Balls wearing tracks into the slate

[TheBook]

A friend has a 9 ft Diamond with the 3 piece slate. He says that the slate is 1 5/8". He has had it a few years and has just put on his 3rd cloth. He uses a Sardo rack. He keeps a man book consisting of all games played on it. He told me how many but i don't remember but they are all 8 ball.

I asked him if there was a lot of chalk under the cloth when he removed the cloth and he said no but there were ball tracks on the slate from the rack is placed. He said that you could see the spots where the balls were racked and the tracks from the wing balls into the end rail. He said that even though you could see them you could not really feel a groove. He is a machinist and owns a machine shop. So I feel he knows something about measuring and feel. After the recover (4 weeks ago) he said that the tracks seem to be wearing in faster and also reflecting thru the cloth.

Is it possible for the balls to wear tracks like that into the slate? Does the type of cloth have any effect?

 

[realkingcobra]

A friend has a 9 ft Diamond with the 3 piece slate. He says that the slate is 1 5/8". He has had it a few years and has just put on his 3rd cloth. He uses a Sardo rack. He keeps a man book consisting of all games played on it. He told me how many but i don't remember but they are all 8 ball.

I asked him if there was a lot of chalk under the cloth when he removed the cloth and he said no but there were ball tracks on the slate from the rack is placed. He said that you could see the spots where the balls were racked and the tracks from the wing balls into the end rail. He said that even though you could see them you could not really feel a groove. He is a machinist and owns a machine shop. So I feel he knows something about measuring and feel. After the recover (4 weeks ago) he said that the tracks seem to be wearing in faster and also reflecting thru the cloth.

Is it possible for the balls to wear tracks like that into the slate? Does the type of cloth have any effect?

First of all, Diamond has never had a 1 5/8"ths thick slate so he needs to remeasure the slate again..it's 30mm(1 3/16"ths) second...it's impossible to wear tracks from the balls in the surface of the slate..."impossible"

Glen

Glen

 

[QuickEdward]

First of all, Diamond has never had a 1 5/8"ths thick slate so he needs to remeasure the slate again..it's 30mm(1 3/16"ths) second...it's impossible to wear tracks from the balls in the surface of the slate..."impossible"

Not impossible at all...

I'm sure that given a few hundred years of continuous 24 hour racking and breaking from the same spot that it would wear some tracks a thousands of an inch or so....

 

[realkingcobra]

Not impossible at all...

I'm sure that given a few hundred years of continuous 24 hour racking and breaking from the same spot that it would wear some tracks a thousands of an inch or so....

Nope....I've worked on tables that old and didn't see anything wrong with the slates from ball track wear

 

[DJBilliards]

I agree no way is the slate getting worn down. If it seems like there are grooves or tracks my guess is there was a chalk/dust build up everywhere on the slate except where the balls are being racked.
Don

 

[ROB.M]

tracks

I think this is kinda what was looking at...I'm sure we all have seen the dark lines along the slate near the rails where the balls pass to the pocket..
-
Rob.M

 

[Dartman]

Looks like a bunch of slate scratches to me.
I'd agree tho that it's rather far-fetched to get ball tracks in slate.

 

[ROB.M]

slate

Besides the scratchs..I'm talking about the dark line about half inch wide and one inch or so in front of the bolt holes ..
-
Rob.M

 

[greyghost]

Besides the scratchs..I'm talking about the dark line about half inch wide and one inch or so in front of the bolt holes ..
-
Rob.M

i see what your talking about.....

maybe something like a burnish mark...all that rolling over and over possibly could do that w/o actually changing the surface?

thats a pretty interesting question tho

 

[Club Billiards]

Those mark are just where the rail sits. They are not what TheBook is talking about. What he's talking about is the chalk dust buildup under the cloth where the balls are racked, and the wear marks (usually V-shaped) from the cue ball's path to the rack.

When the table gets recovered, you'll need to clean/scrape off that chalk buildup under the rack. The only thing it could wear into the slate is if the head ball has chipped out the slate underneath. Sometimes, you'll see a small dent under the head ball. Usually keeping a spot on the table will help prevent the head ball from wearing through the cloth and chipping the slate. Also, I know it can be tough, but a little more control on the break, so the cue ball isn't in the air when it hits the rack might help. At that speed, it might not be enough to see it, but if the cueball is in the air at all when it hits the head ball, it will drive that ball down into the table.