Bad cushions/rails?

I just recovered a 15+ year old olhausen table It has that same bong sound It had champion fleetwwod rubber all mounted good nice. The rails were 2 part construction with t nuts what I did notice was the placement of the rail bolts they are spread out way far apart like they used to be original 5 rail bolt pattern spacing. Most tables the rail bolt's are located close to the diamonds. This one had it 2 bolts 2" from the ends and 1 in the middle.

So it has to be in the construction of the rails and not the rail rubber making the noise. Its been over a year since my last olhausen table but in one shot I remembered this iscusion on the noise problem and looked into it alittle...

Craig
 
Hi Josh, I just bought a 9ft. National table from a pool hall that recently closed. Had Simonis 860 put on and the table plays true and fast. The problem I'm having is when you shoot a ball down the long rail, the pocket accepts the ball even if the ball hits the 2nd diamond on in.The table is about 40-50 years old and with original rubber. Do you think the rubber has broken down and mushy near the end of rails? Still banks true though. Thanks,Bob Sturgill
 
rsturgill said:
Hi Josh, I just bought a 9ft. National table from a pool hall that recently closed. Had Simonis 860 put on and the table plays true and fast. The problem I'm having is when you shoot a ball down the long rail, the pocket accepts the ball even if the ball hits the 2nd diamond on in.The table is about 40-50 years old and with original rubber. Do you think the rubber has broken down and mushy near the end of rails? Still banks true though. Thanks,Bob Sturgill
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It could be, but from everything else it doesn't sound like it. Measure the width of the pockets at the nose. They might just be loose pockets. I'd say if the rubber was going soft, the whole table should bank a little wide. Let me know how wide the pocket openings are and I'll have a better idea.
 
I probably shouldn't pipe in here since I'm simply a shade tree mechanic. But on the public tables I play on which are all 3C tables one with 1-1/2" slate and the other with 2" both covered with Granito M cloth. When I hear the ball thud off the cushion the cloth and or balls are filthy. On public tables 99.99% of the time it's both. In fact I know this before I get there. I clean the table, add some slide then put some clean balls on and the thud is gone plus the table speed increases.

If you play a bunch on your table and rarely clean the balls or cloth try that. One way to check this is to clean a couple of balls to a like new condition then play for about 30 minutes with just the clean balls then inspect them for burn/scuff marks. If present you have a dirty and or worn out cloth.

Please excuse my 2c.
 
Not in this case. I clean the table frequently and I just bought a new set of Aramith balls. I've been on the road recently and have played in a pool hall in San Diego a couple of times. The tables are 9' GC's and filthy. The balls are old and they use heavy cue balls for some reason. In any case, the cloth is S860 and the rails play quietly and bounce like rocket launchers. I can get 6 full table travels on a ball hit with hard break shot speed. The only other time I saw cushions bounce like that was on a 6'x12' snooker table up in Ottowa. I'm wondering what makes the difference in liveliness and is that really too lively for regular play...?
 
Hi Josh, I measured the pockets per your instructions and they are 4 1/2 at the nose. I get 4 rebounds off the long and short rails when rolling a ball as hard as possible without the ball flying off the table. It could bank a little wide unless you fire the bank. These corner pockets accept balls that are obvious misses on any other table that I have ever played on. Thanks, Bob Sturgill
 
rsturgill said:
Hi Josh, I measured the pockets per your instructions and they are 4 1/2 at the nose. I get 4 rebounds off the long and short rails when rolling a ball as hard as possible without the ball flying off the table. It could bank a little wide unless you fire the bank. These corner pockets accept balls that are obvious misses on any other table that I have ever played on. Thanks, Bob Sturgill
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Are you rolling the ball by hand, or shooting the ball? 4 rails is pretty slow. The rails may be going dead. Keep in mind, any table will bank shorter the harder you shoot the ball into the rail.

I'd say based on the age and brand of the table, if the rubber's never been replaced, it could be going bad. On the other hand, I just got contracted this week to recover an old National from 1962 at our best guess. The guy felt like the table was playing a little slow and wanted it all replaced. When I got the cloth off the rails I told him I wouldn't feel right if I charged him to replace the rubber. Maybe a lot of guys could have, but his rubber felt just like the new stuff. I told him that if we recovered it and he still thought it played too slow with the old rubber that only then would I replace it for him, and at that point, I'd eat the cost of the rail cloth.

