When installing rail cloth.

realkingcobra · Mar 19, 2009

How much do you guys stretch the rail cloth when you're installing it on feather stripped rails, or do you stretch it at all? I have some reasons for asking this question, which I'll explain after we talk about this for a little while. I think this is an important subject because the looks of the finished rails is what most mechanic's work is judged by even before the table or bed cloth is touched. When I walk up and look at a table recovered by someone else, the rails are the first thing I notice, which to me..indicates the skills of the mechanic.

Glen

BarryCuda · Mar 19, 2009

Little off topic from the original post but after reading a bunch of your posts for months I thought of you.

You would cry if you saw how the table looked at this bar we played in last night. You could literally grab a handful of cloth from the top of the table.

realkingcobra · Mar 19, 2009

BarryCuda said:
Little off topic from the original post but after reading a bunch of your posts for months I thought of you.

You would cry if you saw how the table looked at this bar we played in last night. You could literally grab a handful of cloth from the top of the table.

Was it in Texas?...LOL

BarryCuda · Mar 19, 2009

realkingcobra said:
Was it in Texas?...LOL

Nah in the ghetto of North Jersey. Was playing league or I would have never been in this joint but damn was that table horrible.

Club Billiards · Mar 19, 2009

realkingcobra said:
How much do you guys stretch the rail cloth when you're installing it on feather stripped rails, or do you stretch it at all? I have some reasons for asking this question, which I'll explain after we talk about this for a little while. I think this is an important subject because the looks of the finished rails is what most mechanic's work is judged by even before the table or bed cloth is touched. When I walk up and look at a table recovered by someone else, the rails are the first thing I notice, which to me..indicates the skills of the mechanic.

Glen

I think I know what you're getting at, but I personally try to stretch the cloth enough that there are no loose spots/wrinkles in the cloth when I'm finished but not TOO tight to the point where I'm changing the profile of the rubber.

I don't know if there's a way to put a number to that in terms of "how much" I stretch it. Just a feel you aquire with experience, I think.

perfectpocketz · Mar 19, 2009

realkingcobra said:
How much do you guys stretch the rail cloth when you're installing it on feather stripped rails, or do you stretch it at all? I have some reasons for asking this question, which I'll explain after we talk about this for a little while. I think this is an important subject because the looks of the finished rails is what most mechanic's work is judged by even before the table or bed cloth is touched. When I walk up and look at a table recovered by someone else, the rails are the first thing I notice, which to me..indicates the skills of the mechanic.

Glen

From side to side when installing the feather strip, tight as I can keeping the extra cloth even that has to be trimed off. I think that is what you are asking.

Mark Gregory

wakuljr · Mar 19, 2009

I stretch it also, but also not to the point that it creates a divot in the rail nose. this is just my opinion, but i believe the rails play different when the cloth isn't stretched and it is easier to do corners and sides if stretched.

Dartman · Mar 19, 2009

perfectpocketz said:
From side to side when installing the feather strip, tight as I can keeping the extra cloth even that has to be trimed off. I think that is what you are asking.

Mark Gregory

Somewhat ditto if thats what he's asking.
Also put a staple on either end to hold the stretched cloth then remove after the fstrip is seated.

MoonshineMattK · Mar 19, 2009

Yes! Yes! Yes!

More threads like this!

n10spool · Mar 19, 2009

I assume were talking new rails or used but undamagedfairly clean easy to work with.

You stretch it in about 5 locations

1. along the feather strip.
2. special stretch when you transfer to the bottom of the rail.
3. stretch along the bottom rail from end to end.
4. actual stretch when you staple the cloth down to preload the rubber.
5. each corner and side have thier own stretch.

I think its easier to answer by showing then by trying to type it out.

