DangleShot
New member
A question for anyone who moves / recovers pool tables. I did read the 8- or 9-page doc on here from 2007-2012 that talks about this issue, I'm a little unsure if my table has the same methods to securing slates and rails since it is smaller and cheaper. According to the mechanic working on my table, my variance happened after the rails were put back on which did not seem to be mentioned at the end of the doc in the bumped or sticky post. Maybe it's because my table might have bolts that secure rails and slates concurrently instead of separate ones? Not sure. I don't know...
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About 20 years ago when I got married and moved out of my parents' house, I had our 7' 3-pc slate Brunswick Bristol II pool table come with me. I had a local pool hall with reputable mechanics move and recover it with Granito cloth. The table always rolled a little unevenly along the ends of the table toward the center and it always bothered me. So when the guys were putting the table back together, they did a great job and had great attention to detail, they added new thicker pocket facings, snipped edges of the black drop pockets so they didn't creep past the edge of the pocket mouths, and let me bevel / file the edges of the pocket holes that seemed a bit sharp, split the old cloth, and created a tiny lip on the edge of the pocket that made slow-rolling balls back up as the cloth was bent over the edge. When they put the slates back on, they had me verify the table was level before they beeswaxed it and put it back together. It seems like the rolling issue away from the end rails was gone.
But then they put the rails back on, and sure enough, when I tested the table, the balls rolled away from the end rails about half as much as they did before. I pointed it out to the guy and he said maybe the balls were old and they rolled bad, which sounded like garbage, that would maybe make the rolls inconsistent if anything. I had some brand new ones and they did the same thing. Then he said maybe the plywood beams under the table bowed a bit when he tightened everything up since the table isn't exactly a gold crown or anything. Or maybe the rails as they were put back on pulled the edges up a minuscule amount. He didn't volunteer to shim it since he would break his seals and have to do all his work over again, and I had verified it was level a half-hour before. It wasn't contentious, I let him go.
Well, later I went under there, there are plywood crossbeams that sit under the divisions in the slate and tried to shim it on both sides with things I had around the house, and I got one side more level but broke the beeswax seal, making a couple impediments under the cloth. So I didn't try the other side.
Now I wanna have the table recovered again, and I don't wanna antagonize this second company I'm gonna have do it. Is this a common issue? If they shim or prop the underside of the slate along the seams, will it cancel out the bowing later? If they start with a tiny lean toward the edges, will it get worse when they put it together, making it roll to the ends more? Did I provide enough information that this could be determined? Should I just let this next company do their thing?
I know this is a complex issue as people noted in the other thread. Maybe the new mechanic will have a workaround or a best practice that will fix this.
Bill from Buffalo
***
About 20 years ago when I got married and moved out of my parents' house, I had our 7' 3-pc slate Brunswick Bristol II pool table come with me. I had a local pool hall with reputable mechanics move and recover it with Granito cloth. The table always rolled a little unevenly along the ends of the table toward the center and it always bothered me. So when the guys were putting the table back together, they did a great job and had great attention to detail, they added new thicker pocket facings, snipped edges of the black drop pockets so they didn't creep past the edge of the pocket mouths, and let me bevel / file the edges of the pocket holes that seemed a bit sharp, split the old cloth, and created a tiny lip on the edge of the pocket that made slow-rolling balls back up as the cloth was bent over the edge. When they put the slates back on, they had me verify the table was level before they beeswaxed it and put it back together. It seems like the rolling issue away from the end rails was gone.
But then they put the rails back on, and sure enough, when I tested the table, the balls rolled away from the end rails about half as much as they did before. I pointed it out to the guy and he said maybe the balls were old and they rolled bad, which sounded like garbage, that would maybe make the rolls inconsistent if anything. I had some brand new ones and they did the same thing. Then he said maybe the plywood beams under the table bowed a bit when he tightened everything up since the table isn't exactly a gold crown or anything. Or maybe the rails as they were put back on pulled the edges up a minuscule amount. He didn't volunteer to shim it since he would break his seals and have to do all his work over again, and I had verified it was level a half-hour before. It wasn't contentious, I let him go.
Well, later I went under there, there are plywood crossbeams that sit under the divisions in the slate and tried to shim it on both sides with things I had around the house, and I got one side more level but broke the beeswax seal, making a couple impediments under the cloth. So I didn't try the other side.
Now I wanna have the table recovered again, and I don't wanna antagonize this second company I'm gonna have do it. Is this a common issue? If they shim or prop the underside of the slate along the seams, will it cancel out the bowing later? If they start with a tiny lean toward the edges, will it get worse when they put it together, making it roll to the ends more? Did I provide enough information that this could be determined? Should I just let this next company do their thing?
I know this is a complex issue as people noted in the other thread. Maybe the new mechanic will have a workaround or a best practice that will fix this.
Bill from Buffalo
