Outlining Rack

I use an ordinary ball point pen but i don't press to hard. I mark the rack, headstring, footstring, headspot, spotline and anything else that takes my fancy. What the heck, it's my table.

Dave Nelson
 
Just out of curiosity, has anyone had a table installed recently and the mechanic did not put on a head spot? When I had my Olhausen installed they didn't put on the head spot after I had specifically asked for one. I had to do it myself.
 
I agree with Dave Nelson on this one, as well as Bob, BP and all you guys that have replied :)

When I had a smaller table to practice on at home, I would use a ball point pen to mark out the rack, spot line and headstring and yes, I would always mark the centre spot also, because the beauty about having that centre spot is also good for playing fun practice games like "Cowboy" where the 5 ball is spotted :)

When I marked out the spotting string though, I would only mark 4" above the foot spot, this way the spotting string wasn't going to be too noticeable and also because I could sight with the foot and centre spot, to find a parking space if I need to spot higher above the line, which only ever happened on rare occasions when playing line up straight pool :)

EDIT - I nearly forgot, when I was marking out the rack area I would mark the outside of the rack, but have the pen point as close to the base of the rack as possible, to allow for more consistent rack placement :)

Willie
 
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Measure twice, cut (shot) once...

This may sound a little anal, but I would do the lines in pencil (or something easily removable) first and make sure they are correct before I used a sharpie. Cuz, once it's on there, it'll be there a while...

But that's just me. :smile:
 
metallicane said:
No, he said that was against the "house" rules. Next time I visit, I will mark it with a pencil while he is not around. I still hate that forest green color though.
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An outline is great, but if it's your friend's table, house rules are house rules. If I had a table and wanted to draw little smiley faces all over the cloth with a Sharpie, that's my business. I wouldn't take kindly to someone marking it behind my back.
 
tsw_521 said:
An outline is great, but if it's your friend's table, house rules are house rules. If I had a table and wanted to draw little smiley faces all over the cloth with a Sharpie, that's my business. I wouldn't take kindly to someone marking it behind my back.
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While I agree with that, he told me he liked the lines on my table, but was afraid to do them on his. I think he is lazy and if the line is in pencil, he may grow to like it and then actually do it with a sharpie eventually.
 
I have to tell you that a #2 pencil is not easy to remove. Make sure to get it right the first time. Additionally, make sure that you use the rack that stays with the table. For home tables that's not a problem. at the pool hall if diffrent racks are used keep the same rack at the table.
 
metallicane said:
While I agree with that, he told me he liked the lines on my table, but was afraid to do them on his. I think he is lazy and if the line is in pencil, he may grow to like it and then actually do it with a sharpie eventually.
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In that case you should draw a snooker table "D" in the kitchen. If he's unfamiliar, tell him that it's a three-point line and that balls pocketed from there earn bonus points. :grin-square:
 
I outlined just the three corners and not the whole rack. Sharpie with a fine point worked great -- no bleeding. I have seen the three corner outline before in some billiard parlors, so that's what led me to do it. It looks kind of cool actually because the corners of the rack are not rounded so it's three lines angled, kind of like half-hexagon. I made each line about one inch long.

My only mistake is I used the inside of the rack. Oh well, lesson learned and I'll know better next time.
 
Another option is to mark with a white chalk pencil, but it depends on the colour of cloth you have on your table.

If you have a simonis cloth on your table, then the cloth colour will make a difference as to what colour of pen you use to mark out the rak area, etc.

For example If your table is covered in;-

Tournament Green (Same colour used for english snooker tables)
Powder Blue
Olive
Grey
Blue Green
Electric Blue
Royal Blue
Purple
Camel Gold
Burgandy
Wine

Then perhaps a black chalk pencil would be better suited as it would be a bit more visible, but without being too obvious or distracting.

Whereas other colors like;-

Dark Green
Spruce
Black
Marine Blue
Tournament Blue
Red

Might be better suited to being marked with a white chalk pencil, again because it's be easier noticed without being too obvious or distracting.

In saying that, the colouring would be down to the individual's choice of cloth colour, etc, but I thought that this would be worth mentioning.

Willie
 
While I was down at the show in NC last month I saw a table rack that you made marks under the side rails and end rail where the rack when placed on the table at the exact spot as to be lined up perfectly would emit a lazer light to the premarked spots under the cushions was perfect for setting up each rack of balls the same each time.
Ron
www.abctables.com
 
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