a couple slate & cloth questions.

B

brigeton

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have an 8' Brunswick at home. I have had it recovered twice since I've owned it by 2 different mechanics. Both times the wax in the slate seams has popped. I am considering working on it myself as I have seen it done a couple of times and I am fairly handy. I am torn on replacing the felt when I do it. My main concern is getting the cloth on the rails right, that looks kind of tricky but I know if I only do the bed the color difference between the bed and rails won't look good.
1. my cloth is glued, how hard is it to remove without damaging it?

2. many on here recommend bondo on the slate seams, is there a certain type of bondo to use?

3. If I superglue paper between the seams when using bondo what type of paper and how thick?

4. what works good to remove all the wax before I bondo?
 
Looking forward to the answers here but most posts I have read for #4 say turpentine to remove the wax.


brigeton said:
I have an 8' Brunswick at home. I have had it recovered twice since I've owned it by 2 different mechanics. Both times the wax in the slate seams has popped. I am considering working on it myself as I have seen it done a couple of times and I am fairly handy. I am torn on replacing the felt when I do it. My main concern is getting the cloth on the rails right, that looks kind of tricky but I know if I only do the bed the color difference between the bed and rails won't look good.
1. my cloth is glued, how hard is it to remove without damaging it?

2. many on here recommend bondo on the slate seams, is there a certain type of bondo to use?

3. If I superglue paper between the seams when using bondo what type of paper and how thick?

4. what works good to remove all the wax before I bondo?
Click to expand...
 
Responses in Red

brigeton said:
1. my cloth is glued, how hard is it to remove without damaging it?

Not bad. But, it all depends on the glue used, and how it was applied. It will be impossible to remove the glue from the cloth, so it may leave high spots in the pocket areas, when you reinstall it. If you use the same glue to reinstall, it may likely reactivate the existing, and allow it to lay flat (with some pressure).

2. many on here recommend bondo on the slate seams, is there a certain type of bondo to use?

I will NOT recommend Bondo, for a number of reasons. Anyhow, should you wish to use it, use this:

0000182-24.jpg


3. If I superglue paper between the seams when using bondo what type of paper and how thick?

Drywall tape (paper) works well. Insert pieces at 4-5 locations across each seam.

4. what works good to remove all the wax before I bondo?

Mineral spirits and a Scotch-brite pad
Click to expand...
 
Not a professional here, so these are just my experiences with Brunswick tables. I have recovered three different Brunswick tables that I have had. The first two, I used standard cloth, similar to what they come with. Recovering the bed and rails was quite easy. My last table was alot harder, as I used a high grade cloth, Championship worsted ultra, and it didn't stretch as easily. First rail I tried twice on the first corner, and didn't get a result that I liked, so I decided to call a professional to see if I could pay him to do the rails for me, he said no problem, charged me $75, was money well spent. Went good after that, got a nice even stretch after watching some good youtubes. The center pockets were a little difficult, but turned out fine. As to slate popping both my first two tables did also, the frame is really not very sturdy and very prone to sagging. When redoing my last table, last spring with the high end cloth, I pulled the slates, and beefed up the frame by gluing and screwing an extra layer of 3/4" oak around the whole inside perimeter. Took a little fitting, but I am a woodworker, and have a full wood shop at home. This really stiffened it up and there was virtually no sagging after setting the slates. I think I had to raise the center about .015" I also used super glue on some paper pieces in the seams this time, and bondoed the seams. The level has not changed, and slates have not popped in a year.
 
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