Review of Renfro's Accu-Rack

[The Renfro]

How can balls lean into each other when they are spherical? :S

You orient the numbers on the top, with a slight angle into an adjacent ball. After all, the pigment used in the numbers is heavier than the rest of the ball's makeup.

J/K.

Like you, I think "lean" is kind of a misnomer when we're talking about spheres, but I can't think of a better term. Rocked onto? Perched on the edge of, and the adjacent ball holding it up?

That's a difficult one.
-Sean

Lol

They're just forced together like with any racking mechanism that stays on the table when you break.

I believe this is the only way to get a frozen rack everytime. I've played against people who think its an unfair advantage to use a magic rack...but isn't a rack meant to be 100% frozen? I do think the position you rack from will change due to being able to make a wing ball 90% of the time with a frozen rack, a few inches forwards or backwards would do.

In the immortal words of Johnny Archer "Those balls were touching but they weren't frozen!"

On a new cloth with a new ball set the balls are “touching” at their equators… The weight of the balls, the flat surface and friction of the new cloth are generally all that is required to create a rack that has no gaps….

Now adding the spot to the above equation allows the One ball to be frozen to the rack behind it… This happens because almost always the one ball is tapped into place or if not after a few breaks the one has been forced down into the spot and has started to create a divot…

This where loading begins to come into play.. By positioning the rack properly the one ball is hanging on the edge of the divot and would roll down into the divot IF the rack was removed.. Granted that the weight of the One ball is not very great but it is enough to add a little energy into the rack..

Recall the physics of equal and opposite. The rack pushes back against the One as hard as the One pushes against the rack… This is why and how you can load the balls…

Now consider the entire rack… If you wanted to load ALL of the balls onto the 9ball it is fairly simple to do… You tap them all in place making sure the indentions you are making are slightly inside of the spots the balls will actually sit in… You DO NOT tap them straight down into the spot you want them to sit… This was done recently at a major tournament and it helped decide the outcome… If you hammer them, as was done, the ball will actually sit down in its divot and be even harder to get frozen….

The other issue with tapping the balls is that if you tap them to different depths you can create an issue with the physics of how the balls spread.. By hammering the ball behind the wing ball and lightly or not tapping the wing ball you can actually make the wing ball wired or close to wired even hitting them dead in the face from the break box… Trying to recall where I saw this =) oh yeah same tournament the TD hammered the back 3 balls deep into the cloth..

The other way to load an entire rack is to have a template that raises all of the balls around the 9 and is slightly tight on the ball placements while leaving the 9ball on the table surface.. If the template holds the balls from rolling off their perch on the 9ball you have effectively loaded the rack… This is the main reason that there is material under the money ball in “The Accu-Rack System” templates.. The center ball is not lower so you cannot load the entire rack so the balls will break like you are breaking on new professional cloth…

One thing that I don’t think has been addressed anywhere yet is the differences in sizes of balls and using them to alter the way the balls spread.. In some instances this can be as useful as Joe Tucker’s info on gaps…

IF I can find my camera I’ll try and do a few minutes moving the smallest ball around the 9ball rack and talking about what it does… I’ve already posted a wall of words on a loaded question =)

Good Racking,
Chris Renfro

 

[Neil]

IF I can find my camera I’ll try and do a few minutes moving the smallest ball around the 9ball rack and talking about what it does… I’ve already posted a wall of words on a loaded question =)

Good Racking,
Chris Renfro

Chris, the above statement is the only problem I have with what you said. This is a discussion forum, not facebook. What you typed is not "a wall of words", it's a few very short paragraphs. Why is it today that so many are afraid to read a few words, and feel the need to apologize if they write a couple of paragraphs??

 

[The Renfro]

Chris, the above statement is the only problem I have with what you said. This is a discussion forum, not facebook. What you typed is not "a wall of words", it's a few very short paragraphs. Why is it today that so many are afraid to read a few words, and feel the need to apologize if they write a couple of paragraphs??

Neil,

I think you caught me taking the easy way out... Since I usually timeout while posting I started drafting my posts in word and almost 2 pages looked like a wall of words and that was without discussing anything about the effect smaller balls have in the physics of the rack.... When I started to add the info the post seemed to grow by leaps and bounds and I was having a hard time being clear and concise so I tossed in the towel and thought a video might be in order...

I explained ball size and deep divots to a a few friends after the Open and most refused to even believe me until I could show them.. That also steered my thinking to maybe a video would be better...

I think if you have been used to having decent ball sets and didn't grow up playing on bad equipment you likely didn't have to deal with with size variance being an issue that could help or hurt.

I'll try again tonight to actually get something in a post for anyone interested in reading it... I can always still do a video if I can find my d@#$ camera.... Nothing like not being able to find your own stuff... The girlfriend goes into cleaning mode and pooooof... I might as well go buy whatever she moved because it may be months before I figure out where she put things...

