Diamond triangle racks. Do you put the diamond corner up front?

ktrepal85 · Sep 10, 2015

As you can see in the picture below, one of the corners of this rack has a small white diamond on it. A long time ago someone told me that these racks were designed so that when racking 9-ball you should always put the 1 ball in the corner with the diamond. Apparently all three angles are not the same and this gives the tightest rack.

My questions is, why do some very good players not put the diamond up top? Are they intentionally racking gaps? Is this a secret to making more balls? Please explain...

WillyCornbread · Sep 10, 2015

Odd - I've never seen anyone rack without the diamond at the top. I think the geometry is specific, and the little wooden 'notch' at the opposite end helps to ensure it's not crooked.

RiverCity · Sep 10, 2015

ktrepal85 said:
As you can see in the picture below, one of the corners of this rack has a small white diamond on it. A long time ago someone told me that these racks were designed so that when racking 9-ball you should always put the 1 ball in the corner with the diamond. Apparently all three angles are not the same and this gives the tightest rack.

My questions is, why do some very good players not put the diamond up top? Are they intentionally racking gaps? Is this a secret to making more balls? Please explain...

Because the 'diamond corner' being the only one to give a tight rack is along the lines of an urban legend?

In the case of the Diamond rack, its just a decoration, nothing more, nothing less. The racks, unless damaged or warped etc rack just fine on all corners.

Texas Carom Club · Sep 10, 2015

op
they do that to show how much better they are than you
or they simply may be unaware
or it could be wornout

Keith Jawahir · Sep 10, 2015

I sometimes have to rotate them because the ones at my pool room have little grooves worn into them from the balls and the 1 likes to stick to the rack. Very annoying. Other than that, same thing regardless of how you spin it.

Tony_in_MD · Sep 10, 2015

There trademark is put on a corner to id the rack. That is all.

Sometimes especially with a wooden rack if you don't set a tight rack with one corner you can try another. Wood moves but it has nothing to do with the diamond placement.

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drhanson · Sep 10, 2015

Keith Jawahir said:
I sometimes have to rotate them because the ones at my pool room have little grooves worn into them from the balls and the 1 likes to stick to the rack. Very annoying. Other than that, same thing regardless of how you spin it.

+1, or some rooms aren't good about cleaning the inside of the racks and dirt tends to pile up at the head ball contact points. Since most people orient the diamond on the head ball end, the dirt congregates more there. I've noticed the build up is kind of like what you get on the bottom of your computer mouse; it's easily scraped off with a finger nail.

If I'm playing a match and I encounter a dirty one, I'll just rotate the rack to get a tight rack. If I'm just practicing, I take the few seconds to scrape off the accumulated gunk and the rack works like new again.

J SCHWARZ · Sep 10, 2015

..........................................

Patrick Johnson · Sep 10, 2015

ktrepal85 said:
Apparently all three angles are not the same

I doubt this - it's supposed to be an equal-angle triangle, so if any of them are off, then they're all probably off.

pj
chgo

rjbigfish · Sep 10, 2015

The reason I put the Diamond up front is the back of the rack has a notch in it and it makes it easier to see if the rack is straight or not, especially if you have a line drawn or a mark on the table. The other sides of the rack do not have the notch in the center.

whammo57 · Sep 10, 2015

Diamond up front... just because...........

BTW.... I have never seen one of these with both diamond inlays still in ...... they must use some shitty glue............ my inlays don't fall out..................

Kim

Manoman2444 · Sep 10, 2015

From what I was told, the diamond goes in front, the line in the back is for reference to line up with the diamond on the table in the rear of the rack and the diamond in front is to line up with the diamond at the head string (where you are breaking from). If you will notice, there is a line at the back of the rack.

BobTfromIL · Sep 10, 2015

Usually just do it, don't really think too much about. Good rack though.

seven_7days · Sep 10, 2015

Eventually, someone in the marketing team will have a Eureka moment and say

"OMG! Why don't we add a diamond on the other two corners? We could double the price while introducing the first LD rack!"

fastone371 · Sep 10, 2015

whammo57 said:
Diamond up front... just because...........

BTW.... I have never seen one of these with both diamond inlays still in ...... they must use some shitty glue............ my inlays don't fall out..................

Kim

I just saw a Diamond rack with an inlay missing (does that make it an outlay now?) for the first time last weekend. Been playing on mostly Diamonds for almost 4 years now.

ktrepal85 · Sep 10, 2015

Patrick Johnson said:
I doubt this - it's supposed to be an equal-angle triangle, so if any of them are off, then they're all probably off.

pj
chgo

I thought it was crazy too until I noticed how much tighter it racks with the diamond up top. If the diamond is on the side you can't get the second row of balls to touch.

The 15 balls have equal 60 degree angles but they are only touching the rack in the top corner since the bottom of the rack doesnt actually touch any balls. So something strange might be going on with the other two corners of the rack. Maybe not the angle but maybe the depth or something...i don't know.

skip100 · Sep 10, 2015

yeah, in my experience putting the diamond up front helps. It shouldn't, though, because if the top angle is 60 degrees then the bottom two angles also have to be 60 degrees unless the back of the rack is intentionally misaligned.

Drop The Rock · Sep 10, 2015

ktrepal85 said:
I thought it was crazy too until I noticed how much tighter it racks with the diamond up top. If the diamond is on the side you can't get the second row of balls to touch.

The 15 balls have equal 60 degree angles but they are only touching the rack in the top corner since the bottom of the rack doesnt actually touch any balls. So something strange might be going on with the other two corners of the rack. Maybe not the angle but maybe the depth or something...i don't know.

skip100 said:
yeah, in my experience putting the diamond up front helps. It shouldn't, though, because if the top angle is 60 degrees then the bottom two angles also have to be 60 degrees unless the back of the rack is intentionally misaligned.

Okay so out of the production facility the diamond is supposed to be a guide to make sure the rack is straight.

The reason they rack better at the diamond is that they have been racked at the diamond so many times that the rack wears and shifts so that eventually its only tight when the diamond is up top. I highly doubt they come out of the factory that way. Also I have used those racks on diamond bar tables that don't rack straight with the diamond up because they don't get rack with the same side of the rack.

HDR10 · Sep 10, 2015

rjbigfish said:
The reason I put the Diamond up front is the back of the rack has a notch in it and it makes it easier to see if the rack is straight or not, especially if you have a line drawn or a mark on the table. The other sides of the rack do not have the notch in the center.

Sho'nuff....

Allen Brown · Sep 10, 2015

Keith Jawahir said:
I sometimes have to rotate them because the ones at my pool room have little grooves worn into them from the balls and the 1 likes to stick to the rack. Very annoying. Other than that, same thing regardless of how you spin it.

They are the same way at all 3 pool halls I go to with Diamond tables.

Diamond triangle racks. Do you put the diamond corner up front?

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