snookered_again
Well-known member
good tables wont have the rails held on by screws, so if it has wood screws holding the rails down it might be made in china garbage, but none the less, its what you have. you want to fix it up, you can.
Its possible something is under the rail , like folds of cloth creating a bump and the rail can rock on something like that so just try to firmly wiggle it , see if it's moving at all without getting destructive it should not.
if screws strip put wood splinters or tooth picks coated in white glue in the screw holes, then they will grab. Easy to fix.
If a former owner put new rubber on and failed to really clean the old glue off or left dirt in there or let them dry too long before making contact, and for whatever reason, the new glue didn't bond properly then the rubber can come loose.
Just unwrap it , fix that by cleaning and regluing it and you will see if it's come loose.
you can look along the top of the rail where the rubber meets the rail, gently try to move the rubber itself up and down to feel if it is loose from the rail . see if it's about flush on top. I think you
said its only one area, which supports this theory.
I restored a tiny brunswick from about 1962 or so , cute little vintage mid century modern table but the rails are held with screws. Its actually pretty rare and there arent; a lot of tables around that size unless you look at new ones. I like it but it is what it is, this isn't super high end.
I put different rubber because the old stuff was NLA and only about 12" thick.. had to trim the rails on my tablesaw about 10 mm to keep the new 3/4" triangular rubber in the same place. at least I had a fresh surface.
having done that the rubber was different and I went into experimenting with the rail height trying to find the optimum, found that measuring is one thing but the effect of the bounce tells more at one point. I made shims to go under therails but found them too thick. also the staples under the rail , there was a little pocket milled in for the staples and the cloth so it didnt sit on that, or wasnt; supposed to, having cloth between caused something not rigid to sort of rock upon.
I took a piece of rubber covered wire ( not plastic) laid that along the rail , closer to the table than the outside of the rail, that tipped the rail upwards just a little, lifting the ball contact point. then when I tightened all the screws it felt way more solid and rebound was very nice. It is what it is.
A gold crown or higher end table will have a more solid mounting. my old brunswick balke collender has solid bolts that go through the rails and into captive nuts that are held in pockets , basically inside the slate, also the rails are hardwood not particleboard or garbage pine or cheap wood. it's extremely solid and much higher quality. The factory standards were obvipusly a lot higher back in 1915 or whenever it was made.
you might add more screws, I'd suggest you take that rail off and look under it, see if there is anything that it can rock upon, like maybe some felt bunched up under there. If the rubber is loose you can replace it or try to clean it well enough that new glue sticks.
the table probably isn't worth the cost of calling a guy in, this is stuff you can tackle successfully if you are ok working on things yourself.
I dont know about your area, here I see many better tables listed for free if I just watch and look around me, ive seen some incredible snooker tables no one wants to provide space for. It may differ a lot by area. Im in the city where real estate is very expensive so its driving the pool halls out and the sport shrunk since it's boom days. I have a disassembled brunswick 4x8 slate from 1970 I've been trying to pass along, for free, no takers. It would need new rubber and cloth but I'd rather than than the chinese garbage I'm seeing.
I found a 10 foot table, thought it looked ok , slate, we went and looked and went to take the rails off, looked at how the thing was constructed, we ended up putting back together what we had removed, It wasnt; for me but the guy who wanted it had second thoughts and he appologised for the confusion and we left, he knew it wasn't worth the real estate basically. It was that or some other table so I dont think he made such a bad decision to abandon the thing even though it was free.
one thing you can look at is the rail bolts. if they are metric it's likely made in china garbage, if the corners look solid but you see they are thin cheap metal thats a sign. if its' an older US made table they probaby used standard fasteners. look at the bolt heads. metric will have a number indicating grade, so it may say 5.5 or something. if they are super cheap hardware store quality bolts from china they often have no hardness markings and will be metric.
