Magic Rack: Great, provided...

Shaft

Shaft

Hooked and Improving
Silver Member
... The balls are new and have not shrunk.

The only problem is balls shrink over time, and you cannot get a nice rack with older shrunken balls. (Hmmm... it seems impossible to talk about pool without sounding dirty...)

Seriously, I really like this rack, and surprisingly, it is thin enough to not deflect the path of even slow-moving balls as they cross it. I really see no reason to remove it from the table after the break.
 
Shaft said:
Seriously, I really like this rack, and surprisingly, it is thin enough to not deflect the path of even slow-moving balls as they cross it. I really see no reason to remove it from the table after the break.
Click to expand...

You will if you play with it long enough. I've seen mine deflect a ball or balls many times (mostly a single ball though). The most common thing I see is on a 9-ball break, the 9-ball, after the rack of balls scatters, will move straight backwards and stop and settle in the V-shape at the back of the rack (probably would've rolled an inch or so more had it not contacted the back of the MagicRack). I have also on more than a few occasions seen a ball roll into and stop in one of the divots.

Keep in mind that the rack, like the balls, won't hold up forever. The divots will eventually grow larger from the sheer amount of force from the broken balls. Added to this the ever-so-slowly shrinking balls, and the rack (and balls eventually) will need to be replaced at some point in time.

Maniac
 
Yeah I bought one at DCC and took it to my poolroom and I couldn't get the head ball to freeze. The balls there are older than me. I have a set with a lot less wear I'm going to take in and try out.
 
This is one of the main reasons for creating the Accu-Rack system... The Accu-Rack Templates actually are designed to allow worn sets to be frozen. They were used in Nashville at The Music City Open in Nashville a few weeks ago with one of the main reasons for their use being the room had not replaced many of the ball sets and could not use any other templates....

Someone on here stated that the balls went too easy but the finals went hill/hill and hill/hill with a 2 pack being the high string and Danny breaking dry a few times.... If you can break 9ball a ball usually goes on a bar box... So go figure....

As far as the slug doctor is concerned I think it is no longer being produced as there were some legal issues with a competing product....

You can find information, Demo Video and a review of the Accu-Racks by Joe Tucker at Outsville.com

Chris
 
I'll vouch for the accurack's usefulness with old, worn balls. The slots the balls rest in are grooves, pointed at the center of the rack. The balls can roll forward or back within these slots. With a smaller ball, you just roll it along the groove until it snuggles up to the next ball. The tradeoff is it can be hard to get balls to stay, depending on their position in the rack.
 
I'm curious to know if the paper hole enforcers, that people often use as training aids, would work like the magic rack.

Has anyone ever tried this?
 
keepanionme said:
I'm curious to know if the paper hole enforcers, that people often use as training aids, would work like the magic rack.

Has anyone ever tried this?
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Yes, I did this on a friends table and it worked great. It's pretty much what the Slug Doctor is. I used a Magic Rack to get an accurate measurement as to where to place the re-enforcers. It took some minor adjustments at first but when we got it the balls froze perfectly each time. I would guess that you would have the same problem with the under sized and mis-matched ball sets though..
 
keepanionme said:
I'm curious to know if the paper hole enforcers, that people often use as training aids, would work like the magic rack.

Has anyone ever tried this?
Click to expand...

Yes, they are the same Avery hole reinforcers. Coincidentally just yesterday I used the hole reinforcers and the Magic Rack as a template to set up for 3 ball. It was a little fussy but works great now that I have it all aligned. I also used one at the back spot to help with alignment of the Magic Rack.
 
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Yup, not only are the paper reinforcements viable, I hear clear ones are pretty much the standard in japan. Every table in many public pool halls has these set up already. They do get worn faster though, especially the head ball.
 
Protip: If you can't seem to get a good rack due to shrunken balls, take an Avery hole reinforcer and apply it to the magic rack to the ball grove where there is a space opening up. If you adjust it right, you should be able to close the space. This also works to adjust old magic racks that have stretched a slight amount.
 
