Question on table setup

[scottjen26]

Just had a used GC IV installed. I'm pretty picky (understatement) about things, which is why I have a hard time doing do it yourself type tasks, all I see are the flaws when I do it.

Overall table looks great and installation went well, but like I said all I can seem to focus on is things I see that are not perfect. So just a few questions to ease my mind:

- Table has a few hammer marks where the felt meets the rail. Table was only covered 2 or 3 times before I got it, and I know my installer didn't do it, so someone earlier did. Sickening, would assume using a rubber mallet eliminates this. There are maybe 1 or 2 spots on 4 of the 6 rails, so not horrible. I know it won't affect the play, but in the future is it even worth worrying about? Can the laminate even be fixed if I wanted to?

- Used Simonis 860 tournament blue cloth. I see darker marks in a few areas of the table. I understand that can be from stretching the cloth, assuming those will fade or not be seen as the table is played on?

- Balls sort of veer right and left slightly as they slow down, again I've heard that can be because of the new cloth and things settling in, is this true?

- Table is not level when shooting corner to corner, moves 1/2 ball or slightly more. I haven't checked all directions, but the table is on thicker carpet and upstairs and was told that it can take a few weeks to fully settle in. Assuming if the slate is leveled properly, and the table does settle a bit, then I can just spin the feet as needed to bring back into level? I'm fine with things as is for now, but a month from now would expect things would have settled and would like it to be as level as possible

- Measured between the rails when putting a mark on the table for the spot, and noticed that the table is 100" nose to nose lengthwise, but it's only 49 3/4" width-wise. Why would it be 1/4" short? I'm guessing that won't affect play much if at all, just weird...

- Lastly, any products I can use (or shouldn't use) to clean or polish the brushed nickel castings, rails, or skirts? Anything that would soften or remove small scratches etc.?


Thanks in advance for any answers, good or bad. Would just like to know what's normal or not. This is a great table, only a few years of play, and is in pretty good shape. I never paid attention, but even the brand new GC V's I play on in one room are not perfect - things are not flush in all areas, etc, so I know I can't expect perfection. This was step 1, in a year or two I plan on using Mark Gregory's services to redo the rails and get the table playing as good as possible.

Scott

 

[fastone371]

Just had a used GC IV installed. I'm pretty picky (understatement) about things, which is why I have a hard time doing do it yourself type tasks, all I see are the flaws when I do it.

Overall table looks great and installation went well, but like I said all I can seem to focus on is things I see that are not perfect. So just a few questions to ease my mind:

I feel your pain brother, I too suffer the same illness, there is no cure I have found to date as of yet.:frown:

 

[JC]

Just had a used GC IV installed. I'm pretty picky (understatement) about things, which is why I have a hard time doing do it yourself type tasks, all I see are the flaws when I do it.

Scott

You're just the opposite of me Scott. I have had some highly respected pros in a lot of areas produce utter crap at my expense. I am neither broke nor cheap but all I ask is for the professional I pay to have an outcome even slightly better than I can do myself with a minimum of research and effort. I am rarely rewarded with this simple criteria so over time I have become cynical. It seems like no matter who I hire they do something that although I may not have the immediate remedy due to lack of experience on that particular thing, I can see is wrong and easily ferret out where they cut a corner and how to do it myself better. It just seems like few are proud of what they do now days and many who are have false pride in average workmanship. It's the predictable outcome of the everyone gets a trophy mentality up at kidsports the last 30 years.

JC

 

[realkingcobra]

Just had a used GC IV installed. I'm pretty picky (understatement) about things, which is why I have a hard time doing do it yourself type tasks, all I see are the flaws when I do it.

Overall table looks great and installation went well, but like I said all I can seem to focus on is things I see that are not perfect. So just a few questions to ease my mind:

- Table has a few hammer marks where the felt meets the rail. Table was only covered 2 or 3 times before I got it, and I know my installer didn't do it, so someone earlier did. Sickening, would assume using a rubber mallet eliminates this. There are maybe 1 or 2 spots on 4 of the 6 rails, so not horrible. I know it won't affect the play, but in the future is it even worth worrying about? Can the laminate even be fixed if I wanted to?

The half moon hammer marks come from using a block of wook and a metal/hard plastic hammer to drive in the feather strips, and missing the block of wood with the hammer. There's nothing you can do about the marks at this time short of replacing the laminate which is really not work the money

- Used Simonis 860 tournament blue cloth. I see darker marks in a few areas of the table. I understand that can be from stretching the cloth, assuming those will fade or not be seen as the table is played on?

Depends on how over stretched the cloth was at them shadow mark areas, they may or may not go away but have no real effect on the roll of the table

- Balls sort of veer right and left slightly as they slow down, again I've heard that can be because of the new cloth and things settling in, is this true?

It's called grain tracking, which will go away as the surface of the cloth gets more blended together by playing on it

-Table is not level when shooting corner to corner, moves 1/2 ball or slightly more. I haven't checked all directions, but the table is on thicker carpet and upstairs and was told that it can take a few weeks to fully settle in. Assuming if the slate is leveled properly, and the table does settle a bit, then I can just spin the feet as needed to bring back into level? I'm fine with things as is for now, but a month from now would expect things would have settled and would like it to be as level as possible

If that roll off started as soon as you started playing on the table, chances are it wasn't leveled correctly and in time will get worse

- Measured between the rails when putting a mark on the table for the spot, and noticed that the table is 100" nose to nose lengthwise, but it's only 49 3/4" width-wise. Why would it be 1/4" short? I'm guessing that won't affect play much if at all, just weird...