If you see they are standard and have a numenr of lines on the head those are better grade, the harder they are the more lines you will see, two lines means stainless. three is pretty standard, that's a grade 5 bolt. it won't have a high grade bolt but thats one way to separate the made in china garbage just by examining the bolts. sure someone could stick in different bolts. and new stuff might be metric.
this is very general but:
Im often seeing machienry come in , some of it is real junk made offshore, metric bolts with no hardness indication, they strip easy because they are cheap metal. the bolts used in production will reflect the makers quality standards, Im not concerned about the bolts themselves its just an general indicator of quality , or lack thereof. If i go taking things apart I'll often find cheap made in china bearings etc. a lot of this new offshore stuff is just such cheap quality but if you look in magazines and internet photos, you cant tell a good ( older european or US made) frame casting from cheap porus garbage castings.
I'm generalizing, everything metric isn't junk but a good quality metric bolt will usually have a grade marking on it.
my suggestion is just try, don't be afraid there is ony so much to loose. Try to look at that one bad cushion, you can solve this if you try. moving it out and a different table in is work too, no matter what its worth, It's a thing to play with and you'll have some fun without spending lots. Get some practice have a little fun, and that's all that matters. If you take it seriously you can always upgrade. we had loads of fun on my tiny brunswick I'm kind of fond of it even though it's not a high end thing. who cares, its vintage and cool. Gee it lasted quite a few years too..
the way i see it if Im having fun fixing stuff up and not breaking the budget thats ok, I dont care about the time I spent. most antique restoration is similar, its a labor of love. The only time there is much money involved is if you hire a person to carry out work for you.. If you call in a mechanic prepare to pay his rates, you cant expect him to work cheaply just because he;s working on a tabel not worth too much. Things like this are often just what a restorer enjoys doing and you don't need a PHD to fix up an old pool table. If you own a business and want a pro to do your felts and have a good guy you rely on that is worth what he asks , expect that serious players will use it and complain about anythign they find... That's a completely different situation than some old cheapo table that a guy just wants to play with in his basement. maybe have some fun with his kids or similar.
you can get better just by hours of practice and having one at home enables you to get more practice work on your stroke and your angles etc, without spending money, even if it's just a POS , Then you can go out to a pool hall with your friends and feel more confident. many more serious players got where they are because dad provided some sort of table when they were kids. Often just a warped up 4x8 particleboard thing.
Many have fond memories of this sort of thing. Their dad maybe didnt run out and buy a high end table, but it evolved into a lot more , for many.
Its possible something is under the rail , like folds of cloth creating a bump and the rail can rock on something like that so just try to firmly wiggle it , see if it's moving at all without getting destructive it should not.
if screws strip put wood splinters or tooth picks coated in white glue in the screw holes, then they will grab. Easy to fix.
If a former owner put new rubber on and failed to really clean the old glue off or left dirt in there or let them dry too long before making contact, and for whatever reason, the new glue didn't bond properly then the rubber can come loose.
Just unwrap it , fix that by cleaning and regluing it and you will see if it's come loose.
you can look along the top of the rail where the rubber meets the rail, gently try to move the rubber itself up and down to feel if it is loose from the rail . see if it's about flush on top. I think you
said its only one area, which supports this theory.
I restored a tiny brunswick from about 1962 or so , cute little vintage mid century modern table but the rails are held with screws. Its actually pretty rare and there arent; a lot of tables around that size unless you look at new ones. I like it but it is what it is, this isn't super high end.
I put different rubber because the old stuff was NLA and only about 12" thick.. had to trim the rails on my tablesaw about 10 mm to keep the new 3/4" triangular rubber in the same place. at least I had a fresh surface.
having done that the rubber was different and I went into experimenting with the rail height trying to find the optimum, found that measuring is one thing but the effect of the bounce tells more at one point. I made shims to go under therails but found them too thick. also the staples under the rail , there was a little pocket milled in for the staples and the cloth so it didnt sit on that, or wasnt; supposed to, having cloth between caused something not rigid to sort of rock upon.
I took a piece of rubber covered wire ( not plastic) laid that along the rail , closer to the table than the outside of the rail, that tipped the rail upwards just a little, lifting the ball contact point. then when I tightened all the screws it felt way more solid and rebound was very nice. It is what it is.
