The Triangle Rack
- Thread starter GoldCrown
- Start date
At Blue Fin Billiards, the tables have a magic rack for 8, 9 & 10 ball and the triangle racks are wood.
The triangle will form a tight rack but this requires pressing your fingers against the back row of balls.
If you do not press firmly, the balls tend to separate slightly and the rack becomes rather loose fitting.
Matt B.
The triangle will form a tight rack but this requires pressing your fingers against the back row of balls.
If you do not press firmly, the balls tend to separate slightly and the rack becomes rather loose fitting.
Matt B.
I selected the racks we use in our pool room. So they are amazing :smile:
One issue I find, in hotter/humid weather, the racks stick to the balls, causing issues with getting them tight.
Where I play they have the cheap plastic ones with the Gold Crowns. They seem to work OK but the balls are old. I’m not sure you could get them tight even if we had a Sardo.
One room has pretty good plastic racks -- not the kind that bend and give with the least pressure. The other has some wooden racks that are starting to fray and can leave splinters on the cloth.
If it were up to me, they would all have trained/tapped tables. Lacking that, the Delta-13 with sound dampers is the next best choice.
We use Diamond Wood Racks. All wood racks require pressing the back row of balls forward with both thumbs for 10-ball or a full 15 ball rack, or for a 9-ball rack using the thumbs, index fingers and middle fingers to press forward to lock in all 5 back balls including the wing balls for 9-ball, then likely having to adjust the head ball a little high or a little low on the spot, as necessary, in order to find the spot that all the balls will best freeze to each other - most importantly the head ball to the two balls immediately behind it. It is however, almost impossible to achieve a perfect rack with all the balls frozen to connecting balls using any type of rack other than a Magic rack.
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... or by training/tapping the table.
For the most part, Diamond wood.
I carry a template rack in my case as a spare. Need it on occasion.
Whenever I have to use the flexible plastic racks (almost every day) I just flip 'em over so the flange is on top, putting the stiffest part of the rack where the balls press against it. Works fine (and easier to lift off).
Be a Maverick.
pj
chgo
Be a Maverick.
pj
chgo
It is also impossible when the balls are not the same size down to the thousandth of an inch. When I got my Duramith balls I measured them with a micrometer before they had been played. The largest was 0.0022 larger than the smallest.
I absolutely STRUGGLE with the plastic racks. Others are clearly better at getting them tight than I am. I really don’t know what I’m missing. I press hard. I press soft. I reposition to align with existing divots. Rack high. Rack low. Spin the head ball to break the seal. Set the head ball first and slide the rack to meet where it wants to settle. Pull the rack away gently. Pull the rack away quickly. I can’t figure out a tight rack that breaks good enough.
Then give me a magic rack and my break looks like a pro hit it. Heck, if another top player racks for me, I can break like a pro. But I cannot give a plastic rack justice ever.
Respectfully, Matt
(I don’t take myself too seriously. I hope you can return the favor.)
Then give me a magic rack and my break looks like a pro hit it. Heck, if another top player racks for me, I can break like a pro. But I cannot give a plastic rack justice ever.
Respectfully, Matt
(I don’t take myself too seriously. I hope you can return the favor.)
The best economical triangle rack I've found is sold by PoolDawgs. Called the Heavy-Duty 8-ball rack. SKU number is RK8PHD. This durable rack gets the balls tight, and doesn't stick to the balls. See the PoolDawg reviews for it. I should add my review as well.
13's are great racks.
Great racks...our clubhouse have these. You do things right in your room:thumbup:
I do this also in my "home" poolhall....on the days I forget to bring my Delta 13.
Maniac
The racks in the room are so cheap the flange was optional:...had to custom order one.
:killingme::killingme:
You probably already do this...
I find it helps to hold the front sides of the rack in place with my fingers while pressing/rolling the back row of balls forward with my thumbs to "lock" them against the rest of the rack.
pj
chgo
Yeah, Seyberts sells the same racks, called the black beauty. We had them in our poolroom for a while, as I liked them as a change of pace from the Diamond Wood racks that tend to start splintering after some usage. A number of our players didn't like these hard plastic racks because they said they flexed too much. Also, there wasn't enough room behind the balls to be able to easily lift the back of the rack off the balls to get the rack off, once you get them as tight as you can. I assume the polycarbonate triangle rack Diamond now sells is very similar to the black beauty, perhaps a little better quality. Anyway, after a few months, we switched back to the Diamond wood racks - hard to beat for a good solid wood rack.
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I wonder if cleaning the rack might help. With chalk, sweat, beer, and food, it might be sticky anyway. I'm sure they get cleaned sometimes, but who knows unless your doing it.
Just a thought.
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I frequently cleaned the black mung spots off the racks where I used to play. I'm not sure what was in them but I suspect bodily secretions were the main ingredient.
Tiffany Rack
Try the sterling silver Tiffany rack.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-At...825332?hash=item1ee23026b4:g:~HcAAOSw7m9a-Kaa
Only way to play....
Try the sterling silver Tiffany rack.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-At...825332?hash=item1ee23026b4:g:~HcAAOSw7m9a-Kaa
Only way to play....