new table - couple of questions

Tin Man said:

I'm pretty excited. I just got a 9' Diamond Pro Am (blue label). It's the one piece slate with the black wood. This is what I play on when I travel to tournaments so I'm pretty pumped! I didn't shim the pockets so I think they are 4 1/2, but that's ok. That's what I compete on. Also, with my 11 year old daughter learning the game I didn't want to make things too tough. Yet. Besides, as the cloth wears in they don't play too loose. Definitely not tight, but not complete buckets.

My questions:

1) Rails. The rails aren't as lively as most of the diamonds I've played on. Typically they seem to rebound energetically. My rails aren't dead by any stretch, but they aren't energetic. To be fair this is about the same as the tables at Turning Stone played when I went there last August. Not slow, just not explosive. Is this the way the new blue labels are supposed to play? Or is something wrong? Should I be trying to speed them up? If so, how? Would a dehumidifier help in my poolroom? Any suggestions?

2) Balls. OK, this is easier. I have really old centennials. They simply don't break apart on this table. Straight pool is virtually impossible. 10 ball is really, really difficult. I rack pretty well and half the time I explode the break and the middle of the rack barely opens up. I'm looking at a new set of balls, but I don't know which way I should go: Aramith or Cyclops. Thoughts? Will one set break better? What do more tournaments these days use? I think Aramith but can't really remember. Also, is there a good alternative ball polisher to Diamond's $600 one?

Let me know, thanks gang!

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Gerry said:

Nothing cooler then getting the table you want in your home! except maybe a red rider bb gun, or garage sale Szamboti find...

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Tin Man said:

I'm pretty excited. I just got a 9' Diamond Pro Am (blue label). It's the one piece slate with the black wood. This is what I play on when I travel to tournaments so I'm pretty pumped! I didn't shim the pockets so I think they are 4 1/2, but that's ok. That's what I compete on. Also, with my 11 year old daughter learning the game I didn't want to make things too tough. Yet. Besides, as the cloth wears in they don't play too loose. Definitely not tight, but not complete buckets.

My questions:

1) Rails. The rails aren't as lively as most of the diamonds I've played on. Typically they seem to rebound energetically. My rails aren't dead by any stretch, but they aren't energetic. To be fair this is about the same as the tables at Turning Stone played when I went there last August. Not slow, just not explosive. Is this the way the new blue labels are supposed to play? Or is something wrong? Should I be trying to speed them up? If so, how? Would a dehumidifier help in my poolroom? Any suggestions?

2) Balls. OK, this is easier. I have really old centennials. They simply don't break apart on this table. Straight pool is virtually impossible. 10 ball is really, really difficult. I rack pretty well and half the time I explode the break and the middle of the rack barely opens up. I'm looking at a new set of balls, but I don't know which way I should go: Aramith or Cyclops. Thoughts? Will one set break better? What do more tournaments these days use? I think Aramith but can't really remember. Also, is there a good alternative ball polisher to Diamond's $600 one?

Let me know, thanks gang!

Click to expand...

Tin Man said:

I'm pretty excited. I just got a 9' Diamond Pro Am (blue label). It's the one piece slate with the black wood. This is what I play on when I travel to tournaments so I'm pretty pumped! I didn't shim the pockets so I think they are 4 1/2, but that's ok. That's what I compete on. Also, with my 11 year old daughter learning the game I didn't want to make things too tough. Yet. Besides, as the cloth wears in they don't play too loose. Definitely not tight, but not complete buckets.

My questions:

1) Rails. The rails aren't as lively as most of the diamonds I've played on. Typically they seem to rebound energetically. My rails aren't dead by any stretch, but they aren't energetic. To be fair this is about the same as the tables at Turning Stone played when I went there last August. Not slow, just not explosive. Is this the way the new blue labels are supposed to play? Or is something wrong? Should I be trying to speed them up? If so, how? Would a dehumidifier help in my poolroom? Any suggestions?

2) Balls. OK, this is easier. I have really old centennials. They simply don't break apart on this table. Straight pool is virtually impossible. 10 ball is really, really difficult. I rack pretty well and half the time I explode the break and the middle of the rack barely opens up. I'm looking at a new set of balls, but I don't know which way I should go: Aramith or Cyclops. Thoughts? Will one set break better? What do more tournaments these days use? I think Aramith but can't really remember. Also, is there a good alternative ball polisher to Diamond's $600 one?

