Need some tips installing facings on GC2.

S

sneaky_pete

Registered
I'm in the process of replacing the old Monarch cushions and 1/8" facings on my GC2 with some Brunswick SuperSpeed cushions and 1/4" facings.

I sanded the rails to remove the old glue, used 3 coats of 3M 10 contact cement to get the new cushions stuck well. I found a tip to use a wave serrated bread knife to trim the cushions by riding on the side of the rail, seems to have worked great with very little final sanding needed. I'll handle the sanding with an 80 grit sanding block.

What I'm having an issue with is how to tackle these thick 1/4" facings. I went thick to tighten the pockets a bit because this old table has buckets.

I've seen some people stick the new facings full size then do all the trimming after install. Seems like it will be difficult with facings this thick. I'm thinking of getting them roughed out before gluing, maybe leaving 1/8" of excess. I'm thinking of using a Dremel with a sanding drum to do the final fitting. I've seen some people recommend a grinder with a flap sander but don't have a grinder and seems like I could get in trouble quicker than with a Dremel.

Another thing I'm not totally clear on is if I want the facing to extend to the back of the feather strip slot or if I want it to stop just short of the back of the slot to give room for the felt to go.
 
I trim them with a razor knife, then carefully sand them flush with a small belt sander.
I like the facings even with the back of the feather strip slot.

UjiZ9eR.jpg
 
Is the feather strip supposed to be undersized in length slightly to accommodate felt between the facing and the end of the feather strip? The original strips disintegrated for the most part when removing so I've got to cut some new ones at work from Poplar.
 
Also the original facings were stapled to the rails with a few narrow crown staples, that's all that was holding them as the old cement had let loose over time. Does anyone still staple the facings at the bottom or just stick with cement?
 
sneaky_pete said:
Also the original facings were stapled to the rails with a few narrow crown staples, that's all that was holding them as the old cement had let loose over time. Does anyone still staple the facings at the bottom or just stick with cement?
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I don't like using staples here, with proper prep and good glue I don't feel it is necessary.
sneaky_pete said:
Is the feather strip supposed to be undersized in length slightly to accommodate felt between the facing and the end of the feather strip? The original strips disintegrated for the most part when removing so I've got to cut some new ones at work from Poplar.
Click to expand...
I do cut them slightly short, otherwise the cloth can put a slight bulge in the facing.
 
Did you adjust the subrail bevel? The SuperSpeeds are larger than the Monarchs. If you did not adjust the bevel, you run the risk of the nose height possibly being incorrect and will for certain no longer have a 2:1 playing surface of 50" x 100". The playing service will be 49.75" x 99.75"
 
No I didn't mess with the sub-bevel, i feel like you could make a mess out of that for little gain. I read some about the differences before ordering but the supplier felt they were close enough to work fine without modification. Looking at the new versus old they are very close, I didn't take calipers to compare the overall height, the new are ever so slightly taller. I'm just breathing new life into a worn table. I'm not a good enough player to worry about a 1/8" difference in playing field. This picture is the actual cushions I'm working with.
 

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sneaky_pete said:
I'm in the process of replacing the old Monarch cushions and 1/8" facings on my GC2 with some Brunswick SuperSpeed cushions and 1/4" facings.

I sanded the rails to remove the old glue, used 3 coats of 3M 10 contact cement to get the new cushions stuck well. I found a tip to use a wave serrated bread knife to trim the cushions by riding on the side of the rail, seems to have worked great with very little final sanding needed. I'll handle the sanding with an 80 grit sanding block.

What I'm having an issue with is how to tackle these thick 1/4" facings. I went thick to tighten the pockets a bit because this old table has buckets.

I've seen some people stick the new facings full size then do all the trimming after install. Seems like it will be difficult with facings this thick. I'm thinking of getting them roughed out before gluing, maybe leaving 1/8" of excess. I'm thinking of using a Dremel with a sanding drum to do the final fitting. I've seen some people recommend a grinder with a flap sander but don't have a grinder and seems like I could get in trouble quicker than with a Dremel.

Another thing I'm not totally clear on is if I want the facing to extend to the back of the feather strip slot or if I want it to stop just short of the back of the slot to give room for the felt to go.
Click to expand...
I cut my facings with a Dexter industrial rubber knife. I keep it very sharp, and use a slight bit of soapy water as a lubricant.

As Sheldon said, I also finish-sand the facings flush with the cushions. I used to use a Harbor Freight 1/2" "band file". I later upgraded to a Makita 1" belt sander. However, I still sometimes use a Ryobi 18V 1/2" belt sander.
 
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sneaky_pete said:
No I didn't mess with the sub-bevel, i feel like you could make a mess out of that for little gain. I read some about the differences before ordering but the supplier felt they were close enough to work fine without modification. Looking at the new versus old they are very close, I didn't take calipers to compare the overall height, the new are ever so slightly taller. I'm just breathing new life into a worn table. I'm not a good enough player to worry about a 1/8" difference in playing field. This picture is the actual cushions I'm working with.
Click to expand...
Its not the reduction in playing surface area that is a big deal, its that the table will no longer be twice as long as it is wide.
 
You should have also looked into extending the sub rails instead of using thicker facings.

Before I had my GC II done correctly (with changes done to the rail bevels and extensions), I had just installed superspeeds in replacement of the original monarchs. I knew nothing about the cushion profile difference. I hated the way my table played after that. Ending up redoing it correctly 5 years later.

I hope this works out for you.
 
The new Superspeed cushions play great after replacing the Monarchs, I can tell no detrimental effects at all. I kind of feel like all the controversy of old Monarch Superspeeds and newer Superspeeds is blown out of proportion and gets parroted by people online that have never seen the difference in person. If you're a skilled enough player to really tell a functional difference then more power to you.

I used a combo of a large quality bread knife, a razor and a Dremel small sanding drum to finish the facings. I'm sure you guys that have done lots of tables with a band file could do it quicker but was very pleased with the results. I also finished recovering and reassembling the table with 860 and think I did great for my first table. New rubber, new 860 cloth and new Aramith Pro balls make it feel like a new table.
 
fastone371 said:
Its not the reduction in playing surface area that is a big deal, its that the table will no longer be twice as long as it is wide.
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From what I understand, Mark Gregory adds adds a 16th to his subrails when rebuilding to increase the shelf depth a bit which makes his tables not strickly twice as long as it is wide. Haven't heard anyone complain about his rails.
 
dendweller said:
From what I understand, Mark Gregory adds adds a 16th to his subrails when rebuilding to increase the shelf depth a bit which makes his tables not strickly twice as long as it is wide. Haven't heard anyone complain about his rails.
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If he adds to the sub-rail dimension my guess would be that he adds 1/16" to the short rails and an 1/8" to the long rails, maybe. That's purely a guess, I'm sure he thinks long and hard before he makes adjustments like that. I know I go thru that thought process on my race car fab stuff, I come with what I deem a great idea but by the time you work down the list of changes that will happen, both intentional and unintentional it may turn out to be a not so great idea. :oops::oops:
 
fastone371 said:
If he adds to the sub-rail dimension my guess would be that he adds 1/16" to the short rails and an 1/8" to the long rails, maybe.
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I'm pretty sure he said a 16th both ways, he didn't seem to think it was problematic. Probably more problematic to have rails across a pocket from each other that are different length from the nose to the feather. Then again, maybe I'm misremembering the whole thing.
 
realkingcobra said:
Hate to be the one to break ot to you, but that's not a GC2, it's a refinished GC1.
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What do you see that tells you it's a GC1 versus a GC2? It's got adjustable feet but guess those were added later in the GC1 production. Has a metal nameplate with pink/beige background paint. Has floating nut plates in the rails also. I see there were many upgrades to later production GC1's.
 
sneaky_pete said:
What do you see that tells you it's a GC1 versus a GC2? It's got adjustable feet but guess those were added later in the GC1 production. Has a metal nameplate with pink/beige background paint. Has floating nut plates in the rails also. I see there were many upgrades to later production GC1's.
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All of what you’ve mentioned were sdded during the GCI production. The stain is wrong for a II and II’s had bronze feet and ball tray bezel.
 
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