Get the pre-cut if you've never done it before.
Best (budget-orientated) Worsted Felt
- Thread starter Robotron
- Start date
My home room is using ANDY988. Very nice cloth. Speed is about same as 860.
Just my $.02 here but i think Simonis is over-priced. You're paying for the name , their distributor network/mark-up, etc. There is no black-art to making worsted wool cloth. There are mills in Taiwan, China, Mexico, and Spain that all make quality cloth. I've played on cloth from all these countries and to be honest i'd be very hard pressed to tell them apart. My local room has been using ANDY988 the last few yrs and it plays and lasts every bit as good as Simonis. Granted they buy a lot(30 table room) but the price difference is big. IIRC they get the 9ft 988 for around $140/table.
We had Andy pro cloth on our tables for three years, two re-coverings. We had Simonis 860 HR before the Andy and switch back to it after the Andy. We found the Andy played faster than 860. The surface of it feels completely different than Simonis - much rougher like 600 grit sandpaper is the best way I can think of to describe it. The biggest issues I had with Andy Pro is the fabric protector they treat it with was clearly not as good as Simonis - any grease or food stains were much harder to remove or dissipate.
Secondly, when we started with Andy it was probably 40% less $ than Simonis 860 HR, but 3 years later by 2018 it was down to like 15% less - virtually negligible $ savings even for 10 tables! Keep in mind I am talking about wholesale prices. The $ price difference % may be considerably more for retail prices.
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Don't know which version you had. My place has two table side-by-side. One has 988 and one is 860. There is a slight speed difference but its really small. They both feel the same and seem to show wear/marks the same. As far as stain protection only 760SR has any stain treatment afaik. I don't know who the dist. is but they get the 9ft 988 for less than $150/table.
Sounds like the Andy distributor I got the price quote from got a little greedy and quoted me a high price. He bought out the distributorship from someone else who had sold me my original Andy cloth at a considerably better price.
I’m not sure what the number / blend on the cloth was, but it is still on our Diamond 7 footer on the underside of the rail cloth - it just says Andy Pro.
IIRC that is their version of 760. 988 is ANDY's 860HR. I'm with you in that if the price diff. was small i'd probably go Simonis.
if you look at their website and call the phone number provided, they should be able to refer you to the US distributor that covers your area, and then you can likely contact them for a price quote. If they can’t sell it to you directly, they should be able to put you in touch with dealers in your region that can sell it to you.
https://www.facebook.com/andypoolcloth/ Just call them. They have various distrib/agents.
I put the competition grade CPBA on my 7 ft table a few months ago and it compares favorably to 860, nice and fast. Was $132 for precut bed & rails, 80/20 wool/nylon, 24 oz. It does get spot type burn marks from jump shots and 9 ball break from the side rail so I've started using a piece of the old cloth to protect against that. The old cloth was more prone to burning.
When I was handling it during the recover it had a nice quality feel to it but watch out for threads.
Awesome! Where did you buy it from for $132? I'll have some of that!!
It is showing for $132 shipped from here for the 7 ft size that he purchased for. It is a little more for larger sizes. It may not be where he got it from but that would be my guess since the price matches.Awesome! Where did you buy it from for $132? I'll have some of that!!
Also, per the thread below, trentfromtoledo here on AzBilliards was the mid-west American distributor as of a year ago. I would send him a PM (private message, aka "conversation" on this new forum software) to see if he is still a dealer and can give you a quote. If not I would think there is a pretty good chance he could tell you who could.
CPBA Worsted Cloth, Cheaper alternative to simonis
Just a tip I recently purchased an oversized 8 AE Schmidt pool table and finished my basement to accommodate it and after the remodel I was left kind of on a budget but the original felt was really worn out ( I purchased the table used ) so I checked amazon and found this...
forums.azbilliards.com
Awesome! Where did you buy it from for $132? I'll have some of that!!