How do you cut cushions?

T

_tony_

Registered
Hi everyone, I recently bought a used 7 feet table.
Upon inspection, the rails are not proper rails but a thin rubber that works pretty well all in all.
I've tighten the felt of all the cushions and the table plays ok to be a toy and not a real table.

I was able to get from my club the rails (wood plus cushions attached) of a Snooker table that has been dismantled.
Considering that the rails I have are already T shaped exactly like a Snooker rubber, my plan is to substitute the whole rail (wood + rubber) with the ones I have at the moment. This due to the actual rubber that is only 3.5cm vs the Snooker rubber being 5cm. That makes the pockets huge for a 7 feet.

Anyway, technicalities aside, I wanted to ask what is the best way to shorten the smoker rails to make the became pool shaped rails, so specifically:
1) How do I cut the rubber cleanly
2) How do I calculate the final angle for the pockets.

Thanks to anyone that can lead me into the right direction
 
_tony_ said:
Hi everyone, I recently bought a used 7 feet table.
Upon inspection, the rails are not proper rails but a thin rubber that works pretty well all in all.
I've tighten the felt of all the cushions and the table plays ok to be a toy and not a real table.

I was able to get from my club the rails (wood plus cushions attached) of a Snooker table that has been dismantled.
Considering that the rails I have are already T shaped exactly like a Snooker rubber, my plan is to substitute the whole rail (wood + rubber) with the ones I have at the moment. This due to the actual rubber that is only 3.5cm vs the Snooker rubber being 5cm. That makes the pockets huge for a 7 feet.

Anyway, technicalities aside, I wanted to ask what is the best way to shorten the smoker rails to make the became pool shaped rails, so specifically:
1) How do I cut the rubber cleanly
2) How do I calculate the final angle for the pockets.

Thanks to anyone that can lead me into the right direction
Click to expand...
so you think a 7 ft table should have smaller pockets than a snooker table?
 
Renegade_56 said:
so you think a 7 ft table should have smaller pockets than a snooker table?
Click to expand...
No, the Snooker rails are a regular 12feet. I need to adapt them to a 7ft. That means that I need to cut them because obviously they don't fit. And because I'm cutting them, I won't be keeping the Snooker shape of pockets. I want to shape them as pool pockets. That means that the wood would be cut perpendicular to the rail as in a regular table, while the cushion should have an angle.
I would like to know the best way to cut the rubber and the best way to guess the angle for the side and corner pockets.
 
I'm interested in hearing from the experts on this. Gum Rubber is not easy for sure.
Won't expose myself any further. My solution is way too expensive.
 
This is not a simple project. You'll need some kind of jig set up for all your pocket angles, and likely need to change out the rubber if you ever want it to play properly. The rail thickness might not even be any good for your application, and figuring out mounting hardware will be tricky too. It might be good experience towards learning how to do this kind of work, but expecting to get a decent playing table out of what you have it probably a longshot.
There's a reason there are only a handful of people around that actually do this type of work properly. It's something that takes the right equipment and knowledge, both of which are not easy to come by.
 
You're going to have to figure out what cushion profile you have and what 7' table you have. The miter angles may not be correct for the cushion. This requires recutting the miters but you might have to do some trig.
 
_tony_ said:
No, the Snooker rails are a regular 12feet. I need to adapt them to a 7ft. That means that I need to cut them because obviously they don't fit. And because I'm cutting them, I won't be keeping the Snooker shape of pockets. I want to shape them as pool pockets. That means that the wood would be cut perpendicular to the rail as in a regular table, while the cushion should have an angle.
I would like to know the best way to cut the rubber and the best way to guess the angle for the side and corner pockets.
Click to expand...
Well, you don't have to guess the angles, just use the same angles that are on the original pockets. I have actually modified a 10 ft snooker table to play pool on, including cutting out the bends, which can barely be done by cutting the pool pocket angles to pretty much maximum generally allowed specs,,,,,, like 5 1/2" corners, not terrible for a 10 footer, plenty terrible for a 7 footer. But, you are shortening the rails so make the pockets whatever size you want for the corners. The sides are gonna be huge though regardless unless you add facings to work with. A compound mitre saw will cut the rails. Cutting rubber is not hard, but getting a flat smooth result can be. At a minimum it will require a very sharp tool and lubrication. Stability will help drastically if you can maintain a straight cutting stroke. I suspect the correct blade setup on that compound mitre saw could work if you can keep the rubber stable. In industrial situations I have used cold on rubber for more controlled machining, either by freezing, dry ice, and even liquid nitrogen. If you deform the rubber in the process of cutting it will end up with a scalloped face when relaxed. How bad do you want this toy table?
 
You must dig deep in the archives… the information is within this section, with pictures even’

Enjoy’
Rob.M
 
FB_IMG_1699319792272.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top