LCCS · Mar 19, 2009

stretch

End to end. As tight as possible.

realkingcobra · Mar 19, 2009

Yes all you guys, I talking about the stretch of the cloth when you're installing the feather strip, not about the stretch of the cloth over the nose of the cushions. There is a reason for this topic, as I'll explain later. Because when recovering rails with feather strips...the very first place you start is when installing the feather strips, and that pretty much dictates what you can or can't do with the rest of the cloth when finishing the rails

Glen

PoolTable911 · Mar 19, 2009

realkingcobra said:
Yes all you guys, I talking about the stretch of the cloth when you're installing the feather strip, not about the stretch of the cloth over the nose of the cushions. There is a reason for this topic, as I'll explain later. Because when recovering rails with feather strips...the very first place you start is when installing the feather strips, and that pretty much dictates what you can or can't do with the rest of the cloth when finishing the rails

Glen

Lateral tension is key. Especialy with worsted cloth. When streched lateraly you don't need to dimple the nose when you start stapling to make the cloth tight.

Cuephoric · Mar 19, 2009

a tug here, a stretch there, a staple and .....

I put a hard stretch lengthwise when doing the feather strips, until I get about 3 inches from the end, then I angle the cloth more toward the rail rubber to take out some of the excess from the back (35-45 degrees or so) then trim and tuck.

If I read your question right.
If not, then add the following:

Flip it and stretch it end to end from the bottom, set staples,etc., slight stretch across and a slight tug up while running back down the rail (about a thumb length or so ahead of the staples)and as far as corners and sides- they get their own appropriate stretch and trimming.
Clean, crisp, and no interference to the playability of the rail rubbers.
And it makes it easy to trim the excess off to make it lay flatter to the table without all that extra slack and a ton of staples to deal with.
I hate that.

What have you encountered that prompts such a question to us minions, sensei?

mechanic/player · Mar 19, 2009

I start in the middle and pull as tight as I can towards the ends without pulling out the featherstrip, I find it easier if I keep the cloth straight with the featherstrip not the angle method way I first learned.

PoolTable911 · Mar 19, 2009

Cuephoric said:
What have you encountered that prompts such a question to us minions, sensei?

Now that is funny!

Donny Wessels · Mar 19, 2009

I've found if you pull the cloth tight enough in both directions the cushions will actually make a different sound when the ball hits. I've been wondering if this is actually too tight. I have been using pliers. I still remember the first time I worked with you and for each staple you would set the staple gun down and pull the cloth with both hands, release with one hand too grab the staple gun. I was thinking to myself, I guess this is how they do it in the big league.

poolfitkids · Mar 20, 2009

Dartman said:
Somewhat ditto if thats what he's asking.
Also put a staple on either end to hold the stretched cloth then remove after the fstrip is seated.

Guessing you are refering to facings?

realkingcobra · Mar 20, 2009

Pat, this is your friend Brian's 8ft Olhausen table I set up yesterday here in Vegas.

I've you guys will notice, I don't have any staples holding back any folds or puckers waiting to happen in these pictures. And, when stapling the rails on an Olhausen that don't have the cloth dado relief for the cloth, place your staples further back, about 1/2" or so and when you bolt down the rails, you won't get that loose cloth sag between staples under the rails. I don't know where the pull the cloth as tight as you can when setting the feather strip came from, but I have found out over the years that pulling it tight as you can...makes it harder to get rid of the slack in the corner pockets. In these pictures you can see I don't have any problem with the Simonis 860 installed on these rails. The trick to installing good rail cloths is to keep it manageable in the pockets as far as I'm concerned.

realkingcobra · Mar 20, 2009

This is a Brunswick I worked on a few weeks ago in California. As you can see in the first picture, I stretched the cloth so tight when I put in the feather strip, it still looked wrinkled on the top side after I flipped over the rail. As you can see, I still don't have any problem closing up the corner pocket, as you can see in the second picture. But, knowing how to install the rail cloth both tight and snug, I've found over the years, that I have less fight to keep the puckers out of the pockets...if I don't make the cloth so tight to work with in the first place. When the cloth is stretched so tight end to end first, you have to pull it harder over the nose of the cushion...just to straighten out the stretch of the coth on the top of the cushion. My trick, is to pull the slack out of the cloth...under the rails end ot end as I first start to staple the cloth on the rails.

When installing rail cloth.

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