It's off side to side because the rails are not lined up with the corner pocket castings, meaning they're bolted in to far on the pocket casting which is causing uasing the playing surface to be short side to side

- Lastly, any products I can use (or shouldn't use) to clean or polish the brushed nickel castings, rails, or skirts? Anything that would soften or remove small scratches etc.?


Thanks in advance for any answers, good or bad. Would just like to know what's normal or not. This is a great table, only a few years of play, and is in pretty good shape. I never paid attention, but even the brand new GC V's I play on in one room are not perfect - things are not flush in all areas, etc, so I know I can't expect perfection. This was step 1, in a year or two I plan on using Mark Gregory's services to redo the rails and get the table playing as good as possible.

Scott

Mark is a great choice to rebuild your rails to play at their very best:grin:

 

[realkingcobra]

You're just the opposite of me Scott. I have had some highly respected pros in a lot of areas produce utter crap at my expense. I am neither broke nor cheap but all I ask is for the professional I pay to have an outcome even slightly better than I can do myself with a minimum of research and effort. I am rarely rewarded with this simple criteria so over time I have become cynical. It seems like no matter who I hire they do something that although I may not have the immediate remedy due to lack of experience on that particular thing, I can see is wrong and easily ferret out where they cut a corner and how to do it myself better. It just seems like few are proud of what they do now days and many who are have false pride in average workmanship. It's the predictable outcome of the everyone gets a trophy mentality up at kidsports the last 30 years.

JC

In this industry, there's a lot of practicing pro's, but very few actual "Pro's"

Glen

 

[JC]

In this industry, there's a lot of practicing pro's, but very few actual "Pro's"

Glen

I wasn't singling out your industry Glen. It's everywhere. I doubt pool table servicing is in any better or worse shape than everything else. It just seems like it to you because you see it up close and personal.

A couple of years ago I hired an experienced "expert" to lay a tile floor in the office of my business. He had over half of the 600 square feet glued down to the floor when I saw the tiles were not lined up very well and the grout lines were not straight. I brought it to his attention and he assured me it was in fact a good job. I fired him, pulled up every tile and did it myself starting from scratch. That was not an easy decision at that point, believe me. I had never layed ceramic floor tiles in my life but the job looks nearly perfect now. Something I like to look at when I come to work in the morning instead of that cobbled up shit he was trying to pass off. I watched some you tube videos and read some articles and went to work. This is just the latest of A LOT of stories like this throughout my life.

Here's the thing though. In the time that has passed since then I look closely at tile everywhere I go now. Lots of it to look at in public places. And sadly, he was correct. His work was about average for his industry. I do not feel I owe him an apology though, it was crap. Everyone gets a trophy? Not on my dime.

JC

 

[realkingcobra]

I wasn't singling out your industry Glen. It's everywhere. I doubt pool table servicing is in any better or worse shape than everything else. It just seems like it to you because you see it up close and personal.

A couple of years ago I hired an experienced "expert" to lay a tile floor in the office of my business. He had over half of the 600 square feet glued down to the floor when I saw the tiles were not lined up very well and the grout lines were not straight. I brought it to his attention and he assured me it was in fact a good job. I fired him, pulled up every tile and did it myself starting from scratch. That was not an easy decision at that point, believe me. I had never layed ceramic floor tiles in my life but the job looks nearly perfect now. Something I like to look at when I come to work in the morning instead of that cobbled up shit he was trying to pass off. I watched some you tube videos and read some articles and went to work. This is just the latest of A LOT of stories like this throughout my life.

Here's the thing though. In the time that has passed since then I look closely at tile everywhere I go now. Lots of it to look at in public places. And sadly, he was correct. His work was about average for his industry. I do not feel I owe him an apology though, it was crap. Everyone gets a trophy? Not on my dime.

JC

The more people working in a service industry, the lower the average standard of work because the Pro's start to become invisible when price shopping kicks in

 

[fastone371]

The more people working in a service industry, the lower the average standard of work because the Pro's start to become invisible when price shopping kicks in

I could not agree more with you Glen, cheap and quality are 2 words that never belong together. I think once people start price shopping they lose the option to complain about the work they paid for, more than likely they got exactly what they paid for.

 

[realkingcobra]

I can tell you one other thing that is true, you won't find real Pro's advertising for business either, as they have a word of mouth following of customers on their waiting list, and not at a discounted rate either

 

[scottjen26]

Thanks Glen for responding, I was hoping you or Mark would. Some updates/comments:

- Confirmed hammer marks were not from current installer, I was able to expand pics he sent me when looking at the table and could see slight reflection or shading differences in those exact spots. They are relatively small and few, thankfully, but I'm very OCD...

- I watched him stretch the cloth, it was not overstretched IMO, so those marks should indeed go away.

- I was not aware of the term for the ball veering slightly, was told it would go away so glad to see confirmation on that.

- He's coming back in a week or two to check the leveling, just in case, so that problem is solved.

- Regarding the width, I will address that with him when he comes back out. From what I saw, many of the screw holes on the table were predrilled and not slotted in any way, so if something was just a bit off it stayed that way short of plugging and drilling a new hole just slightly off to one side. I've noticed other tables I play on are the same way, seems sloppy to me but the way it is even from the factory apparently. Hopefully the casting holes are not like this and there is some room to adjust, especially since I only need 1/8" on either side to make it perfect.

I know, should have gotten a Diamond.. Believe me, if I had a first floor room would have certainly gotten one of the used pro tournament models or something similar, but with the price difference and still getting a 3 piece slate this was a good deal, table only 3 years old and minimal wear and tear. Can always sell for what I paid for it in the future, or just have Mark or yourself work on it and it should be as good as it gets.


Thanks again for quieting the OCD-ness...
Scott