Chris

 

[Neil]

Neil,

I think you caught me taking the easy way out... Since I usually timeout while posting I started drafting my posts in word and almost 2 pages looked like a wall of words and that was without discussing anything about the effect smaller balls have in the physics of the rack.... When I started to add the info the post seemed to grow by leaps and bounds and I was having a hard time being clear and concise so I tossed in the towel and thought a video might be in order...

I explained ball size and deep divots to a a few friends after the Open and most refused to even believe me until I could show them.. That also steered my thinking to maybe a video would be better...

I think if you have been used to having decent ball sets and didn't grow up playing on bad equipment you likely didn't have to deal with with size variance being an issue that could help or hurt.

I'll try again tonight to actually get something in a post for anyone interested in reading it... I can always still do a video if I can find my d@#$ camera.... Nothing like not being able to find your own stuff... The girlfriend goes into cleaning mode and pooooof... I might as well go buy whatever she moved because it may be months before I figure out where she put things...

Chris

Chris, when you log in, just click the box that says "remember me", it will keep you logged in forever.

 

[The Renfro]

Chris, when you log in, just click the box that says "remember me", it will keep you logged in forever.

Works on the laptops and even works on IE on this old desktop but Firefox just keeps forgetting me... You'd think with all of the nasty names I have called it over eating posts that it would never forget me.....

Chris

off to file business taxes... I still have a day left!!!!

 

[yelvis111]

In the immortal words of Johnny Archer "Those balls were touching but they weren't frozen!"

On a new cloth with a new ball set the balls are “touching” at their equators… The weight of the balls, the flat surface and friction of the new cloth are generally all that is required to create a rack that has no gaps….

Now adding the spot to the above equation allows the One ball to be frozen to the rack behind it… This happens because almost always the one ball is tapped into place or if not after a few breaks the one has been forced down into the spot and has started to create a divot…

This where loading begins to come into play.. By positioning the rack properly the one ball is hanging on the edge of the divot and would roll down into the divot IF the rack was removed.. Granted that the weight of the One ball is not very great but it is enough to add a little energy into the rack..

Recall the physics of equal and opposite...

I've been using your accu-racks for a few weeks now and can say that they work GREAT. Even with different sized balls I can get a tight 8, 9 and 10-ball rack every time. It works better than the Magic Rack, particularly for 8-ball.

I'd like to point out something about your theory on "loading" the balls using the Magic Rack, though. Using a 9-ball rack, let's assume that all 8 balls surrounding the 9-ball are "loaded". Let's also assume that the "loaded" balls sit 1 mm higher than the 9-ball. On average, pool balls have a mass of 0.16 kg. Given that, the potential energy of the rack is;

PE = 8 * (0.16 kg) * (0.001 m) * (9.8 m/s^2) = 0.012544 Joules

That's the equivalent to about 0.003 calories. To put that in perspective, that's the amount of energy that an average human being will emit as heat in 3/4 of a second. I'm pretty sure that 0.012544 J is a negligible amount when compared to the energy produced in an average 9-ball break.

Taek

 

[The Renfro]

I've been using your accu-racks for a few weeks now and can say that they work GREAT. Even with different sized balls I can get a tight 8, 9 and 10-ball rack every time. It works better than the Magic Rack, particularly for 8-ball.

I'd like to point out something about your theory on "loading" the balls using the Magic Rack, though. Using a 9-ball rack, let's assume that all 8 balls surrounding the 9-ball are "loaded". Let's also assume that the "loaded" balls sit 1 mm higher than the 9-ball. On average, pool balls have a mass of 0.16 kg. Given that, the potential energy of the rack is;

PE = 8 * (0.16 kg) * (0.001 m) * (9.8 m/s^2) = 0.012544 Joules

That's the equivalent to about 0.003 calories. To put that in perspective, that's the amount of energy that an average human being will emit as heat in 3/4 of a second. I'm pretty sure that 0.012544 J is a negligible amount when compared to the energy produced in an average 9-ball break.

Taek

Thanks Taek!!!

That's exactly one of things I wanted to find out... If weight is negligible in creating stored energy then the changes in the ball paths has to come from the differences of the ball heights....

That's one of the best things about AZ... If you have a theory usually someone better equipped at supporting it or denying it is happy to help out...

My theory was based on observations and I was still in left field as to what variable is key.. Removing weight now leaves us with the distribution of force inside the rack and how much of a height difference needs to exist before the balls start to actually jump and climb.... Altering pathing...

Chris

 

[The Renfro]

I want to clarify some things from my earlier postings... Touching and frozen in the pool world means exactly the same thing... Loaded means something different. It means that a ball that is frozen would move if the ball it is against were to be moved.. "The Accu-Rack System" templates attempt to use friction but friction alone was not enough...

The cutouts in the rack allow for the balls to adjust but they do elevate the object balls as you push them up their slots... So "The Accu-Rack System" templates do load the balls... Since I knew this I chose to elevate the money ball... I would never consider this a marketing point... I only pointed it out because several people have asked me why there is no cutout under the money-balls...

