Gold Crown Restoration

S

stroke

Banned
Anybody ever tried restoring a 9' Gold Crown by yourself? I just installed some new cushions and rail cloth. Turning the rail assembly over without any help seems impossible but somehow I managed. Got to put the Simonis over the slate then get this mother back together. It's like working on a boat in your home. I should be bustin a few racks later today. Haven't played in a couple months!:eek:

fm867


ek4nt
 
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Have you looked into the cost of getting new rails or having the rails restored? Anyone know how much this costs?
 
You really should have taken the skirts off before removing the rail assembly. The way the skirts hook into the rail assembly it would be very easy to do damage trying to handle the whole assembly as one piece. Once you remove the skirts you leave the rail assembly together though, don't undo all the rails. That must have been a very hard job the way you did it and it must have been hard to pull the rail cloth with the skirts in the way.
 
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Removing the skirts

Removing the skirts wouldn't have helped. I needed them on to give the assembly some strength because I had to turn this thing over and put it back on the table upside down in order to get the rail cloth stapled.

I would have finished it earlier today but ran out of staples. :mad:
 
mnShooter: The cost is reasonable if you do the work. The Simonis for a 9' for the bed and rails is about $180.00. The rubber is about $55.00. If you pay someone to do the work, they will probably charge around $150.00.
 
stroke said:
mnShooter: The cost is reasonable if you do the work. The Simonis for a 9' for the bed and rails is about $180.00. The rubber is about $55.00. If you pay someone to do the work, they will probably charge around $150.00.
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No no no no... I don't mean the rubber and the felt. I mean the whole rail assembly.
 
mnShooter said:
No no no no... I don't mean the rubber and the felt. I mean the whole rail assembly.
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I don't know what you mean by "the whole rail assembly". It depends on what type of table and how much work they need, I guess....
 
stroke said:
Removing the skirts wouldn't have helped. I needed them on to give the assembly some strength because I had to turn this thing over and put it back on the table upside down in order to get the rail cloth stapled.

I would have finished it earlier today but ran out of staples. :mad:
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With all due respect that is not how it's done. I have covered lots and lots of Gold Crowns of tables by myself with no problem. There is a step by step system to doing the job where you don't kill yourself and end up with a nice finished job.
 
macguy said:
With all due respect that is not how it's done. I have covered lots and lots of Gold Crowns of tables by myself with no problem. There is a step by step system to doing the job where you don't kill yourself and end up with a nice finished job.
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I do have a "nice finished job". :D Pics tomorrow...

What is the "step by step system"?
 
stroke said:
I do have a "nice finished job". :D Pics tomorrow...

What is the "step by step system"?
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I have a system for covering tables that I learned from a good mechanic but there are different ways to accomplish the same thing and different guys may do it different ways. My problem with the way you did it is not taking off the skirts. That could have an ehffect of the out come when you are done. With the skirts still on the table it is very hard to pull the cloth on the rails when you are stapling it.

The cloth has the be pulled just right, not to hard or not to loose. If you pull it too hard you end up with dents in the rail rubber and as you look down the rail the point of the rubber goes in and out and of course you don't want it too loose. I don't see how you could do this right with the skirts still on the table.

I like to stand at the rails and with my finger tips pull the cloth to me and put in the staples I can feel just how much I am pulling the cloth. You can't do that at all with the skirts still on the table. It would also be very hard to work the cloth around and into the pockets nicely with the skirts still on, it seems it would be almost impossable to do a reliable job.
 
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macguy said:
I have a system for covering tables that I learned from a good mechanic but there are different ways to accomplish the same thing and different guys may do it different ways. My problem with the way you did it is not taking off the skirts. That could have an ehffect of the out come when you are done. With the skirts still on the table it is very hard to pull the cloth on the rails when you are stapling it.

The cloth has the be pulled just right, not to hard or not to loose. If you pull it too hard you end up with dents in the rail rubber and as you look down the rail the point of the rubber goes in and out and of course you don't want it too loose. I don't see how you could do this right with the skirts still on the table.

I like to stand at the rails and with my finger tips pull the cloth to me and put in the staples I can feel just how much I am pulling the cloth. You can't do that at all with the skirts still on the table. It would also be very hard to work the cloth around and into the pockets nicely with the skirts still on, it seems it would be almost impossable to do a reliable job.
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I agree with mac in regards to the way you did it being harder to do. But that is the beauty of pool table installation. There isn't one specific way to do it but there are ways that make it much easier. I personally would have done it differently than both of you have described. As long as the finish product is exceptable, then it's all good
 
NineBallNut said:
I agree with mac in regards to the way you did it being harder to do. But that is the beauty of pool table installation. There isn't one specific way to do it but there are ways that make it much easier. I personally would have done it differently than both of you have described. As long as the finish product is exceptable, then it's all good
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If it's not giving away any trade secrets can you describe any methods you feel are good. My only real experience is covering my own tables as a room owner and GC's are really the tables I am most familiar with doing. I learned from Danny DiLiberto to cover tables but later I ran into a guy who was a real whiz and he showed me a few of his tricks that really made it a pleasure to do. Got any good tricks you want to let out of the bag?
 
