Magic Rack not holding balls tight

4

4X8Pro

New member
It's the 8 ball rack and brand spanking new. I tried Aramith Tournament Pro and another set of lesser quality balls with the same result. There is about a 1/32" gap between the 2 balls behind the head ball regardless of rotated angle or flipped. I have other cheap knock-off templates that are better than these. Has anyone else had this problem? I can't imagine I'm doing anything wrong as I've been using template for years. It's just the Magic Rack brand that's having the problem.

Thanks for any input!
 
4X8Pro said:
I'm going to. I just wondered if I was the only one with this issue. I even measured the Aramith balls and to no surprise, they're 2 1/4".
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Did you change the balls around?
You could also try to move the ball around the spot. As long as the base of the ball is on the spot it is a permitted rack.
The table does have a foot spot, yes?
 
In my experience Magic racks do not do well with worn balls that are slightly smaller from wear. The Accu Rack will do better in that case. It’s possible that you might have gotten a defective Magic Rack( is it a real Magic Rack and not the thinner Chinese knockoff), but chance are that if you try a brand new ball set, the Magic Rack will work fine.
 
I have an old Magic Rack (7-8 years old) and I'm happy with it, no gaps on all type of cloths.
I also have a Turtle rack, and on old cloth is impossible to get a tight rack with it.
 
Look closely at the rack and you will see only on one side the middle diamond is horizontal. Put that side parallel to the bottom short rail.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies. VVPis right! I thought I had tried every which way but I did what he suggested and bingo! It now works as intended. It just never occurred to me that it would need to be arranged a specific way and the "instructions" don't even mention it. Anyway, thanks VVP!
 
4X8Pro said:
Thanks everyone for the replies. VVPis right! I thought I had tried every which way but I did what he suggested and bingo! It now works as intended. It just never occurred to me that it would need to be arranged a specific way and the "instructions" don't even mention it. Anyway, thanks VVP!
Click to expand...
How old are the ball sets? Ball sets do wear down over time and it is not uncommon for old sets to have a few balls out of spec, especially the 1B which takes the brunt of the punishment especially if you are playing 9B or 10B.
 
4X8Pro said:
Thanks everyone for the replies. VVPis right! I thought I had tried every which way but I did what he suggested and bingo! It now works as intended. It just never occurred to me that it would need to be arranged a specific way and the "instructions" don't even mention it. Anyway, thanks VVP!
Click to expand...
Saw Dennis Orcollo threw a fit on a YouTube match because he couldn't get the balls to stay tight with the Magic Rack then Jeremy Jones said there was a special way to use the rack but he didn't explain. I figured I was having the same problem so I looked for the secret and found it. Not sure why it's not mentioned in the instructions LOL.
 
Black-Balled said:
... As long as the base of the ball is on the spot it is a permitted rack. ...
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This is not an official rule, but it is practical and the way most players play. By the official rules the spot is a single point and not an area.

An example of when the official rule is used is for spotting a ball at one pocket. "Anywhere on the sticker thingie" is not good enough.
 
VVP said:
Look closely at the rack and you will see only on one side the middle diamond is horizontal. Put that side parallel to the bottom short rail.
Click to expand...
I didn't quite understand what you meant by this until I looked at a Magic rack. The first picture I found actually had the rack turned wrong and with the image flipped. Here is a diagram of right and wrong rotation of the rack as you stand at the foot of the table:

CropperCapture[737].png
 
Funny. I've had the same problem. Last night I tried to take a picture of the problem and I did not get the gap when I racked. It had me puzzled. I guess I had turned the magic rack to the correct position without realizing it...
 
rexus31 said:
How old are the ball sets? Ball sets do wear down over time and it is not uncommon for old sets to have a few balls out of spec, especially the 1B which takes the brunt of the punishment especially if you are playing 9B or 10B.
Click to expand...
The Aramith set is about 4 years old but I did measure them and they were all right at 2.25"
 
Bob Jewett said:
I didn't quite understand what you meant by this until I looked at a Magic rack. The first picture I found actually had the rack turned wrong and with the image flipped. Here is a diagram of right and wrong rotation of the rack as you stand at the foot of the table:

View attachment 607935
Click to expand...

Yep, if you look at the diamond shapes, when it's "wrong" they are pointed in different directions, and pushing the balls to the wrong side or not at all. Easy to tell by the back spot, when oriented properly it's even, when it's not, it is at an angle.

So if that rear center diamond is not even, it's the wrong way.
 
4X8Pro said:
It's the 8 ball rack and brand spanking new. I tried Aramith Tournament Pro and another set of lesser quality balls with the same result. There is about a 1/32" gap between the 2 balls behind the head ball regardless of rotated angle or flipped. I have other cheap knock-off templates that are better than these. Has anyone else had this problem? I can't imagine I'm doing anything wrong as I've been using template for years. It's just the Magic Rack brand that's having the problem.

Thanks for any input!
Click to expand...
Between the Magic Rack, the Turtle Rack and the Accu-Rack (and we have plenty of all of them) the Accu-Rack is by far the best, both the 9-ball version and the 15-ball version.

They last much longer as well, as once either of the other two get bent, they are worthless.
 
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