I got a good deal on a Sport King a couple of months ago ($1500), in fairly good condition....the slate was popped on one side where someone tried to lift it up with it still pinned...anyway....the repair was with bondo and 100% smooth as glass.
So after initial setup and leveing of the frame, i noticed that both end slates sag towards the middle slate (all roll off is in direction of middle slate), and middle slate was dead level.....I spent a few hours getting all slates level to each other and the problem is now clear, the two long frame supports seemed to have sagged over time (2"x8" i think, not a home right now, its actually 2" i think, not 1.5 like standard lumber today)...
Anyway, that seems acceptable for a table thats probably 40-50 years old. It took 3 packs of cards to shim it dead level (used 2 "footings" on each side of slate and one in the middle of the table). so now the only place any slate touches the frame directly is on the short ends.
Any significant problem with this? Sure, it may or may not be as "solid" as it would be if all the slate skirts were in full contact with frame, but it is home use and seems as solid as before.....(just FYI...for the worst area, it took 12 cards to get right (dont worry, i "countershimmed" the adjacent slate so they all remained level and flush).
Second....Is there an easy way to make sure all the rails are square? a tape measure and 2ft steel L-square just dont seem accurate enough....
(ohh, and theres no legitimate table mechanic in my area)
Thanks!
So after initial setup and leveing of the frame, i noticed that both end slates sag towards the middle slate (all roll off is in direction of middle slate), and middle slate was dead level.....I spent a few hours getting all slates level to each other and the problem is now clear, the two long frame supports seemed to have sagged over time (2"x8" i think, not a home right now, its actually 2" i think, not 1.5 like standard lumber today)...
Anyway, that seems acceptable for a table thats probably 40-50 years old. It took 3 packs of cards to shim it dead level (used 2 "footings" on each side of slate and one in the middle of the table). so now the only place any slate touches the frame directly is on the short ends.
Any significant problem with this? Sure, it may or may not be as "solid" as it would be if all the slate skirts were in full contact with frame, but it is home use and seems as solid as before.....(just FYI...for the worst area, it took 12 cards to get right (dont worry, i "countershimmed" the adjacent slate so they all remained level and flush).
Second....Is there an easy way to make sure all the rails are square? a tape measure and 2ft steel L-square just dont seem accurate enough....
(ohh, and theres no legitimate table mechanic in my area)
Thanks!
