Major Pocket Troubles (Pics Included)

[Draz]

Hey Everyone!!!

I was at my uncles today and was playing on his table, when i noticed the pockets were way off some were even sinking...

here are some pictures so you can see what i mean...

Left Lower Corner Pocket

Left Lower Corner Pocket 2

Left Lower Corner Pocket 3

Left Side Pocket

Left Upper Corner Pocket

Right Upper Corner Pocket

Right Upper Corner Pocket 2

Right Upper Corner Pocket 3

Right Side Pocket


It's an older table and these pockets are fairly new, less than a year old. It's a second hand possibly 3rd hand i am unsure of the origin. I do know it needs new felt... But i am trying to help my uncle out with this pocket issue. Don't have much money so we are trying to figure a way to do this without a financial dent. But as you can see a lot of the pockets are off, and not lining up to the table, and scrunched to the rail and so on...

*Side Note* Also the short rail bumper between the right and left upper corner pocket is drooping, is there any way to fix that?


Thank you in advance, hope this is fixable...

- Draz

 

[Cuephoric]

ouch

Try flipping over the rails and putting in some 3/8" bolts into the pockets....
Doesn't look to me like there's a bolt in any of them....
Your rails will also sit still a bit better if there is something holding it all together besides just the rail bolts.
Gives it that nice clamped together feeling.
Of course, once you flip over the rails, take some pictures for us so we can see if the rails were blown out by someone trying to pick up the table intact, and holding onto the rails in the process....another possibility.

 

[Draz]

Cuephoric - Thank you for your quick response, sorry if this is a dumb question but... What do you mean put 3/8" bolts into the pockets? like drill right through the rail or ???

Do you possibly have a picture or something of that sort to show what you mean?

and i will try and take the table apart tomorrow...

Thank you,

- Draz

 

[mechanic/player]

On the end of each pocket is a 2 in stud that goes into the rail and is threaded so that a bolt can be used to lift and hold the pockets tightly .

Looking under the table you may be able to see them but you will have to take them off to adress this problem. Loosen the 3 bolts underneath the head or foot rail, keep your hand on the rail as you remove these three bolts and then slide the rail straight back towards you.

If somehow there are bolts or something holding them in there you may need to just loosen the rails so you can look up under the table and see how they come apart.

 

[n10spool]

Looks like either the rail has split or blown out the bottom of the rail causing the pockets to drop down. To repair you would need to add some wood to it and refile the hole to the correct size.

When you look at the side pocket photo the pockets are not the correct size for the table plus the stud that inserts into the rail is to small a diameter for that brand or style of table. Remove your rails and measure the hole diameter to see what pockets fit it. Right now it looks like an american table with an import pocket, bet its a metric screw for the pocket. You could also look into sleeving the rail with a plastic tube like pvc then rebore it to right size problem solved.

When you measure your pockets and rails you can go to poolndarts.com to see what fits then call around to see what suppliers in your are have instock. You might also try Dartman he has a good source for parts plus you get a discount from him for being an az member I belive.

Craig
916-825-2036

 

[Dartman]

From the pics it looks like 2 problems - one being there are no pocket bolts and second it appears the hole in the side of the rail where the nose of the pocket iron goes in is too large (should be a tighter fit).

As Shane mentioned on the bolts - look at the pic and you'll see each pocket end has a threaded hole. When the pocket end is inside the rail there is a bolt that come up thru the bottom of the rail that threads into the pocket end. This helps hold the pocket and rail tight and snug. Once you turn a rail over you'll see the bolt hole near the ends of each rail.

When installed properly the pocket should be snug to each rail and flush with the top of each rail.

It's not unusual to find a table where someone didn't install one or more of the pocket bolts.
You'd do well to remove the rails, check the pocket end holes, fix if needed, then reassemble.

When reassembling, put 3 rails together (end and 2 sides) upside down. Tighten the pocket bolts then flip the assembly over and install the rail bolts loosely. Do the other 3 rails the same. Install the last pocket bolt in each side pocket. Check that all is square and the playfield dimensions are correct, then tighten down the rail bolts.
.

