Gandy Big G drop pockets

phreaticus

phreaticus

Well-known member
Hello all,

Looking for quality replacement pockets for a large fleet of old Gandy Big G tables. The tables are in good condition, well maintained and play nice, but the original plastic pockets are crap (shaped poorly and not fastened down). I found an old thread asking the same thing, and the only answer then was the generic plastic pockets seen at the well known retailers. I’ve heard of after market leather pockets that will fit but can’t find anything online.

Alternatively, if generic plastic ones are the only answer, has anyone experimented with ways to secure them well? Just adding tacks/screws will damage the balls, and velcro doesn’t work.

Anyone have any better ideas/sources?

Thx
 
phreaticus said:
Hello all,

Looking for quality replacement pockets for a large fleet of old Gandy Big G tables. The tables are in good condition, well maintained and play nice, but the original plastic pockets are crap (shaped poorly and not fastened down). I found an old thread asking the same thing, and the only answer then was the generic plastic pockets seen at the well known retailers. I’ve heard of after market leather pockets that will fit but can’t find anything online.

Alternatively, if generic plastic ones are the only answer, has anyone experimented with ways to secure them well? Just adding tacks/screws will damage the balls, and velcro doesn’t work.

Anyone have any better ideas/sources?

Thx
Click to expand...
call ken at classic billiards.
 
garczar said:
call ken at classic billiards.
Click to expand...

phreaticus said:
... has anyone experimented with ways to secure them well? Just adding tacks/screws will damage the balls, and velcro doesn’t work.

Anyone have any better ideas/sources?

Thx
Click to expand...
There are several pool rooms in my area with these Gandy tables, but I've never seen any where they don't use nails to secure the plastic pockets. Is it possible to do it another way? Is that how the pockets were attached when the tables were new?
 
Saturated Fats said:
There are several pool rooms in my area with these Gandy tables, but I've never seen any where they don't use nails to secure the plastic pockets. Is it possible to do it another way? Is that how the pockets were attached when the tables were new?
Click to expand...
Believe so. They weren't the best built things.
 
I had an old Gandy Big G for a while. The pockets were nailed into the rails, I think this was the standard way of attaching them. Eventually I got some new generic rubber/plastic drop pockets and rigged them up with bungee cords under the apron to hold the pockets in, couldn't deal with the nails. Worked good.
 
slach said:
I had an old Gandy Big G for a while. The pockets were nailed into the rails, I think this was the standard way of attaching them. Eventually I got some new generic rubber/plastic drop pockets and rigged them up with bungee cords under the apron to hold the pockets in, couldn't deal with the nails. Worked good.
Click to expand...
Good idea.
 
phreaticus said:
Hello all,

Looking for quality replacement pockets for a large fleet of old Gandy Big G tables. The tables are in good condition, well maintained and play nice, but the original plastic pockets are crap (shaped poorly and not fastened down). I found an old thread asking the same thing, and the only answer then was the generic plastic pockets seen at the well known retailers. I’ve heard of after market leather pockets that will fit but can’t find anything online.

Alternatively, if generic plastic ones are the only answer, has anyone experimented with ways to secure them well? Just adding tacks/screws will damage the balls, and velcro doesn’t work.

Anyone have any better ideas/sources?

Thx
Click to expand...

I'll second the commercial Velcro. Some of the heavy duty stuff can mount a washing machine on the wall.

You can also get premium 3M double-sided tape that will basically be permanent
 
garczar said:
Pocket recommended by Classic: https://www.classicbilliards.net/po...ality-soft-plastic-drop-pockets-set-of-6.html
Click to expand...
Thx. Those are the standard generic replacement pocket, available everywhere and is whats in there now. This is a commercial poolhall with 25 tables that see heavy daily play, mostly bangers, no players and the hall is owned by a non pool person. Tried all the basic tricks, they work, but suboptimal. As I said in original post, nails/screws (without the inset bosses that BW style pockets have) will damage the balls over time. Basically, the edges of the plastic pocket liners protrude into the pocket area and balls hit with speed will pop out pretty frequently. Primarily the side pockets, but corners also. Its a particular problem with the 2 tables that have tight pockets that a few of us prefer to play on. Best one can do with these is carefully trim them, and tack down with velcro, which is whats done now - it works, but is not fully secure snd gives inconsistent results.