Let me know, thanks gang!

Click to expand...

Tin Man said:

I'm pretty excited. I just got a 9' Diamond Pro Am (blue label). It's the one piece slate with the black wood. This is what I play on when I travel to tournaments so I'm pretty pumped! I didn't shim the pockets so I think they are 4 1/2, but that's ok. That's what I compete on. Also, with my 11 year old daughter learning the game I didn't want to make things too tough. Yet. Besides, as the cloth wears in they don't play too loose. Definitely not tight, but not complete buckets.

My questions:

1) Rails. The rails aren't as lively as most of the diamonds I've played on. Typically they seem to rebound energetically. My rails aren't dead by any stretch, but they aren't energetic. To be fair this is about the same as the tables at Turning Stone played when I went there last August. Not slow, just not explosive. Is this the way the new blue labels are supposed to play? Or is something wrong? Should I be trying to speed them up? If so, how? Would a dehumidifier help in my poolroom? Any suggestions?

2) Balls. OK, this is easier. I have really old centennials. They simply don't break apart on this table. Straight pool is virtually impossible. 10 ball is really, really difficult. I rack pretty well and half the time I explode the break and the middle of the rack barely opens up. I'm looking at a new set of balls, but I don't know which way I should go: Aramith or Cyclops. Thoughts? Will one set break better? What do more tournaments these days use? I think Aramith but can't really remember. Also, is there a good alternative ball polisher to Diamond's $600 one?

Let me know, thanks gang!

Click to expand...

Tin Man said:

Thanks for the replies guys!

OK, balls/breaking first. I use a delta 13 rack currently. I will admit I am having a really hard time getting the balls tight. I am a pretty strong racker in general but it's a lot of work every time I rack the balls on this table. It's almost as if the cloth is so thin there is no way to push them into place, it feels like I'm racking the balls directly on the slate and instead of nestling together they just come apart a little. I'm constantly having to feather the 1 ball back with my finger or freeze them by hand. So that's probably the issue.

I think I'm going to get a couple of template racks. In the past I've struggled to get tight racks with the templates because there are such big indents in the cloth around the rack area, so maybe now since the cloth seems so tight and thin I can make the template work. I will still buy a set of Aramith balls (I think the tourneys use the TV Pro balls, is that right?) and a good polisher as well (thanks for the link Gerry!).

As for the rails, with a very firm (18mph or so) swing I can lag the cue ball and get 5 rails (so the cue ball hits the opposite end rail a total of three times). It just dribbles to that last rail. The other odd thing is that as the balls roll they seem to make a bit of a 'rumble' sound. Almost like they are rolling directly on the slate. I know the cloth is tight and it is Simonis, but it seems slightly strange to me.

Of course this is playable, like I said, they are not dead. And I'm not debating the merits of fast vs slow rails. But we all know that most diamonds play with extremely fast rails. I was merely trying to ascertain if this meant something was wrong with my table or if this was the direction Diamond was moving. I want to practice on what I compete on. If this is how the new tournament tables will play (like Turning stone did) that is fine. I just don't want to show up at DCC or the US Open and be playing a totally different game. I will double check the rails are bolted but the mechanic that set this table up is top notch. It sounds like this is a known experience based on easy-s's last post. I can adjust just fine, just seems odd.

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ChrisinNC said:

... The Diamond polisher can only polish 8 balls so it takes 2 cycles to polish a full set.

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AtLarge said:

Diamond makes polishers in two sizes, one for 8 balls and one for 16.

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iusedtoberich said:

It’s been my personal experience that Diamonds are not as consistent as GC’s in different rooms/parts of the country. I have played on them in Colorado, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Virginia, and Georgia. Sometimes they play close to a GC, and sometimes they play like pinball machines. I personally think it’s something about the cushion material, and it is more susceptible to environmental factors than super speed cushions.

I recall even at the same place (DCC), one year it was snowing and they were closer to pinball machines. The last year I went 2 years ago it was warm outside, and they played like GC’s.

So, I’d bet there is nothing wrong with your table. It’s just the normal variations due to environmental conditions.

Also, plus one for template racks, new balls, and a polisher. New balls will definitely bounce more off of the rails. I experienced that myself on my home table.

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