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macguy said:
If it's not giving away any trade secrets can you describe any methods you feel are good. My only real experience is covering my own tables as a room owner and GC's are really the tables I am most familiar with doing. I learned from Danny DiLiberto to cover tables but later I ran into a guy who was a real whiz and he showed me a few of his tricks that really made it a pleasure to do. Got any good tricks you want to let out of the bag?
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I don't mind discussing any techniques with you guys. My problem is that I have been doing it so long that it just comes natural, I don't even think about what I'm doing once I get started. If you have specific questions about certain areas then it may jog my brain. :) Gold crowns are real easy to work on. I used to leave the rail assembly together like you do and just drop the aprons. these days I am more prone to take the rails apart. I work very fast and like to be able to flip the rails to different positions and also be able to check the finished rail for anything I don't like before I go to the next. Will some criticize me for this, most likely, but I get the results desired and my customers are always happy. I actually can take the rails apart, refelt and get them back together quicker than I can felt them by leaving the whole assembly together.
Some tables I've worked on actually have the rails as one whole piece so I had to learn to be proficient that way. The real pain is rails off of an older antique table that have the aprons glued in. Those can be a pain in the ass to work with. Sorry if I didn't give u any good info.
 
Rails

With the skirts still on the table it is very hard to pull the cloth on the rails when you are stapling it.
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Piece of cake. I did this job last time with the entire rail assy taken apart. This way was easier. The only tough part was turning the rail assy over by myself. I kept it upright to do the rubber and the cloth on top, then turned it over to staple the cloth. The easiest part was pulling the cloth to staple it. Oh, and my crummy electric staple gun, SUX so I had to use the reliable Arrow T-50. lol... That made it a bit tougher but my forarms needed the workout. :)
 
I normally keep the cap on top of the table and cut the top of the cloth. You have to be careful not to cut into the rubber. Once I do that I pull the feather strips out and pound the rail cloth in. Once I do that I flip the cap with the skirts. Unless the skirts are not secured. I put it upside down on a moving blanket perpindicular to the table. So it looks like a T. I move one side and pull the staples. You have to be careful where you put those so you don't get any caught in the felt.

Once the staples are pulled and the cap is moved so one side is farther over than the other I get inside the cap and staple. Then the other side I do the same. It works very well and I'm able to get it just right.

As mentioned though everyone has their own technique.
 
stroke said:
Piece of cake. I did this job last time with the entire rail assy taken apart. This way was easier. The only tough part was turning the rail assy over by myself. I kept it upright to do the rubber and the cloth on top, then turned it over to staple the cloth. The easiest part was pulling the cloth to staple it. Oh, and my crummy electric staple gun, SUX so I had to use the reliable Arrow T-50. lol... That made it a bit tougher but my forarms needed the workout. :)
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I notice some of the parts of the skirts are missing, did you just discard them or are you going to reinstall them when you get the table back together? I am not sure if the whole assembly were there you could even get it off the table with out taking it apart.
 
macguy: Not sure what you mean about the missing parts on the skirts. That's all she wrote....

I took off the whole assembly in tact, by myself. I even flipped it over a couple of times to finish the job. It was tricky. In fact I may be the only person on the planet to have done it. At one point I had to stand it up on its side, on top of the slate, then get up on the table to push it further until it started to balance. I then had to keep it balanced while I got off the table so that I could bring it to the floor. Twernt easy but I had no choice. Ain't nobody around.....
 
stroke said:
macguy: Not sure what you mean about the missing parts on the skirts. That's all she wrote....

I took off the whole assembly in tact, by myself. I even flipped it over a couple of times to finish the job. It was tricky. In fact I may be the only person on the planet to have done it. At one point I had to stand it up on its side, on top of the slate, then get up on the table to push it further until it started to balance. I then had to keep it balanced while I got off the table so that I could bring it to the floor. Twernt easy but I had no choice. Ain't nobody around.....
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There is a plastic skirting that is attached to the wood skirt. I took mine off I don't like the way it looks, it does hide the ball return though maybe that is why it's there. In your picture you can see the discoloration where it was originally attached so someone at some point removed it.
 
This is a Gold Crown I. I don't think that they had this feature. Gold Crown III's and IV's have larger wooden skirts which hide the pockets but look ugly.
 
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