Leather pockets should resolve the issue with the plastic lip edges, and I’ve heard of folks using some sort of after market leather pockets in Big G’s. These generic leather ones are widely available and look to be the best ones I’ve come across so far - might be ok, but unfortunately also use non recessed metal fasteners on the interior seams and have flimsy man made materials on the bottom sections that don’t look like they’d hold up well in a commercial banger environment. Will probably try a set, if I don’t land any better ideas.

Adding wood custom bosses and using proper BW style liners would be awesome, but that would require non trivial mechanic time & neither owner or local mechanic is up for such a project. Owner is a trust fund type that doesn’t like me because he thinks I’m a degenerate hustler (he thinks all serious pool players that gamble are low lifes), and doesn’t want to invest in anything that he can’t understand, but the manager is a cool guy and starting to love/understand pool, so I’m feeding him ideas on the side.

Anyway, its a very minor first world problem - just wanted to know if anyone had solved for this before and if there were any fresh ideas. Looks like its a well known Gandy problem and probably just have to make do. Plenty of other places with good tables, including my home GC6 - but this place is very close to my house and otherwise the Gandy’s actually play quite nice.

Cheers
 
Last edited:
Saturated Fats said:
There are several pool rooms in my area with these Gandy tables, but I've never seen any where they don't use nails to secure the plastic pockets. Is it possible to do it another way? Is that how the pockets were attached when the tables were new?
Click to expand...
Mine had hex head screws that were reset in the plastic I believe
 
book collector said:
Mine had hex head screws that were reset in the plastic I believe
Click to expand...
On a Big G?? Thought nails/tacks were used on all of them.
phreaticus said:
Thx. Those are the standard generic replacement pocket, available everywhere and is whats in there now. This is a commercial poolhall with 25 of tables that see heavy daily play, mostly bangers, no players and the hall is owned by a non pool person. Tried all the basic tricks, they work, but suboptimal. As I said in original post, nails/screws (without the inset bosses that BW style pockets have) will damage the balls over time. Basically, the edges of the plastic pocket liners protrude into the pocket area and balls hit with speed will pop out pretty frequently. Primarily the side pockets, but corners also. Its a particular problem with the 2 tables that have tight pockets that a few of us prefer to play on. Best one can do with these is carefully trim them, and tack down with velcro, which whats done used now - it sort of works, but is not fully secure snd gives inconsistent results table to table.

Leather pockets should resolve the issue with the plastic lip edges, and I’ve heard of folks using some sort of after market leather pockets in Big G’s. these generic leather ones are widely available and look to be the best ones I’ve come across so far might be ok, but unfortunately also use metal fasteners on the interior bottoms and have flimsy bottom section that don’t look like they’d hold up well in NC a commercial banger environment. Will probably try a set, if i don’t land any better ideas.

Adding wood custom bosses and using proper BW style liners would be awesome, but that would require non trivial mechanic time & neither owner or local mechanic is up for such a project. Owner is a trust fund type that doesn’t like me because he thinks I’m a degenerate hustler type (he thinks all serious pool players that gamble are low lifes), and doesn’t want to invest in anything that he can’t understand, but the manager is a cool guy and starting to love/understand pool, so I’m feeding him ideas on the side.

Anyway, its a very minor first world problem - just wanted to know if anyone had solved for this before and if there were any fresh ideas. Looks like its a well known Gandy problem and probably just have to make do. Plenty of other places with good tables to play pool, including my home GC6 - but this place is very close to my house and otherwise the Gandy’s actually play quite nice.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Looks like the heavy-duty Velcro would be a route worth trying.
 
book collector said:
Mine had hex head screws that were reset in the plastic I believe
Click to expand...
Not sure what the tables had originally but currently have generic pastic liners, see my other post. Recessed hex screws sound like the Gold Crown design and would be awesome, but these Big G’s definitely don’t have the proper castings/bosses to accommodate such pockets.
 
Last edited:
I bought it used and had it set up , so it's very possible someone had put them in there at a later date. I can still see those recessed bolts in my mind tho, or at least I think I can lol. Hell they might have been 16 penny nails for all I know any more.
 
If they aren't legitimate liners, just nail 'em in and cover the heads. Silicone raw or formed, glops of Gorilla glue.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top