Keeping the slate level

Pierre Shakes

Pierre Shakes

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Slate has been held in place the same way for about 150 years - wood screws into a wood frame with shims of playing cards or business cards ever since. Okay, plastic tapers with teeth are a small improvement. Is there anything more important than the level of the table?

Around the year 2000, after twenty years in the biz, I saw a photo of how Billares Sam dealt with the problem of KEEPING it flat - thirty-eight MACHINE SCREWS with lock-nuts into a steel frame holding the slate up or down. I presumed it was a German idea, but no, Spain made the first real improvement in tables.

I bought a 9’ KimSteel (now KSteel) when we moved to the centre of town in 2007. We moved it elsewhere in the room three years later and it was still PERFECTLY level. Not 1/500th of an inch per foot out anywhere. Heaven. So four re-clothings and we did not have to re-shim or re-bondo at all. Players could count on it - no need to make slow shots by the rails to test the level.

In 2018 I got a 9’ Rasson Victory 2+ which has 22 devices which double-bolt into an aluminum extrusion that sits on the sturdy frame. The devices adjusts the slate until you have it exactly right, then you machine bolt & lock-nut it tight. Each one holds the slate both up and down. Peacock Billiards now has 4/9’s and one 12’ Rasson (which has heated slate and these fabulous devices). None go out of level with the - call it ‘untutored’ - public enjoying them thoughtlessly.

My two Unik 9’ tables stay flat also - they each weigh 2,000 pounds. Those are a story unto themselves.
 
Pierre Shakes said:
Slate has been held in place the same way for about 150 years - wood screws into a wood frame with shims of playing cards or business cards ever since. Okay, plastic tapers with teeth are a small improvement. Is there anything more important than the level of the table?

Around the year 2000, after twenty years in the biz, I saw a photo of how Billares Sam dealt with the problem of KEEPING it flat - thirty-eight MACHINE SCREWS with lock-nuts into a steel frame holding the slate up or down. I presumed it was a German idea, but no, Spain made the first real improvement in tables.

I bought a 9’ KimSteel (now KSteel) when we moved to the centre of town in 2007. We moved it elsewhere in the room three years later and it was still PERFECTLY level. Not 1/500th of an inch per foot out anywhere. Heaven. So four re-clothings and we did not have to re-shim or re-bondo at all. Players could count on it - no need to make slow shots by the rails to test the level.

In 2018 I got a 9’ Rasson Victory 2+ which has 22 devices which double-bolt into an aluminum extrusion that sits on the sturdy frame. The devices adjusts the slate until you have it exactly right, then you machine bolt & lock-nut it tight. Each one holds the slate both up and down. Peacock Billiards now has 4/9’s and one 12’ Rasson (which has heated slate and these fabulous devices). None go out of level with the - call it ‘untutored’ - public enjoying them thoughtlessly.

My two Unik 9’ tables stay flat also - they each weigh 2,000 pounds. Those are a story unto themselves.
Click to expand...
Then just buy a Predator, it's just KSteel re badged .
 
Pierre Shakes said:
Slate has been held in place the same way for about 150 years - wood screws into a wood frame with shims of playing cards or business cards ever since. Okay, plastic tapers with teeth are a small improvement. Is there anything more important than the level of the table? ...
Click to expand...
Are you familiar with Diamond's leveling system?
 
i'm not bob.
but ive played in a few pool rooms with diamonds and none of the tables have been perfectly level.
i do put bad level tabling on the mechanic of course. but if the leveling system was easy to understand or do, then out of level tables would be a thing of the past.
 
maha said:
i'm not bob.
but ive played in a few pool rooms with diamonds and none of the tables have been perfectly level.
i do put bad level tabling on the mechanic of course. but if the leveling system was easy to understand or do, then out of level tables would be a thing of the past.
Click to expand...
My guess is it was a time factor, not a lack of knowledge factor. Or both. The dude simply didn't want to take the time to do the job correctly. The Diamond leveling system isn't that complicated.
 
then its the rooms fault for accepting poor workmanship.
the whole point of leveling a pool table is to make it perfectly level.
 
maha said:
i'm not bob.
but ive played in a few pool rooms with diamonds and none of the tables have been perfectly level.
i do put bad level tabling on the mechanic of course. but if the leveling system was easy to understand or do, then out of level tables would be a thing of the past.
Click to expand...
Most mechanics can't lev tables with wedges correctly, a leveling system is even more confusing!
 
Bob Jewett said:
Here is a video showing the process in detail. You can do it with fewer levels, but when installing a lot of tables for large tournaments, it's faster with more levels. It takes about 20 minutes to do the process if you aren't talking through it.

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I watched this video a couple times over the years, and just watched it in full again with your link. Afterwards I read "all" the comments. The YouTubers making the comments are as dumb as a box of rocks, in general. I think we get spoiled here how high the knowledge level is.
 
I considered a Rasson. Company said 10 hours labor at $150 per hour. I know the techs that would have installed it. They are fudgers/hackers. If I thought the install would be perfect I might have gone for it.
As for my GC4 not one adjuster was used. All not in contact. The installers were old school mechanics and used the technique they knew best. Shims
 
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TrxR said:
Was yours made before 2004 or did you order it without the leveling system?
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I bought it used. It's an old red label 9ft professional. I'm not doubting Glens statement. He should know since he designed the leveling system. My statement was just sarcasm directed at him.
 
Bob Jewett said:
Are you familiar with Diamond's leveling system?
Click to expand...

Hello Bob,
Yes, I’ve used these three in the poolhall for 8-9 years: a 9’ Paragon 3-piece, 7’ ProAm 1-pce, 7’ Professional 3-pce.

I liked the style of the Paragon a lot: the finish on the rails and the composition of the rail ‘plywood’, the precision of the pocket drop and connection to the rail, consistency of the pocket openings.

But a major Diamond design contribution is an improvement on the tapered shim system. Three pieces of 3/4” plywood with cut-outs sit on the frame proper. Tapered shims with embedded nut and bolt are accessible through the cut-outs, so the shims can be tightened for post-setup re-leveling (KSteel & Rasson, too). But if you want to lower the slate, you find yourself pushing the wedge backward against the weight of the slate with an undersized bolt. A small criticism.

But the system keeps the table level only slightly better than furniture tables. Certainly not like my 9' Rasson Victory - perfect to the 500th of an inch after 5 years of public use.


I sell them but I don’t know the proper pronunciation of Rasson.
Ra ’sawn or ‘Ras on?

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