A gold crown or higher end table will have a more solid mounting. my old brunswick balke collender has solid bolts that go through the rails and into captive nuts that are held in pockets , basically inside the slate, also the rails are hardwood not particleboard or garbage pine or cheap wood. it's extremely solid and much higher quality. The factory standards were obvipusly a lot higher back in 1915 or whenever it was made.
you might add more screws, I'd suggest you take that rail off and look under it, see if there is anything that it can rock upon, like maybe some felt bunched up under there. If the rubber is loose you can replace it or try to clean it well enough that new glue sticks.
the table probably isn't worth the cost of calling a guy in, this is stuff you can tackle successfully if you are ok working on things yourself.
I dont know about your area, here I see many better tables listed for free if I just watch and look around me, ive seen some incredible snooker tables no one wants to provide space for. It may differ a lot by area. Im in the city where real estate is very expensive so its driving the pool halls out and the sport shrunk since it's boom days. I have a disassembled brunswick 4x8 slate from 1970 I've been trying to pass along, for free, no takers. It would need new rubber and cloth but I'd rather than than the chinese garbage I'm seeing.
I found a 10 foot table, thought it looked ok , slate, we went and looked and went to take the rails off, looked at how the thing was constructed, we ended up putting back together what we had removed, It wasnt; for me but the guy who wanted it had second thoughts and he appologised for the confusion and we left, he knew it wasn't worth the real estate basically. It was that or some other table so I dont think he made such a bad decision to abandon the thing even though it was free.
one thing you can look at is the rail bolts. if they are metric it's likely made in china garbage, if the corners look solid but you see they are thin cheap metal thats a sign. if its' an older US made table they probaby used standard fasteners. look at the bolt heads. metric will have a number indicating grade, so it may say 5.5 or something. if they are super cheap hardware store quality bolts from china they often have no hardness markings and will be metric.
If you see they are standard and have a numenr of lines on the head those are better grade, the harder they are the more lines you will see, two lines means stainless. three is pretty standard, that's a grade 5 bolt. it won't have a high grade bolt but thats one way to separate the made in china garbage just by examining the bolts. sure someone could stick in different bolts. and new stuff might be metric.
this is very general but:
Im often seeing machienry come in , some of it is real junk made offshore, metric bolts with no hardness indication, they strip easy because they are cheap metal. the bolts used in production will reflect the makers quality standards, Im not concerned about the bolts themselves its just an general indicator of quality , or lack thereof. If i go taking things apart I'll often find cheap made in china bearings etc. a lot of this new offshore stuff is just such cheap quality but if you look in magazines and internet photos, you cant tell a good ( older european or US made) frame casting from cheap porus garbage castings.
I'm generalizing, everything metric isn't junk but a good quality metric bolt will usually have a grade marking on it.
my suggestion is just try, don't be afraid there is ony so much to loose. Try to look at that one bad cushion, you can solve this if you try. moving it out and a different table in is work too, no matter what its worth, It's a thing to play with and you'll have some fun without spending lots. Get some practice have a little fun, and that's all that matters. If you take it seriously you can always upgrade. we had loads of fun on my tiny brunswick I'm kind of fond of it even though it's not a high end thing. who cares, its vintage and cool. Gee it lasted quite a few years too..
the way i see it if Im having fun fixing stuff up and not breaking the budget thats ok, I dont care about the time I spent. most antique restoration is similar, its a labor of love. The only time there is much money involved is if you hire a person to carry out work for you.. If you call in a mechanic prepare to pay his rates, you cant expect him to work cheaply just because he;s working on a tabel not worth too much. Things like this are often just what a restorer enjoys doing and you don't need a PHD to fix up an old pool table. If you own a business and want a pro to do your felts and have a good guy you rely on that is worth what he asks , expect that serious players will use it and complain about anythign they find... That's a completely different situation than some old cheapo table that a guy just wants to play with in his basement. maybe have some fun with his kids or similar.
you can get better just by hours of practice and having one at home enables you to get more practice work on your stroke and your angles etc, without spending money, even if it's just a POS , Then you can go out to a pool hall with your friends and feel more confident. many more serious players got where they are because dad provided some sort of table when they were kids. Often just a warped up 4x8 particleboard thing.
Many have fond memories of this sort of thing. Their dad maybe didnt run out and buy a high end table, but it evolved into a lot more , for many.
Last edited:
