Question for table mechanics

alstl

alstl

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have an A E Schmidt table. The pockets are plastic and are held in place by two screws. There are a couple problems with this. The threads have become stripped for some of the screws and therefore the pocket can't be tightly secured in place. Also the holes are not recessed and unless you cover the head of the screw by gluing a piece of cloth over it, the balls get damaged when they make contact with the screw.

Is there some type of a plastic pin with a round head that can take the place of the screws and hold the pocket in place?

Thanks,
Al
 
I'm not a mechanic so don't hold this against me but I have tried a couple of things on tables friends have and the table I have since we all have older tables and the same problem. On one table I remember using wood filler in the holes and then a flat head screw and then covering the screw with the solf side of a small piece of velcrow to avoid damage to the balls but the screw must be screwed in enough to be flush with the pocket liner. Depending on the size of the screw hole, you could try jamming wooden toothpicks in it and then putting the screws back in. I also saw one guy take the screw/plastic insert that you use to hang pictures on a sheetrock wall and use the plastic insert and tap it into the hole and then secure the pocket with a screw or just secure the pocket liner by tapping in the plastic insert itself through the pocket liner provided you can find the right size for the hole that you already have(the plastic insert shouldn't screw up your balls). Might be tricky to find black inserts though although I have some. Hopefully someone else can provide you with better fixes as you may have a higher priced table than the ones we have and their fix might be more plaesing to the eye. Good luck.
 
A tooth pick or half of one. Stick it in the hole and presto :). Watched a good friend (Glen) do this on the frame of my GC because it was stripped. Worked like a charm. I hope I understood the post right.
 
Your pockets shouldnt have screws in them unless the pockets have a relief into them. Do your corner caps\ casting have a recessed are about an inch in diameter and roughly an 1\8" deep for pocket screws. If you do have the recess then you need gold crown style drop pockets and not you standard drop pockets.

gc style...http://www.poolndarts.com/p-3806-Molded-Brunswick-Style-Pocket/

and standard style... http://www.poolndarts.com/p-3808-Molded-Pocket/


You will probably need to retap the bad threaded ones to the next size larger screw, you will need to check for clearence on the screw head generaly an allen cap head screw.

They other option is for coin op tables they use a plastic pin just like auto body parts use they are also called Christmas Tree Plugs. look for coin op corner packet pins or plugs....Auto parts stores carry them 1\2 dia. head
3\4 long 3\16 pin like a ring shank nail.

This should help if not give me a call

Craig
916-825-2036
 
Are they machine screws or wood screws? There is an easy is and proper way to fix your problem and it does not involve toothpicks or larger diameter screws. If it's a wood screw drill the hole out, glue a plug in and drill a starter hole for your screw. If it's a machine screw with an insert you're going to have to remove it then you may be able to glue a new insert in or worst case scenario do the same as for the wood screw, plug it and drill a hole that's the correct size for your insert, glue the insert in and you're good to go.
 
alstl said:
I have an A E Schmidt table. The pockets are plastic and are held in place by two screws. There are a couple problems with this. The threads have become stripped for some of the screws and therefore the pocket can't be tightly secured in place. Also the holes are not recessed and unless you cover the head of the screw by gluing a piece of cloth over it, the balls get damaged when they make contact with the screw.

Is there some type of a plastic pin with a round head that can take the place of the screws and hold the pocket in place?

Thanks,
Al
Click to expand...

Check out item "L" on this page.

http://www.dbentertainmentco.com/Billiard_Accessory_Page_24.htm

They are for Valley & Dynamo coin-op tables which have metal corner caps and hold the pocket liners in place. They might work for your purposes if I correctly understand your issue.

Robin
 
TheTablePro said:
Check out item "L" on this page.

http://www.dbentertainmentco.com/Billiard_Accessory_Page_24.htm

They are for Valley & Dynamo coin-op tables which have metal corner caps and hold the pocket liners in place. They might work for your purposes if I correctly understand your issue.

Robin
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I'm looking for. I've seen them before on Valley bar box tables. I'm going to order a few.

Thanks to everybody who responded.
 
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