I have a metal yardstick. Probably one or two thousandth of an inch from being perfectly straight. Good enough for military work as we like to say!
Is the line drawn with chalk, or something more permanent?
Head Spot or Not?
- Thread starter Druid
- Start date
Is the line drawn with chalk, or something more permanent?
I would agree also with a Sharpie, this worked well for me.
I used a cheap laser levels, one to mark the foot spot and line and the other to go perpendicular to that line for the center spot and the head spot.
When I mark these lines I am careful to keep the pen moving and don't push down to hard. This leaves a distinct line that after a year needs to be done again because it wears out with play and cleaning. I don't mind redoing it now and then.
I don't have a table, but this story to share. When I was in college, I joined a frat that had a pool table. Mid way through my freshman year the sticker on the head spot dried and fell off. No one bothered to replaced it, as they also continued to play on cues without tips, or chalk. Within a year, a hole developed in the cloth in the head spot.
In my Junior year, I was elected to re-cloth the table. I visited V. Loria, a local supplier of pool equipment. They were very helpful. We couldn't afford to pay an installer, but we had free labor called pledges. At the time, I didn't know any better, and let the brothers vote on every step of the project. Such as choosing cloth swatches, they debated and chose the thicker bar felt for an 8' table. One pledge had experience working on drywalls, and gave a convincing argument that spackling slate seams was better than beeswax (as recommended by V. Loria).
Within 3 months, the rails started to develop dead spots, the table had distinct rolls (where the seams were), and every brother was now able to put wicked draw or spin on the ball. Moral of the story, don't skimp on .99 cents pack of spots and don't let a bunch of frat boys vote by committee.
In my Junior year, I was elected to re-cloth the table. I visited V. Loria, a local supplier of pool equipment. They were very helpful. We couldn't afford to pay an installer, but we had free labor called pledges. At the time, I didn't know any better, and let the brothers vote on every step of the project. Such as choosing cloth swatches, they debated and chose the thicker bar felt for an 8' table. One pledge had experience working on drywalls, and gave a convincing argument that spackling slate seams was better than beeswax (as recommended by V. Loria).
Within 3 months, the rails started to develop dead spots, the table had distinct rolls (where the seams were), and every brother was now able to put wicked draw or spin on the ball. Moral of the story, don't skimp on .99 cents pack of spots and don't let a bunch of frat boys vote by committee.
Bingo.
A head spot may help if you break from the head spot as it will help eliminate burn and wear. Other than that I don't see a purpose.
I learned that you need a foot spot. If you don't have one the cloth will wear thru from the breaking.
A black fine point sharpie works well and yardstick or longer item that is thin with a straight edge, I have a 4 ft aluminum ruler they are pretty cheap at Lowes.
I have a metal yardstick. Probably one or two thousandth of an inch from being perfectly straight. Good enough for military work as we like to say!
Bert Kinister recommended these to me, they work awesome. Better than a plain sharpie (IMO)
http://www.staples.com/Sharpie-Rub-A-Dub-Laundry-Marker-Black-Each/product_498345