Not sure how to fix this

[Bigkahuna]

I am pretty happy with the pocket openings which are now at about 4.75 inches. Keep in mind these were well over 5 inches and I am looking to increase playability and not trying to go to some crazy pocket size. I have measured my current set up for the slate shelf and am about 1.75 inches measured from the median of the points for the pocket openings to the drop off point on the shelf. If I put a ball against the cushion facing and at the drop off point then I would say you could see about 35% of the ball sighting down the cushion. I am not sure what is correct here????

I am at a point where I am not sure how to proceed. The pocket shelves are wood on the older tables. They were beat and broken when I originally got the table ten years ago. So, I made up some new ones increasing the radius and extended the shelves a bit. I tried to do a decent job at the time bit it was never a good repair. I used plywood which got me close to the level of the table and then used bees wax for the last 1/8" or so. From there I would take a block plane and plane down the bees wax to get it flush. When done it was level but would not last as the wood was attached to the boards on the back of the slate and there was always is some movement. I know the antique tables use the wood because the machinery to cut the slate was not around. But, even if I went with wood again and got these attached to the slate with some epoxy or something I am not sure if this is the best way to do this. Make a mold and form the shelf using liquid steel??? Any thoughts?

 

[Dead Crab]

Speaking as someone who has never done it, I advise the following:

1. Design the pocket that you want. Look at how they are done on pattern slates, the schematics of which are available various places online like best billiards and lakeside billiards.

2. Make a router template for the shelf piece using 3/4" pine. Using a compass, scribe the pocket design for the "opening" side onto the piece of pine. Then position this appropriately in the pocket and trace your slate edge onto the pine. Using a sabre or jigsaw, cut this template out. Do the final shaping of it with a sanding drum in a drill press.

3. Trace your template onto a piece of 3/4" MDF. Not particleboard, but MDF. Roughly cut out 2 of these with a jigsaw, glue and screw these 2 together (screws go from bottom side upwards, not penetrating playing surface. Then screw the pine template to it and use a straight router bit with a template bearing to trim the MDF flush with the template. You now have your MDF shelf, 1.5" thick.

4. To attach the MDF cutout to the slate backing boards it is going to have to be shimmed. I am guessing that you have 1" thick slate, 3/4" backing boards. So your shelf needs 1/4" of shimming to make flush with the bottom of the slate backing boards.

For 1" shimming I would use 1/4" steel bar, or two 1/8" steel bar pieces.

I would then attach the shelf to the backing boards using 1/8" thick steel mending bar of appropriate length (available at any hdwe store with pre drilled screw holes). Get the mending bar long enough so you can get a few screws into the backing board. The screw should pass thru the mending bar, thru the shimming bar, and into the MDF without penetrating the playing surface of the MDF. You will have to pre-drill, and I would use self-tapping screws to get everything tight.

Then use wax or bondo to fill the seam.

The advantage of using steel and MDF is that they come milled to very exact tolerances, and there is essentially no warp potential for MDF. The use of steel plate to attach to the boards should be plenty strong, unless someone stands on it.

 

[Bigkahuna]

Thank You

Hi Dead Crab

Thank you for the detailed and thoughtful response. The problem is that I think the backer boards are moving which is cracking the bees wax. They are adhered well. Although the repair you have suggested would be more refined I am not sure that a fix similar to the one I have now will prevent that from happening. HMMMM???