Good suggestions. Thanks.Shoot balls up the rails slowly. Shoot balls from diamond to diamond slowly. Looking to see if balls roll of. Not being level. Also check the height of table. If you have head ball dot on table make sure it is center with a rope line. These are the things that I do on my tables. But I put my own together with squares and straight edge. And levels. Make sure when shooting into all the rails that ball is not jumping of the table after striking the cushion. And make sure your balls are clean.
Good one. I am wondering if I need to check if the rails are parallel. I guess it would depend on any slop in the bolt holes for the rails.Check the "X" measurement to make sure the rails are square.
I’m not a table mechanic, but common sense will tell you the most important things – is it level, which can be best determined by rolling balls on the table slowly, in all directions, assuming you are using a good quality, newer ball that is round!So, let’s say a table mechanic installed and setup a new table at your house. What would you do to check if the setup is "good"? What is good? The goal is to find significant issues before the guy leaves and not find out after playing on it for days/weeks/ect.
Some cloth lines can be caused by the new cloth being folded up for a period of time and will disappear after a short time, if the cloth has been stretched properly.Cloth should be tight... no wrinkles or obvious looseness. If the cloth is loose, not right and the tech says it'll settle in or the lines will go away or the cloth is loose for a reason he's tossing bull.
You can also go by carefully eyeballing overhead each corner pocket to assure that the slate radius is squared up properly in each corner pocket, and that the measurement of the shelf depth for all 4 corner pockets is identical. If they are, generally that should mean all 4 sides of your table should be perfectly squared.Good one. I am wondering if I need to check if the rails are parallel. I guess it would depend on any slop in the bolt holes for the rails.
One trick I've seen and use is to drop a ball grazing the cushion nose. Goes perpendicular, no spin.Roll balls slowly and look for drift
My last buying experience. I told the salesperson I want a set up that is tournament grade. Set up for "players" not casual bangers. I was assured it would be done right. Worst job ever. Horrible cloth job and missing bolts.These are good suggestions but but but....Tell the installer BEFORE the work is started that this is what you will be looking for.
My last buying experience. I told the salesperson I want set up that is tournament grade set. Set up for "players" not casual bangers. I was assured it would be done right. Worst job ever. Horrible cloth job and missing bolts.
It's fair to say you will get what the installer is capable of doing and no better.
If they come back it will be the same job as the 1st time. Try to know who you are dealing with before getting started.
This! Yes! Check for missing rail bolts too! They just decided to delete a few rail bolts on my install. You know the great thing about getting one of the mechanics here on the forum to do the work is that you don’t have to follow up on them.I found they had installed the dome washers on my GC IV upside down. Look under the table too
Where I live the closest room is 50 miles away and the guy who does their tables doesn't like to travel. lol.This is probably the best advice of the lot -- pay for the best mechanic in your area.
And just because a company or installer has been doing it for years that is no guarantee of a good job, they may just be doing them all wrong, lol. Ask at your local room who the best guy is and get him.
Lou Figueroa
I think that this is by FAR the best advice in having a table set up- you simply MUST be knowledgeable on all aspects prior to the install and make sure that you and the installer are on the same page in terms of plans and expectations otherwise expect problems - items of note- expectations in terms of cloth, cushions, alignments, tightness, leveling, pocket size and pocket set up, ball movement off the rails, etc. etc.These are good suggestions but but but....Tell the installer BEFORE the work is started that this is what you will be looking for.
I think I've seen all possible misalignments of the side rails. One forward of the other, middle ends in or out and combinations of those. Stretching a string along the nose of the cushion and close to it is another way to check.... Secondly, are the side rails / cushions aligned perfectly past the side pockets, which is easy to tell by squatting down and eyeballing with your dominant eye / vision center along the cushion nose from one corner pocket down the long rail to the other corner pocket, in both directions, to assure that a ball running down the long rail virtually frozen on the cushion will pass by the side pocket in both directions, both long rails.
...