The main issue that I skipped over in brevity is that templates do a much better job at racking on old cloth.. A template keeps the cloth or the divots from being an issue...

Beating balls down into the surface of a table should never be done unless 1)It's your table 2)There will only be one set of balls used on it and they are in new condition where there are very few variances.....

 

[PaulieB]

Chris, the above statement is the only problem I have with what you said. This is a discussion forum, not facebook. What you typed is not "a wall of words", it's a few very short paragraphs. Why is it today that so many are afraid to read a few words, and feel the need to apologize if they write a couple of paragraphs??

Neil,

I'm sure you have a good point, but could you post a photo of what you mean instead?

 

[The Renfro]

Apparently my video camera is MIA and the weekend really didn't leave much time for making a detailed post so I will try and put down in words a little about ball sizes...

This discussion relates to the 9Ball rack.. And I am going to limit the discussion to talking about the ball behind the wingball you are trying to make and the back ball...

Anytime the equators of the balls are not all the same you have the ability to use the size differences just like you do the gaps...

With the variances in sizes sometimes you cannot choose where to put the smallest ball in the rack.. In those instances it will go in the very back of the rack.. In these instances or even if you could have put it elsewhere having the smallest ball at the back of the rack will actually make the wing ball easier to make....

The tangent line between the small ball and the ball behind the wing balls is now pointed more towards the foot of the table than if the balls were the same size... To make the wing ball the ball behind it has to be out of the way... With the tangent lines altered with the small ball in the back the ball behind the wing ball doesn't have to move as far before it clears the wing ball's path to the pocket....

In instances where you can rack the smallest ball behind the wing ball you have to pay close attention to the sizes of the other balls. Odds are that either the ball at the back of the rack or the wing ball may be the largest in the set... If the wing ball is considerable larger than the ball behind it the wing ball will actually ramp off of the ball behind it and head more towards the pocket than at the side rail... If the difference in equator height is great enough you might even get the wing ball to jump all the way to the pocket even breaking from the box....

If there is not a huge size difference between the wing and the ball behind it then there is no advantage... If the back ball is the largest and the ball behind the wing is the smallest.... welcome to slugsville!!!!

There are other possibilities but since rack your own is the norm I figured I would talk about how the gaps can help you and how you can slug yourself on the same ball positions...


Chris

 

[CreeDo]

If the wing ball is considerable larger than the ball behind it the wing ball will actually ramp off of the ball behind it and head more towards the pocket than at the side rail... If the difference in equator height is great enough you might even get the wing ball to jump all the way to the pocket even breaking from the box

Chris

This part doesn't make sense to me... are you saying a wing ball literally jumps, as in 'goes airborne'?

I heard people theorizing shane was somehow jumping the wing ball over the ball behind it to get his break box wing ball. But I can't believe a ball three rows back jumps. Even if the ball behind it is a tiny bit smaller, the "ramp" is still very close to 90 degrees vertical when it contacts that ball.

I think we need video evidence before anyone starts theorizing about airborne wing balls. I believe the only way a wingball goes is if the ball behind it moved to the correct spot for it to carom into the pocket.

I can see one way an undersize ball accomplishes this... if it's the ball behind the wing ball and it's too small to freeze to the others, it's made a gap behind the wing ball. This buys enough time for the wing ball to travel further 'south' before caroming into the pocket. Possibly an undersize ball in the very back could do the same thing if the gap got overlooked.

 

[The Renfro]

This part doesn't make sense to me... are you saying a wing ball literally jumps, as in 'goes airborne'?

I heard people theorizing shane was somehow jumping the wing ball over the ball behind it to get his break box wing ball. But I can't believe a ball three rows back jumps. Even if the ball behind it is a tiny bit smaller, the "ramp" is still very close to 90 degrees vertical when it contacts that ball.

I think we need video evidence before anyone starts theorizing about airborne wing balls. I believe the only way a wingball goes is if the ball behind it moved to the correct spot for it to carom into the pocket.

I can see one way an undersize ball accomplishes this... if it's the ball behind the wing ball and it's too small to freeze to the others, it's made a gap behind the wing ball. This buys enough time for the wing ball to travel further 'south' before caroming into the pocket. Possibly an undersize ball in the very back could do the same thing if the gap got overlooked.

You can't always get the small ball behind the wing ball especially if all the balls are close to the same size but the small one but it can happen when there are several different sizes which happens pretty often thru normal wear...

And you are correct that you get a ramp effect when the back ball is smaller which adds to the change in tangent so it's a double win...
The blocking ball has even more chance to clear the wing ball's path to the pocket.....

I checked the balls at the Open thinking they might have been worn.They had been used for 3 tournaments and cleaned during each. I was relieved to see that that there was nothing wrong with them. Now when I checked the table :shocked2:

I'm at work so I gotta cut this short for now....

I'll try and borrow a camera this week and if I can't I'll have someone else film something that I can walk them thru setting up..

Chris