How do I make pockets play tighter
- Thread starter JMW
- Start date
PoolTable911 said:
Of course there is just about zero chance of replacing the same rail cloth, with or without the extra facing once it's been trimmed. I assumed anyone would know that and maybe that was a mistake. But there is a big difference between replacing the rubber and the cloth. The cloth is made to be replaced easily.
And yes if you had shitty rubber to start with, it's probably still shitty. But we all know the three main reasons rails are dead. They are either unglued, or the cloth is loose, or the bolts are loose. It sickens me to hear of people pulling perfectly good rubber off a 50 year old brunswick or other high quality table for no good reason. Making the pockets tighter is a good reason, but still not good enough for me unless you are an avid one-pocket player wanting the pockets tighter, or you want them really tight for other games.
The tables I have worked on don't have wood behind the pocket facings as they were originally built, and in adding one shim it's not that big a deal whether or not you extend the sub rail.
What do you think about the stretch lines from the staples? Yea or nay?
Sure, if you are paying to have your table done and you know exactly what size pockets you want, and you can afford new rubber, and you know that rubber will actually match your table and be installed correctly, you may want to have it done right. If you don't know how big you really need them, putting one shim in may be a good alternative.
The OP obviously knows nothing (no offense, everybody isn't raised in a pool hall) about covering a table, and shouldn't mess with it unless he just likes a challenge and has plenty of time to work with. But if he hires someone he should know his options.
I wouldn't be able to sell my table with 6 pockets averaging less than 4" to anyone except a professional or a masochist without removing the installed shims, which could be another consideration.
With installing extra facings you know the opening will have the same angle. Replacing the rubber it will be at whatever angle you cut it, will it not? And that could be an advantage, yes. But a bad mechanic will screw you up less putting in shims than replacing your entire rail rubber. I have seen plenty of tables where the rubber was installed incorrectly that have waves in the rail from not being aligned perfecly when glued. But admittedly some of those came from factories that way, lol.
I know you'all are just waiting on me to say something...but I'm not...nope, not gonna say a word....I'm not even going to make a sound...nope....not me....
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What in the hell are you promoting, a new book called "Billiard Mechanics for Cheap Idiots", or what?
Glen
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What in the hell are you promoting, a new book called "Billiard Mechanics for Cheap Idiots", or what?
Glen
And yes if you had shitty rubber to start with, it's probably still shitty. But we all know the three main reasons rails are dead. They are either unglued, or the cloth is loose, or the bolts are loose. It sickens me to hear of people pulling perfectly good rubber off a 50 year old brunswick or other high quality table for no good reason.
unknownpro said:
You think that putting rail cloth on is easy? Why does it take weeks to train someone so there are no wrinkles, dimpples in the nose or plenty of other common mistakes done on rails. I have trained countless amounts of people over the years to recover rails. Even after showing them how None have wrapped the next rail even close to right. It's not rocket science but it is a skilled trade.
realkingcobra said:
I thought I was getting a good enough laugh reading this far, and wondered where you were at...lol
Back to the rest of the "Unknown" story....
Since no mention of what kind of table was mentioned, you are just going to go down the path of least resistance and guess that it's an antique with good rubber?
How many china made tables and parts do you think have come across the ocean to the good ol' U.S of A?
How many tables have you seen with imported rails (not counting Artemis or Claybear) that have broken down within 3-8 years?
Was the table in a garage in the desert? How about a barn in Oklahoma in the blizzards?
There's a lot of things you take for granted in dishing out great amounts of generous B.S. that may or may not be pertinent to a table.
IF you play as well as you work on tables, or at least in your newly discovered talents as an author, then I hope to meet you on the felt someday soon!
Although with RKC's travels, he's more likely to encounter you on the road, so I'm going to have to bet the farm.
But in the meantime, I'd like to have a framed copy, hopefully with lots of cool pictures and diagrams, autographed of course, when you hit the printing presses...
We can always use some good bathroom reading!:grin-square:
But, on the flip side, I gotta say that I like your signature line!:thumbup:
JMW:
Get someone good to come by, say, RKC for example since Texas has nobody worthwhile at the moment in your area, expect to have your table down for a day or two while it's getting built up the right way, expect to pay for new rail rubber and cloth, and to spend some time getting educated about how you want your table to play in advance.
51 degrees or 53 degrees for example.
Extended shelf or not.
I would even go so far as to suggest talking through pm's or ma-bell to get the answers to your questions.
I've tried to talk to a lot of the guys advertising in the DFW area for months, and can honestly say that I would rather hire a hedge trimmer to do the work than any of the guys I've talked to.
If you want a temporary fix before committing to getting the work done right.... I agree with Prince. Pocket reducers will be less of a headache than bad advice.
realkingcobra said:
I'm not promoting a book or table mechanic services. I was answering a simple question. Are you going to claim that most tables in pool rooms that have had tables tightened up have had it done the right way? Because most that I've seen were shimmed exactly as I described. Disagree or agree? While it is true the results are varied, many are quite good. Agree or disagree?
scruffy1 said:
realkingcobra said:
Are you going to call out these geniuses that don't know you have to pull the rail cloth tight too?
PoolTable911 said:
Agreed, it does take some work. And a lot of mechanics don't know how to do it correctly. Many fold the cloth at the side pockets where there is a horizontal crease underneath that pops balls out of the side pockets (like Dr. Cues Protege's table). Lot's of people on this board have said that is the correct way to do it. But it is still wrong.
unknownpro said:
Cuephoric said:
RKC has covered plenty of tables for me for my matches, iirc. He pulls that shit good and tight, too.
Yep, some tables are screwed up, many are not, that's all I'm saying. And I have pulled tables out of barns that are fine also, just depends.
No, but I have posted pictures of what rails are suppose to look like after they're recover with Simonis, and there's NO stretch marks on the cushions!unknownpro said:
Check the pictures out in the mechanic's section on how to Correctly recover rails!
Glen
realkingcobra said:
But there are stretch marks on the underside of the cushions, or else it ain't tight enough.
Here's a fine looking double shimmed rail 
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showpost.php?p=1461153&postcount=1
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showpost.php?p=1461153&postcount=1