How to tell the difference between a good, and bad table mechanic.

Almost tempted to do the cloth myself. Reached out to another Mechanic with no call back. I am definitely very handy.

PS, It looks like you glue it to the felt before attaching?
 
Almost tempted to do the cloth myself. Reached out to another Mechanic with no call back. I am definitely very handy.

PS, It looks like you glue it to the felt before attaching?
Yes, spray glue works fine but stretch the cloth to while you attach it to the plastic taping.
 
Whos makes that stapler AND what size staples do you use for the underside of the slate and rails?
Thanks for all the info!!!!!
 
Thats a 3/4" plastic straping tape used to hold up PVC pipes. Home Depot, Lowes, any kind of store like that carries it in the plumbing department. Make sure you use 1/2' long, 1/2" crown staples when attaching it. I call it the French fold😆
In our poolroom the mechanic we had around 2005-2010 used to glue a strip of rubber, about the same size and in the same spot as you do. I get the purpose of protection, but pulling out balls from the pocket, your hand does not slide over rubber, it sticks to it and you got your hair removed from the back of your hand.
I think your way is nicer to the touch.
 
Nope, I just don't like seeing the staples or pocket flaps in the pockets, also protects your hands from scraping staples when picking balls out of the drop pockets, and prevents balls from getting chips from hitting exposed staples.
Had a quality set of balls damaged from exposed staples. The French Fold … clean and and classy
 

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Thats a 3/4" plastic straping tape used to hold up PVC pipes. Home Depot, Lowes, any kind of store like that carries it in the plumbing department. Make sure you use 1/2' long, 1/2" crown staples when attaching it. I call it the French fold😆
Home Depot, isle 17 bin 6 I purchased a roll last night while talking to Glen on the phone about this technique. (y)
 
Nope, I just don't like seeing the staples or pocket flaps in the pockets, also protects your hands from scraping staples when picking balls out of the drop pockets, and prevents balls from getting chips from hitting exposed staples.

Glen shared another dose of techniques, knowledge and important stuff to be aware of when we spoke last night. Let me put it this way, the devil is in the details. It's up to Glen how much he wants to share publicly but I would encourage him to speak to the rail cloth issue, table owners should be on the look out for that issue.
 
If in your talks with a table mechanic, and you were interested in possibly hiring that person, but just to make sure you're not getting ripped off, let's say you ask to see what their staple work looks like on the rails, so they sent you these pictures, of an Olhausen AND Diamond rail work, would you still be interested in spending your hard earned money?

I have no clue what stapling is good or bad. If the balls roll and bounce ok, how would I know?

Just like I have little clue when my mechanic fixes my car's a/c. If it is cold, then it's fixed.

Maybe the blockchain would help with the trust issue?


Jeff Livingston
 
I have no clue what stapling is good or bad. If the balls roll and bounce ok, how would I know?

Just like I have little clue when my mechanic fixes my car's a/c. If it is cold, then it's fixed.

Maybe the blockchain would help with the trust issue?


Jeff Livingston
Well, look at it this way then. 99% of all pool tables that have to be replaces for reasons of "worn out" really means the mechanics that have been working on those pool tables have torn them up! The more staples you put in rails, is the more you have to pull out. When the staples are sunk into the wood, they have to be dug out, unless for course, you have to follow behind a hack that has been recovering the same tables over and over, and now you're the one being asked to make the table play right again, and you find out the last 5 times the rails were recovered, the staples were never pulled out, leaving to room to put more staples in! OR, the rails look like these do, because they've been so abused by the pervious hacks, that even 1/2" long staples won't hold the cloth anymore. Then you have to pay someone to rebuild the rails, because you bought your Dream GC3 finally, and you want to get it set up so you can play on it!
 

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After hundreds of years, no one has come up with something better than staples?


Jeff Livingston
 
Whos makes that stapler AND what size staples do you use for the underside of the slate and rails?
Thanks for all the info!!!!!
I like using pneumatic staple guns, because you can pull the trigger, and the hammer stays extended out. Then you can belt sand it flush to the nose of the stapler, then the hammer can't sink the staple into the cloth below the surface of the wood, meaning you don't tear out the wood getting the staples pulled out. For the cloth under the bottom side I use 1/4" leg, 1/2" crown.
 
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