Yes, the slug doctor is a template applicator that you can apply the the notebook reinforcers (your choice of paper or plastic :-)

In practice, it works on the same principle as the magic rack resting the balls against each other. The donuts do eventually wear out, but so do the magic rack. For a poolhall or a tournament, I think its perfect because you don't have to worry about theft, and replacement/maintenance costs can be in the pennies.

keepanionme said:
I'm curious to know if the paper hole enforcers, that people often use as training aids, would work like the magic rack.

Has anyone ever tried this?
Click to expand...
 
The Renfro said:
....

As far as the slug doctor is concerned I think it is no longer being produced as there were some legal issues with a competing product....

You can find information, Demo Video and a review of the Accu-Racks by Joe Tucker at Outsville.com

Chris
Click to expand...

Chris- To set the record straight there were no legal issues whatsoever with the Slug-Doctor. The Slug-Doctor could make a comeback someday. I had to put it on hold due to family and work priorities. Whoever told you there were legal issues was misinformed.

Regards,
Abe (i4pool) <--- the guy who designed the Slug-Doctor
 
rjtolly said:
Yes, they are the same Avery hole reinforcers. Coincidentally just yesterday I used the hole reinforcers and the Magic Rack as a template to set up for 3 ball. It was a little fussy but works great now that I have it all aligned. I also used one at the back spot to help with alignment of the Magic Rack.

The Slug Doctor still has their website up so it looks like they're still available.
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Sorry. Website needs to be updated. Slug-Doctor is discontinued for now.
Regards,
Abe
 
:shrug:

I use the Magic rack a lot. My set is @ 3 years old. I had trouble getting the second row of two balls to touch each other. The balls I use at my main pool hall are surely a little small due to age (although cleaned regularly).

And then... They recovered the tables. Now the second row freezes nicely.

Does anyone know why this would happen?
 
KoolKat9Lives said:
:shrug:

I use the Magic rack a lot. My set is @ 3 years old. I had trouble getting the second row of two balls to touch each other. The balls I use at my main pool hall are surely a little small due to age (although cleaned regularly).

And then... They recovered the tables. Now the second row freezes nicely.

Does anyone know why this would happen?
Click to expand...

I think sometimes the dimples in the cloth from years of breaking are deep enough that even a magic rack can't keep a ball out of the divots. Just a theory.

3 years is long in the tooth for a magic rack, the holes do wear down a little bit. So maybe a new rack would have 'fought' the divots ok, but a worn one can't grip the ball enough.

Another thought is that it may depend on how you had the rack rotated before. I think they're only designed to be pointing one way, but with the triangular 8b racks, it's hard to tell which end is up. It may not work as well if rotated.

Maybe when they reclothed the table, the swapped in a better set of balls.
 
CreeDo said:
I think sometimes the dimples in the cloth from years of breaking are deep enough that even a magic rack can't keep a ball out of the divots. Just a theory.

3 years is long in the tooth for a magic rack, the holes do wear down a little bit. So maybe a new rack would have 'fought' the divots ok, but a worn one can't grip the ball enough.

Another thought is that it may depend on how you had the rack rotated before. I think they're only designed to be pointing one way, but with the triangular 8b racks, it's hard to tell which end is up. It may not work as well if rotated.

Maybe when they reclothed the table, the swapped in a better set of balls.
Click to expand...

I'm with you on the "deep divots" in the worn cloth. We have a few tables around here where I can't get the head ball to freeze in the magic rack on the head spot. If I move it forward a bit to where the cloth isn't worn it then freezes. One of the worst culprits for wearing out a cloth too fast are the guys who drag the triangle back and forth trying to get a tight rack. For the life of me I can't see how that would work.. Mis-matched sets of balls are also a big problem getting the balls to freeze in the Magic Rack.
 
Tried my magic rack for the first time tonite - very encouraging so far.
Made at least 1 ball on every break (only did like 5 breaks) - 3 balls down on one of the breaks !! :-D
Interesting that it was always at least the same wing ball into the same corner pocket - very consistent / repeatable !
[9-ball racks]

Vast improvement on my 9-ball break pots without a magic rack.

Balls: 3 month old Aramith Premiers - had to use a re-inforcement sticker on the bottom of the diamond to get bottom ball frozen - all other balls freeze quick & easy. (also the bottom ball now freezes quick & easy with the extra sticker)

Break & Runs here I come ?? (LOL - not likely anytime soon - still a D+/C- player)
 
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