cards are a tool to help you visualize what the levels read if you're not able to use Diamond's factory setup and have 30 levels set all around the table. And to quickly hit on that, the levels should go between any levelling points. On the Pro-Ams/Smart Tables, they should go right in between the levelling screws. Other tables, still between the levelling screws. You don't span seams, you don't put a level right on top of a screw hole. Put them where you can get the most accurate read and that might vary from table to table. Do you need 30 levels? No. Does it help to have more than 1? Absolutely.
Back to the cards, I think they are like using a road map every time you go home. The first couple times after you move in, yeah, it might be helpful. Once you start learning street names and remembering your route, you might not need the map. The cards are there to help visualize the table as a whole because it's hard to remember that point 1 is .005 out to the left and point 2 is .002 out to the right, etc. for all those levelling points. Once you understand how it's done, you get a better understanding of how level the table is as a whole and where you need to adjust next. If using the cards helps you to obtain the end result, by all means use them. If you've gone home enough times to remember how to get there, scrap the map.
Which brings me to the "standards" we've all been talking about... The "standards" are NOT how many levels we use, where we put them, wether or not we use cards, or any of that. Those are all Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). When we talk about standards, we're talking about measurable results, not methods. That's what we need to establish as a group, a union, an association, or whatever the case may be. To put it another way, if the tolerances of the slate manufacturing are within .005, then it seems that should be the standard. We should level our slate to within .005, and yes, regardless of the cloth. Ask Greg Sullivan this past weekend if .005 is level on the Accu-Stats table. By his standards, "level enough" isn't. Yeah, you may never see a ball roll off at .005, but if it's at .005 and you're leaning on the rail to shoot a long ball, is it still .005?
Yes, we need to get associations in place to establish these standards. Yes, we need to have certain SOP's in place. Is the RKC way the only way to get a table done? I can already feel the red reps coming, but nope.
Has he spent years and years experimenting and thinking outside the box to improve the way we do things so that we can achieve a higher standard? Most definitely. Be free thinkers, guys, that's how we've gotten to the point we are now. Trade ideas, adapt methods, etc, but the end result is what we need to focus on.
End Rant.
and that comes from methods and systems that WORK!