Slim chance maybe, but have you ever looked with the cloth off to see what type of rubber is on the table?
 
I just read your original post again... When you say you're shooting the ball down the long rail, do you mean from close to the rail? That may sound dumb, but on some tables, the ANGLE of the entry to the pocket will allow some shots to go that would be rejected on another table even with slightly wider pockets. Just a though.
 
Just this last weekend, I recovered/leveled an Olhausen Pro 9ft table. It was set up by the Billiards factory here in Vegas. Upon first inspection of the tables, things noticed first were:

1) The slates were apart on both seams.
2) The rails were not lined up with the pockets.
3) The cloth was loose.
4) When banking the cue ball length of the table, only 4 times the length of the table could be achieved.
5) Shooting the cue ball around the world, I could only get 7 banks.
6) The corner pocket facings were rounded in the corner pockets.

Taking the table apart:
1) All the rail bolts were a little tighter than finger tight.

I replaced the 1/8" factory pocket facings with 3/16"neoprene facings.
Recovered the cushions after inspection, with Simonis 860 Tour Blue.
Re-leveled the slates, and re-seamed the slates with super glue, finishing with bondo.
I then recovered the bed with the same cloth.
Replaced the rails, torqued the rail bolts to 10ft lbs.

Upon finishing, I then tested the speed of the table again. The banks of the table length wise was now 5 1/2" times the length of the table long wise. The pockets were now accepting well hit balls, instead of rejecting them. And now the rails were lined up with the pockets.

Shooting the cue ball around the world, I could now get 9 banks.

And the sound effects of the rails changed quit a bit from the before work, to the after work, much better sounding after I was done.

Glen
 
bad cushions/rails?

Club Billiards said:
I just read your original post again... When you say you're shooting the ball down the long rail, do you mean from close to the rail? That may sound dumb, but on some tables, the ANGLE of the entry to the pocket will allow some shots to go that would be rejected on another table even with slightly wider pockets. Just a though.
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Hi Josh, I was rolling the ball by hand when testing the number of rebounds. You can be shooting at the corner pockets from close in or from an angle from the center of table and it seems like the corners will gobble up almost any ball that hits the rail from about the second diamond on in. I pulled the cloth off the rails but I'm not sure what kind of rubber is on it. Although the edges are discolored and almost white. Compared to the tour edition on my last table, this rubber looks pretty old and ragged. Do you think that the way the slate is cut for the pocket openings has a factor or do you think I should replace the rubber with tour edition?Thanks,Bob sturgill
 
rsturgill said:
Hi Josh, I was rolling the ball by hand when testing the number of rebounds. You can be shooting at the corner pockets from close in or from an angle from the center of table and it seems like the corners will gobble up almost any ball that hits the rail from about the second diamond on in. I pulled the cloth off the rails but I'm not sure what kind of rubber is on it. Although the edges are discolored and almost white. Compared to the tour edition on my last table, this rubber looks pretty old and ragged. Do you think that the way the slate is cut for the pocket openings has a factor or do you think I should replace the rubber with tour edition?Thanks,Bob sturgill
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Yeah, if the rubber is getting discolored and broken down, sounds like it's time to replace it. Give me a call or PM me and I'll get you a quote for me to head up and do it. Let me know what kind of cloth you want too. Simonis 860 again? What color? What rubber? What date and time? ;) Thanks.
 
Club Billiards said:
Yeah, if the rubber is getting discolored and broken down, sounds like it's time to replace it. Give me a call or PM me and I'll get you a quote for me to head up and do it. Let me know what kind of cloth you want too. Simonis 860 again? What color? What rubber? What date and time? ;) Thanks.
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Hi Josh, I had a friend here in Toledo replace the cushions using Tour Edition and that was what it needed. I appreciate all your expertise and offer to help me out. Will definitely keep you in mind for future projects.Thanks, Bob Sturgill
 
rsturgill said:
Hi Josh, I had a friend here in Toledo replace the cushions using Tour Edition and that was what it needed. I appreciate all your expertise and offer to help me out. Will definitely keep you in mind for future projects.Thanks, Bob Sturgill
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No problem. Glad your table is playing good!
 
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