Brunswick anniversary upgrades

[shag_fu]

I had to break down my anniversary after some structural damage from storms in the Midwest. While it’s waiting for roof repairs, what under the hood upgrades should I make? Things that might make setup of leveling easier. Can I add adjustable feet to the legs? New hardware? I’m replacing the slot head slate lags. Maybe machine threads in t-nuts? Other hardware modernizations?


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[Poolhalljunkie]

I had to break down my anniversary after some structural damage from storms in the Midwest. While it’s waiting for roof repairs, what under the hood upgrades should I make? Things that might make setup of leveling easier. Can I add adjustable feet to the legs? New hardware? I’m replacing the slot head slate lags. Maybe machine threads in t-nuts? Other hardware modernizations?


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New cushions and rail hardware, especially if you have the floating inserts in the rail. if you get new cushions the subsoil needs replaced to keep proper playing surface dimensions and beveled to accept modern cushions.

 

[rexus31]

Anniversary rails won't have floating nut plates. Those weren't introduced until '64 or so. Anniversaries will have the figure 8 nut plates. If they aren't failing and you don't have the tools or skill to fill in the void with wood and replace with threaded inserts, leave them be. If you [lan to replace the cushions, the subrails don't need to be replaced (unless they are stapled out), but the bevel does need to be adjusted so the table remains a 2:1 playing surface with new cushions. Modern K55 cushions are 1/8" larger than the Monarch SuperSpeed cushions (profile no loner available) so if you install modern K55 on your Anniversary rails w/o adjust the bevel, you'll wind up with a playing surface of 49.75"x 99.75", not 50" x 100". Also, if you are not paying attention to nose height when installing on non adjusted subrails, you could wing up installing the cushions too high or low.

I'm not sure you could install adjustable feet and I'm not sure I'd use t-nuts to fasten the slate.

 

[Lawnboy77]

It would be a great time to ship those rails out to Mark Gregory, or Jack Zimmerman to do the upgrades, plus do the subrail mods that will make it play like it never did. While they are overhauling the rails you can work on the rest of the table, maybe refinishing the blinds and pedestals?

Edit: I would forget about putting adjustable feet on an Anniversary. It’s not really designed for that.

 

[Poolhalljunkie]

Anniversary rails won't have floating nut plates. Those weren't introduced until '64 or so. Anniversaries will have the figure 8 nut plates. If they aren't failing and you don't have the tools or skill to fill in the void with wood and replace with threaded inserts, leave them be. If you [lan to replace the cushions, the subrails don't need to be replaced (unless they are stapled out), but the bevel does need to be adjusted so the table remains a 2:1 playing surface with new cushions. Modern K55 cushions are 1/8" larger than the Monarch SuperSpeed cushions (profile no loner available) so if you install modern K55 on your Anniversary rails w/o adjust the bevel, you'll wind up with a playing surface of 49.75"x 99.75", not 50" x 100". Also, if you are not paying attention to nose height when installing on non adjusted subrails, you could wing up installing the cushions too high or low.

I'm not sure you could install adjustable feet and I'm not sure I'd use t-nuts to fasten the slate.

My understanding is that the floating nut plate was developed in 47, which would go along with the Anniversary line, transitioning into the Sport King just prior to the Gold Crown. I've replaced them on anniversary rails, which I have seen Both the figure 8 and floating nutplate.

 

[rexus31]

My understanding is that the floating nut plate was developed in 47, which would go along with the Anniversary line, transitioning into the Sport King just prior to the Gold Crown. I've replaced them on anniversary rails, which I have seen Both the figure 8 and floating nutplate.

If that were the case, why did Brunswick continue to use the 3 hole, 5 hole and figure 8 nut plates into 1950? Below is a link to the 1949 Brunswick Sport King sell sheet which also includes info on the 1950 model pertinent to the rails. That info is also listed below, mentioning the 5 hole and figure 8 nuts plates with no mention of floating nut plates..

https://brunswick.pastperfectonline.com/library/9AE4CA19-7177-4FE6-A2B4-854390443216

Here's a link to the 1946 Anniversary sell sheet with info from the 1950 Anniversary Service Bulletin. The excerpt is listed below the link mentioning the 3 hole, 5 hole and figure 8 nut plates. No mention of the floating nut plates.

Table - 1946 | Brunswick Billiards