making a ball return?

scottycoyote

scottycoyote

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
im not seriously entertaining this, at least not yet, but has anyone ever added a ball return to a table. I was thinking earlier how this might could be accomplished using pvc tubing. Like putting 3" diameter pipes, running one down the inside of either rail, slanted at an angle, and just cutting a large hole of maybe a hole in ur pocket to funnel the ball into it.
 
I want one too! I keep playing shape to 'not have to go around to the other side of the table to get that last ball'. Not in any of Capelle's books!
 
You could take that PVC and put it on a table saw and slice it in half long ways. In case you get some chalk stuck in there, it would make life a lot easier getting it out and unblocking the balls if it were open. You could also strap it under the table to hold it. :)
 
thanks for the link. Well its not very expensive.......the only reason i was thinking about it is because my table is really conducive to a ball return, all the pockets and rails are together in 1 piece that fits down on top of the slate, plenty of room. I wonder if that system in the link are the little rails that the balls ride on...i remember old tables, once you get those rails a little out of wack, a ball always hangs up there. Thats why i was thinking maybe pvc pipe would be better, no hang ups the ball would just roll down it as long as you had enough fall.
 
scottycoyote said:
thanks for the link. Well its not very expensive.......the only reason i was thinking about it is because my table is really conducive to a ball return, all the pockets and rails are together in 1 piece that fits down on top of the slate, plenty of room. I wonder if that system in the link are the little rails that the balls ride on...i remember old tables, once you get those rails a little out of wack, a ball always hangs up there. Thats why i was thinking maybe pvc pipe would be better, no hang ups the ball would just roll down it as long as you had enough fall.
Click to expand...

I think PVC pipe would work great, my table is like yours, so maybe Ill try what you said . :p
 
plastic

it looks like the channels are some sort of plastic.
probably a lot like a thin walled pvc.

you may be able to modify your pockets to open
into a channel of your own making or just get
the pockets from atlas if you don't want to
modify your pockets, and make your own channels.

can't be too hard.

just remember, measure twice, cut once :D
 
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Take a look at the returns on a Gold Crown III or some such. The Brunswick engineers did it that way for a reason. I have had mine for 20 years now and find that a ball hangs up three or four times a year. Some times the ball return rails are out of whack and I just move the screw if needed. This usually only happens when I move the table. Chalk does get stuck and grandchildren have a way of putting things in there that do not belong. You need a way to see the whole length of the rail and a way to easily reach up and grab whatever it is. If you used some sort of welded frame ala Brunswick you could then use Dip It paint / to place a coat of rubber on the rails.

I have had the automatic returns for so long that I find it a nuisance to play on tables without them.
 
Buy the set

If you buy the set, from Atlas or other suppliers like Imperial Billiards, you get the pockets with the correct depth to angle the tubes so the balls travel freely. My cousin used plumbing PVC to replace one tube that kept falling out of her old table. These ball return tubes are much thinner than the white plumbers pipes.
 
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