If Diamond tables didn't bank short...

[realkingcobra]

id take a connelly ultimate over a diamond every day of the week

What makes the Ultimate so great? It takes more than a 2" thick slate with 1" MDF for a backer board to make a great playing table. I've seen Connelly Ultimate's up in Oregon State, 4 years old in a bar/poolroom that looked like they needed to be thrown away because they looked so bad on the outside finish, and the torn leather drop pockets that balls were falling through, and the huge pockets....yeah, great table...think you'll still see one in decent condition in about 20 years?

 

[dave_k]

What makes the Ultimate so great? It takes more than a 2" thick slate with 1" MDF for a backer board to make a great playing table. I've seen Connelly Ultimate's up in Oregon State, 4 years old in a bar/poolroom that looked like they needed to be thrown away because they looked so bad on the outside finish, and the torn leather drop pockets that balls were falling through, and the huge pockets....yeah, great table...think you'll still see one in decent condition in about 20 years?

Personally i like the way the ultimate plays (and looks better)(no trashy routered name all over the table), yeah id deff tighten the pockets up if i had one but that's not enough to make me not like a table.

You don't put wood tables in bars/pool halls.. you deserve all the damage done to them if you do.

In 20 years, in my house the table would look just fine.

A table doesnt have to be a DIAMOND to play nice.

sorry god for i have sinned for not being all over your sack and diamonds like all the others around here.

 

[realkingcobra]

Personally i like the way the ultimate plays (and looks better)(no trashy routered name all over the table), yeah id deff tighten the pockets up if i had one but that's not enough to make me not like a table.

You don't put wood tables in bars/pool halls.. you deserve all the damage done to them if you do.

In 20 years, in my house the table would look just fine.

A table doesnt have to be a DIAMOND to play nice.

sorry god for i have sinned for not being all over your sack and diamonds like all the others around here.

Did I mention Diamond? In your house, still in 20 years, there won't be any finish left on the rails. I'd take a GC or a Gabriels before a wood finished table of any kind....because in 20 years, they WILL still look great...not just fine

 

[dave_k]

Did I mention Diamond? In your house, still in 20 years, there won't be any finish left on the rails. I'd take a GC or a Gabriels before a wood finished table of any kind....because in 20 years, they WILL still look great...not just fine

you dont have to mention diamond, we all know what your thinking when you type.

beauty of wood is if needed/wanted you can freshen it up, of course not needing to ever do so is a plus but not enough of a plus for me to purchase something. some people prefer/like the look/feel of real wood.

do you play with a cutec so you dont have to worry about the shaft getting dings? im guessing you like the feel of wood shafts better...

id also take a gabriel over a diamond any and evey day.

I do think diamonds are nice(play nice) but they also play way to damn fast. its like the cushions have springs built into them, before you say they are fixing that issue.... shouldn't that problem never left the factory? i might be crazy(deff am) but after they built them(1st 1) did they not build it and play on it? this way they could see how horribly fast the balls fly off the cushions?

 

[scruffy1]

Did I mention Diamond? In your house, still in 20 years, there won't be any finish left on the rails. I'd take a GC or a Gabriels before a wood finished table of any kind....because in 20 years, they WILL still look great...not just fine

Sorta like there will be no finish left on the pockets if it keeps coming off on the balls!!!!!!LOL

Our finished wood rails look great after twenty years!!! We have done one or two! I dont think your gonna convince everyone to get a dymondwood dining table,bedroom set,etc just because it lasts forever!!!

 

[realkingcobra]

Sorta like there will be no finish left on the pockets if it keeps coming off on the balls!!!!!!LOL

Our finished wood rails look great after twenty years!!! We have done one or two! I dont think your gonna convince everyone to get a dymondwood dining table,bedroom set,etc just because it lasts forever!!!

I guess I'm just use to seeing everything in a commercial environment, not a home setting. Even Diamond's with the real wood finish don't last in a commercial setting, and have to be refinished to often if you want to keep them looking nice. I also don't feel that leather drop pockets have any place in a commercial environment either, because they won't last either

 

[rorywayne]

The best table I ever played on was the Gabriel, bucket pockets that could hold the entire rack, loved it. Diamond still has some sitting around from the Hopkins pro event a few years ago.