 

[tsp&b]

The rails in the photos are split (looks like someone has been puting a lot of weight on pockets). I would recommend that you find a local table mechanic to remove and repair the rails then reinstall the pockets and all should be well. The way the cloth is cut and torn you may want to get the cloth replaced at the same time. Just a thought.

 

[Cuephoric]

Sometimes you'll have an installer try putting the rails together all at once, like it was a unirail type table and not tighten down the pocket bolts well enough so that there is some play. This allows flex against the thin wood partition that your pocket irons slide into, and allows the weight of the rails to blow out the bottom of your rails. Improper support when handling the rail assembly will also allow a sag or flex, which will blow out or crack the rails causing your pockets to sag.
It usually happens when they finish (?) putting the rails together and start flipping them over to put onto the table.
There are really only two solutions to the problem.
Have someone rebuild the area around the issue, or get new rails, which cost more.
Doing the rails in a horseshoe pattern allows one person to handle the rails much easier, and you only have two side pocket railbolts instead of several that are not attached, so it's easier to disassemble later, and does not affect the playability or integrity of the the table.

Hope it's just missing pocketbolts, but now that i'm on a better monitor, I agree, looks like your uncle may have a few issues to tend to.

 

[Draz]

Update: Well tonight we removed all the pockets and rails... and well it was a sad sight.

Now known history of the table from examining the rails. The people who broke down the table did exactly that. They didn't know about the pocket bolts (which were there by the way, installed) they just ripped the rails right off :angry: and oh i will attach pics with what they did to the felt...

I don't remember which rail is which, so im going to just post the pics...

 

[Draz]

Sorry so many post, there was like 18 images. But least it will give you all a good idea on what my uncle is having to deal with...


Tonights fix: We went to home depot and picked up some wood filler and we filled all the jacket up/split up holes so hopefully that will work...

And we are going to cut pvc pipe in half and i believe stick it on the bottom to push the pocket up...

Question: We are also fixing the rail bumper and he was asking what type of glue we use... Can we use contact cement? or what do you suggest?



Thank you and again sorry for so many posts

- Draz

 

[Dartman]

These pics should be posted in the hackwork thread.

 

[Club Billiards]

These pics should be posted in the hackwork thread.

Agreed. But redundant at this point. LOL

 

[Draz]

Yea i know it's really bad, but the last owner just took it apart like it was gonna get thrown away...

But we are fixing the rail today, so just wondering what glue would we use for the rail bumper? is contact cement okay?



- Draz

 

[mechanic/player]

Yes, just about any brand will work for you.

 

[Draz]

will do, gonna be using the contact cement on the rail today...

Update: The wood filler is still kind of soft, we will be cutting the pvc today, so hopefully the wood filler is hardened by tomorrow...




- Draz

 

[Draz]

Hey Everyone!!!

Well it's finally done and completed. The rails have been fixed so hopefully it holds. Instead of PVC pipe which didn't fit. We used linoleum flooring samples, which were easy to cut and bend to fit into the holes. The wood filler we got isn't the best but it worked a little bit. But all in all i want to thank all of you that have given me advice to help bring this table back to a better playing state..

Thank you...

Here are finished pictures...

The linoleum tile we used as you can see.

Another shot of the hole

The pockets sitting flush with the rails its so nice finally

The table from one side

The table from the other side

And this is a random counter i found under the table...

Thank you all again, The table is in better condition now.and i forgot to take a picture but we glued that felt that was ripped (By the side pocket)
so it's hard to tell it's been ripped.

Thanks again,


- Draz

 

[OTLB]

nice job, very satisfying isn't it

 

[n10spool]

Looks great alot better then before, Thanks for the before and after photo's.

Craig

 

[JimS]

Great job Draz! I'm sure you must get a good feeling from looking at the results of your efforts. That was a big job to tackle and you did well.

 

[Cuephoric]

That'll do, Draz, that'll do...

Huge improvement over the first pics posted, so ya gotta give yourself a pat on the back- well done.

Thanks for the pics on the process/progress!
Now who is happier about it now....you, or your Uncle?
And tell me you won the first set after you finished:thumbup: