new style rack?

desi2960

desi2960

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
has anyone ever seen a rack that butted against the back rail? i am having trouble with my break and i think its because the balls are not racked exactly in the same spot everytime.

i am in the process of making a rack that butts up to the back rail, then you put the balls into place, the triangle has hinges at the back corners, that folds forward to tighten the rack. having a solid piece that touches the rail will make for an exact forward and backward perfect everytime. there will be a diamond on the back that matches the diamond on the table, for the side to side movement.

i am waiting for one more piece to complete the build, photos then.
 
There is something like that hanging on the back wall at Red Shoes Billiards. I've never seen anyone use it.


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Beaten down Balls

desi2960 said:
has anyone ever seen a rack that butted against the back rail? i am having trouble with my break and i think its because the balls are not racked exactly in the same spot everytime.

i am in the process of making a rack that butts up to the back rail, then you put the balls into place, the triangle has hinges at the back corners, that folds forward to tighten the rack. having a solid piece that touches the rail will make for an exact forward and backward perfect everytime. there will be a diamond on the back that matches the diamond on the table, for the side to side movement.

i am waiting for one more piece to complete the build, photos then.
Click to expand...

Depending on the balls age and use they might be beaten down pretty good. I found this out racking One Pocket. If you are just practicing rack the high balls in front and the others in back using 9, 8, 7 etc using the highest numerical balls of the lowest 9 balls.

The 1-9 take a beating and change just enough to make them harder to freeze to other balls at times, you will be amazed.
 
I have seen those used in tournaments where there is two pieces of wood coming down from the rack and a flat piece against the end rail, to make it the same rack each time. Don't remember exactly where but have seen it several times while watching on the computer.
 
Table cloth dents will usually dictate where to rack the balls from what I have seen.
Placing a rack on the table with a fixture that butts up to rail and assures the rack is in the correct place every time could work well if it were used from the time the cloth is new and then IMHO should be used there after.
 
equipment is good

best aramith balls money can buy, new simonis 860, plastic rack, 2 different wood racks, a custom extra heavy wood rack, and a sardo, a home table that gets no abuse and is cleaned on a regular basis, ball polisher so the balls are clean.
 
If the extensions that run from the rack to the bottom rail are touching the cloth you might wear ruts in the cloth. A rod or something that doesn't touch the cloth would be better. I don't know what you've designed so maybe you already took that into account.
 
If all your equipment is good, then I'd recommend drawing a line around the rack to use for alignment.

This is commonly done in straight pool so it's easy to tell if a ball in in the rack or not during play.

It will require the same rack to be used each time, so choose your favorite, locate it in the proper spot on the table by measuring it's location. Hold it firmly down and draw a thin line around the rack being careful that it's kept close to the edge of the rack and doesn't wander.

You now have a reference each time you rack as to whether or not the location is correct.

The only real drawback that I see to this is, has been mentioned, that just because the rack is in the correct spot, doesn't mean that the balls will rack tight. They may roll away from each other. Looseness in the rack is the second biggest killer of break power. The first going to hitting the rack square so that most of the cue ball's energy is transferred to the rack.

When I'm checking how well I'm breaking, I look to see if I hit the rack square, and listen to the sound to tell if I'm hitting it hard enough. The sound will also tell you if the front part of the rack was loose. It should sound like a single slightly extended "pop". It should not sound like a ball combination.

You might also try an Accu-Rack. Keep in mind that you do have to massage the balls a little to make sure they're frozen because they do have some friction and can stick to each other.


Royce
 
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That sounds like what I used at Super Billiards Expo 4-5 years back, when they had a different rack sponsor. It was big and bulky, and not likely to walk out the door. Other than that, I don't recall any other drawbacks or notice any improvement. The following year SBE went back to the regular Muellers plastic rack.
 
Post

desi2960 said:
best aramith balls money can buy, new simonis 860, plastic rack, 2 different wood racks, a custom extra heavy wood rack, and a sardo, a home table that gets no abuse and is cleaned on a regular basis, ball polisher so the balls are clean.
Click to expand...

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The sardo rack is for the exact rack every-time.<~ your table must be set up for it<~ with alignment marks.
It's easy to make alignment marks on the cloth and rack so any rack can be used to get the rack in same location every time...

I'd say the rack is supposed to a random thing.... Unless you are pattern racking and then that makes the game no fun....




Rob.M
 
fine for yourself

If you are trying to make something to help yourself, it can't hurt. If you are also thinking about trying to market the rack, it has already been tried several times. You may well run into patent infringement but equally or more important, I doubt you can sell them. Bigger and more awkward racks aren't popular, one reason the Sardo doesn't sell more. The other issues have been pointed out. Without everything else perfect racking the balls in the perfect position is no guarantee of a perfect rack.

I have been kicking around a rack idea for awhile, if you can't guarantee a perfect rack, guarantee an imperfect one!

Hu
 
Have you ever thought about using a template rack (magic rack style) and mark the corners of the rack onto the cloth with a sharpie? This may give you the consistency that you're looking for.
 
desi2960 said:
has anyone ever seen a rack that butted against the back rail? i am having trouble with my break and i think its because the balls are not racked exactly in the same spot everytime.

i am in the process of making a rack that butts up to the back rail, then you put the balls into place, the triangle has hinges at the back corners, that folds forward to tighten the rack. having a solid piece that touches the rail will make for an exact forward and backward perfect everytime. there will be a diamond on the back that matches the diamond on the table, for the side to side movement.

i am waiting for one more piece to complete the build, photos then.
Click to expand...

There was one like that used in a tournament. Only seen it used there and no other.
It was already tried and clearly failed.

One issue is that the position of the rack is fixed but the spots that the balls are able to sit tight is not. What if you need to push it back 1mm to get the balls tight? Or forward? What if you use it on a 7 or 8 foot table?

There are many players that don't have much trouble with the break, the issue is likely you need to work on your break ;-) Or mark the table better where the spot is and draw a line to the back middle so you can line up the rack straight.

Read Aesops fables. The Fox and the grapes one. There is an issue with the break, therefore the rack is sour :wink::grin:
 
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