The top end Olhausen pro is great, why is nobody talking about that one, nobody here, sells it?

Yes virginia Diamond tables play funny, get used to it, there is nothing you can do about it. If you want a table to drive you to drink, get on a Kim Steel. And the Connely ultimate, what a joke that was, the last thing I want on a pool table, is a 2" slate, only a moron does that.

Pancho

 

[sr 9ball]

After the feed back at the dcc. What will the cost of the new rail system installed in wisconsin. Does this include the new pockets that don't leave marks on the balls?

 

[mdavis]

I agree with the 10' option,I wish it could happen. I also would loike to see more stain option for the dymondwood. It seems like they are all imprenated oak. Couldn't you use other impregnated woods?

Agree. I went black because I didn't like the way any of the wood options looked...A Western Walnut would be nice.

 

[mdavis]

Diamond has never used Accufast cushions, and rails that play that fast...are wrong, and the Simonis 860HR Tour blue...is here to stay...so I can't help you in your request at all buddy

Glen-

Is there any measurable difference in the way 860 vs. 860HR plays?

 

[mdavis]

After the feed back at the dcc. What will the cost of the new rail system installed in wisconsin. Does this include the new pockets that don't leave marks on the balls?

New Pockets do not exist for the Pro-Am yet....

 

[Palmetto cue]

Pocket marks

Glen,
Thanks for starting this thread. I read somewhere here on AZ about using antibacterial soap (I should have written HAND SANITIZER) on the pocket leather to stop marking up the balls. I tried it, and it seems to be working. If this is in fact a temporary solution to prevent the spots, how often should you re-apply. Do you have any other ideas on this matter? Also, we are going to the Derby. Will these tables have the new rail design? Thanks for any info you may offer... Mikey :thumbup:

 

[Tero]

The pool hall where I occasionally work here far up in the northern corner of Europe ordered 3 rosewood Diamond Pro-Ams last February, and in general we love them. It's nice to finally have cushions that actually give the balls back the way the god of geometry intended and show no sign of getting unresponsive. Sure, the balls get those black marks quickly, but that's what we also bought the ball cleaning machine for. And the tables have been bringing in new customers - now our pool hall also attracts semi-serious players, because the tables are among the best in our little town of Helsinki, Finland. If we only had more room, we would surely consider replacing more of our aging Beta Match tables with Diamond Pro-Ams

I do have one complaint though. The plastic (or hard rubber?) outer edge of the ball return box couldn't handle all the hits of returning balls and first came loose, then completely broke. It's not visible damage, and doesn't affect usability, not at least yet, but I am afraid of what can happen to the wood after a couple of years, now that the plastic isn't protecting it any longer.

Maybe the problem is with these specific three tables? A certain world class player occasionally visiting our humble pool room said he hasn't seen this happen before on other Pro-Ams.

The corner pockets also got slightly less receptive after the tables had been in use for a few months, but this is only normal. We'll be getting the cloth replaced very soon anyway.

 

[realkingcobra]

Ok, I finally have some time to respond to some of your comments/questions as I'm shut down in a motel room for the time being.

That plastic trim you're talking about is the T-moulding used to cap the plywood core of the cut out opening in the ball box area. Why it pulled out, I can't answer that because it's suppose to be stappled in from the inside of the plywood. You might be able to press it back into the dado grove that it pulled out of. The T-moulding has nothing to do with ball wear inside the ball box area as the balls don't come into contact with the beauty trim, so there's no wear that can happen becuse of not having it in place, though I've never seen it pulled out before...so I can't explain that one buddy. You can call Diamond if you need to and they'll send you some new t-moulding to replace what pulled out if needed.

