I bought a 7 ft Valley within the past year, and I'm having a strange issue where the rebound angle on Narrower angles comes up much too short.
Some of the pertinent information and conditions of this table that I can think of are:
1) The bumpers are within 2 years old and purchased from a reputable maker that sells bumpers around the globe, makes custom bumpers, etc.
2) The felt on the table and bumpers is thick. I've been told that it is the 'cheap stuff' when it comes to felt.
3) This table has been in a basement for several years, and I also have it in a basement, so there is whatever the present and long haul effects humidity could have on tables and bumpers.
4) All 4 levelers have a different setting in attempts to make the 1 piece slate playing surface level. My basement floor is very not level.
5) I've tried many tests for accuracy of levelness, some with various 'bubble' leveler lengths, others by hitting a ball table length speed in any direction one can think of. Although not perfect, this table plays pretty damn level and table roll during play is not an issue. I can hit a ball from a spot, down table to the 2nd diamond and back and hit the cue tip square.
6) The diamonds on this table are over 9 inches apart, and are equidistant within a 1/16th of an inch, I've measured them all.
Now the issues:
Hitting a ball down table starting from any of the 4 pocket mouths and aiming at the 1st diamond, therefore expecting a rebound near the 2nd diamond of the rail the ball is initially hit from, comes up short, usually a half to 3/4 of a diamond short.
In order to hit the 2nd diamond coming back, I have to move the cue ball up the side rail towards the side pocket 2 to 2.5 diamonds. From there when I hit into the 1st diamond, the ball rebounds to the 2nd diamond, rather than going out further towards the 3rd diamond as one might expect.
Going from side to side, I'll hit from 1.5 towards 3.5 and come out short to 4.9-5.2 consistently.
What works:
For Wider paths, going side to side, 0 to 3 does come out at 6, and 0 to 3.5 does come out to 7. When I say 0 or in the corner pocket mouth, I'm starting from a mark I've made on the pockets themselves that is the same 9.x inches away from the final diamond before the corner pockets. IOW, I have 2 additional marks on all 4 corner pockets and I therefore realize the halfway point between the last 2 diamonds leading up to a corner pocket or the back of the pocket, is not an accurate diamond position.
I was told 2nd hand from the seller of the rails that rail points should be 1 and 11/32 inches from the table bed, which is about 60% the height of the balls themselves. These points are higher, about 1 and 17/32 in some cases, but I've not measured the entire table. I was told that a likely reason for the additional height is due to the glue not being removed from the slate when the previous re-felting(s) were done, so the bumpers are laying on old hardened glue, then the new glue.
I'd like to hear any comments or suggestions as to what, if anything, I can do to make these rebound angles more in tune to what I've always expected, and can this effect be attributed to the higher rail points. Right now I try to compensate by adding .5 to .8 diamonds to every kick and bank, but in general these effects are also throwing off CB position when coming off a rail.
If there are other tests that I should try, I will certainly carry them out and get back.
Thanks for reading!
Some of the pertinent information and conditions of this table that I can think of are:
1) The bumpers are within 2 years old and purchased from a reputable maker that sells bumpers around the globe, makes custom bumpers, etc.
2) The felt on the table and bumpers is thick. I've been told that it is the 'cheap stuff' when it comes to felt.
3) This table has been in a basement for several years, and I also have it in a basement, so there is whatever the present and long haul effects humidity could have on tables and bumpers.
4) All 4 levelers have a different setting in attempts to make the 1 piece slate playing surface level. My basement floor is very not level.
5) I've tried many tests for accuracy of levelness, some with various 'bubble' leveler lengths, others by hitting a ball table length speed in any direction one can think of. Although not perfect, this table plays pretty damn level and table roll during play is not an issue. I can hit a ball from a spot, down table to the 2nd diamond and back and hit the cue tip square.
6) The diamonds on this table are over 9 inches apart, and are equidistant within a 1/16th of an inch, I've measured them all.
Now the issues:
Hitting a ball down table starting from any of the 4 pocket mouths and aiming at the 1st diamond, therefore expecting a rebound near the 2nd diamond of the rail the ball is initially hit from, comes up short, usually a half to 3/4 of a diamond short.
In order to hit the 2nd diamond coming back, I have to move the cue ball up the side rail towards the side pocket 2 to 2.5 diamonds. From there when I hit into the 1st diamond, the ball rebounds to the 2nd diamond, rather than going out further towards the 3rd diamond as one might expect.
Going from side to side, I'll hit from 1.5 towards 3.5 and come out short to 4.9-5.2 consistently.
What works:
For Wider paths, going side to side, 0 to 3 does come out at 6, and 0 to 3.5 does come out to 7. When I say 0 or in the corner pocket mouth, I'm starting from a mark I've made on the pockets themselves that is the same 9.x inches away from the final diamond before the corner pockets. IOW, I have 2 additional marks on all 4 corner pockets and I therefore realize the halfway point between the last 2 diamonds leading up to a corner pocket or the back of the pocket, is not an accurate diamond position.
I was told 2nd hand from the seller of the rails that rail points should be 1 and 11/32 inches from the table bed, which is about 60% the height of the balls themselves. These points are higher, about 1 and 17/32 in some cases, but I've not measured the entire table. I was told that a likely reason for the additional height is due to the glue not being removed from the slate when the previous re-felting(s) were done, so the bumpers are laying on old hardened glue, then the new glue.
I'd like to hear any comments or suggestions as to what, if anything, I can do to make these rebound angles more in tune to what I've always expected, and can this effect be attributed to the higher rail points. Right now I try to compensate by adding .5 to .8 diamonds to every kick and bank, but in general these effects are also throwing off CB position when coming off a rail.
If there are other tests that I should try, I will certainly carry them out and get back.
Thanks for reading!