Glen

 

[realkingcobra]

Glen,
Thanks for starting this thread. I read somewhere here on AZ about using antibacterial soap on the pocket leather to stop marking up the balls. I tried it, and it seems to be working. If this is in fact a temporary solution to prevent the spots, how often should you re-apply. Do you have any other ideas on this matter? Also, we are going to the Derby. Will these tables have the new rail design? Thanks for any info you may offer... Mikey :thumbup:

Well Mikey, first of all, yes the Diamond's used in the CDC will have the rails changed on them, as this was a permanent change done to the Diamond rails, so ALL Diamond's have been changed from the factory level. Older tables are a different story, the owners are going to have to contact either myself, or Diamond about having after market changes done.

Now, for the pockets. Sooner or later the hand sanitizer is going to remove most all of the black dye used in the pockets and stop transferring to the balls. If you cleaned out the pockets daily all you'd be doing is speeding up that process...so, don't worry about over cleaning them because you can't:grin:

 

[realkingcobra]

Glen-

Is there any measurable difference in the way 860 vs. 860HR plays?

Yes, the 860HR plays more broke in from day one compared to the normal 860, as in less sliding, and spinning the ball off the cushions is easier. Overall I think it's a better long run cloth because of the little bit higher nylon blend, 70/30 vs 90/10 wool/nylon and less effected by humidity. And because of the final shaving process, the HR is a little more resistant to the balls marking up the cloth. Speed is about the same, but I think the HR is just a little faster, but that also depends on which color cloth we're talking about as blue plays faster than green.

Glen

 

[cuesmith]

Yes, the 860HR plays more broke in from day one compared to the normal 860, as in less sliding, and spinning the ball off the cushions is easier. Overall I think it's a better long run cloth because of the little bit higher nylon blend, 70/30 vs 90/10 wool/nylon and less effected by humidity. And because of the final shaving process, the HR is a little more resistant to the balls marking up the cloth. Speed is about the same, but I think the HR is just a little faster, but that also depends on which color cloth we're talking about as blue plays faster than green.

Glen

Glen, I'm curious. Why would the blue cloth play faster than the green? I wouldn't think the color of the dye would make a difference in the speed of the cloth.

Sherm

 

[realkingcobra]

After the feed back at the dcc. What will the cost of the new rail system installed in wisconsin. Does this include the new pockets that don't leave marks on the balls?

Diamond hasn't changed their pockets as of right now, I don't see any change in the near future at this moment, but I know Diamond is trying to do something about the dye transfer to the balls. Coming up with a change is not all that easy, it's not like you can just say make a change and BANG it happens, there's a little more to it than that. A bigger problem to the change of the rails on your table is not the cost of the change, but the WHOM that can perform that change...that is really more the question, as there is no one right now in your area that can make that modification to your rails, but...when I get the chance, I'll see what I can do.

Glen

 

[realkingcobra]

Glen, I'm curious. Why would the blue cloth play faster than the green? I wouldn't think the color of the dye would make a difference in the speed of the cloth.

Sherm

Lets say you have a canvas 4'x8' and you paint half the canvas with a water color blue, then you paint the other half with an oil based green, then you let them both dry. When you come back and feel the canvas, though it's the same piece of canvas, one side "blue" is going to feel thinner "green" than the thicker other side, because blue has a lighter color pigmentation than green does. Because green is made by using the color red, which also has the heaviest color pigmentation on the color chart, you end up with a "thicker" cloth when green is used, thicker also means more ball resistance when rolling the ball, which means a little more resistance when trying to spin the ball, a little more resistance when trying to break the rack out or clustered balls.

 

[Palmetto cue]

Well Mikey, first of all, yes the Diamond's used in the CDC will have the rails changed on them, as this was a permanent change done to the Diamond rails, so ALL Diamond's have been changed from the factory level. Older tables are a different story, the owners are going to have to contact either myself, or Diamond about having after market changes done.

Now, for the pockets. Sooner or later the hand sanitizer is going to remove most all of the black dye used in the pockets and stop transferring to the balls. If you cleaned out the pockets daily all you'd be doing is speeding up that process...so, don't worry about over cleaning them because you can't:grin:

Thanks Glen for the info and advise. I really think highly of the Diamond tables I get to play on. I hope to get to hit some balls on a new version at the Derby. Will you be there?