Rack and "kitchen" lines?

fhopper

fhopper

I like Points
Silver Member
I was in a cue maker's pool room the other day and his tables have a line across the table at the 2nd spot, (my son tells me this denotes the kitchen?, never heard that term), and a line from the rack to the center diamond at the foot for aligning the rack. I am terrifyingly ignorant about things like this, is it common to have these lines?
 
They look nice but they're not as common as one would hope.

The lines especially help when playing straight pool. You can easily see when a ball will be "in the rack". The line from the foot spot to the rail is used to spot balls after being illegally pocketed.

(Incidentally, I am not a mechanic but LOVE how my friend's GC looks with fresh simonis and nice, sharp lines.)
 
I too am a fan of having the lines on the table. The line from the foot spot to the back rail is critical for spotting balls and for making sure the rack is straight. I am surprised at how many rooms and home tables aren't marked.

I am having my table set up this Saturday and will mark my table. What is the best marker to put the lines on? I like a dark thin line, maybe a fine tip sharpie?
 
This is what I do in the pool rooms, and on home tables if requested.

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Lines

reverend said:
This is what I do in the pool rooms, and on home tables if requested.

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Click to expand...

this is with regular sharpie in a pool room

I marked the TAR table with a fine point sharpie and the lines are much more subtle, almost like a pencil line that never comes off.
 
White is the right pencil for the blue cloth....black is the right color for the green cloth...you don't want to see the markings from a distance....you only want the lines to show up when your shooting on the table.
 
fhopper said:
I was in a cue maker's pool room the other day and his tables have a line across the table at the 2nd spot, (my son tells me this denotes the kitchen?, never heard that term), and a line from the rack to the center diamond at the foot for aligning the rack. I am terrifyingly ignorant about things like this, is it common to have these lines?
Click to expand...

The kitchen is the area behind the head string. The line you are referring to is the spot line. In addition to being invaluable to spot balls in games like straight pool and one pocket, it can also be used to align a triangle rack if it has a mark on the rear side for this purpose (like a Delta rack) or to align the rear ball hole on a Magic Rack.

Someone also posted pics of the outline of the triangle. This is used for straight pool so you can see if a ball is in the rack area.

Of all these I think the head string line is probably the least important. But if you don't play straight pool you don't need the rack outline either.

Reverend:

Thanks for the pics, that is definitely a professional job. I'd like to hear the details of step by step how you do this. Do you simply use string run from diamond to diamond? And do you then use a straight edge? I've bee concerned that running a sharpie (even a fine point) along a straight edge or around a triangle may result in bleeding. Is this not an issue?

Also, what purpose do the cross lines on the foot spot serve? I get that in rare cases a ball may be spotted above the foot spot, but why the partial along the foot string? Thanks.
 
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The cross lines on the foot spot.....serve as a guide to spot a ball....also when racking the balls.....not to rack high or low....playing games like one pocket....some people try to spot balls on the spot...and think as long as the ball is touching the spot....that's where the ball goes....the center of the ball mush be spotted on the center of the cross line.

You need to find a none bleed fabric fine marker....black one and white....so the lines don't show up from across the room. I get them at fabric stores....like JoAnn's
 
perfectpocketz said:
The cross lines on the foot spot.....serve as a guide to spot a ball....also when racking the balls.....not to rack high or low....playing games like one pocket....some people try to spot balls on the spot...and think as long as the ball is touching the spot....that's where the ball goes....the center of the ball mush be spotted on the center of the cross line.

You need to find a none bleed fabric fine marker....black one and white....so the lines don't show up from across the room. I get them at fabric stores....like JoAnn's
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Thanks, Mark. I was thinking I would run string between the diamonds to place the foot spot. Then simply use a straight edge from the foot spot to the middle diamond on the foot rail to make the spot line. Does this sound like the right procedure? And then just firmly hold the rack to trace the rack area?
 
DogsPlayingPool said:
Reverend:

Thanks for the pics, that is definitely a professional job. I'd like to hear the details of step by step how you do this. Do you simply use string run from diamond to diamond? And do you then use a straight edge? I've bee concerned that running a sharpie (even a fine point) along a straight edge or around a triangle may result in bleeding. Is this not an issue?

Also, what purpose do the cross lines on the foot spot serve? I get that in rare cases a ball may be spotted above the foot spot, but why the partial along the foot string? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I have never had any problem with normal sharpie makers bleeding on the cloth. Now that being said, you have to be aware of what you are doing, and not stop and start, just a nice fluid motion.

I use a 48" straight edge to make the marks, no strings. I measure out the marks using a tape measure and marking with white chalk. Then go back with the straight edge and sharpie and make the lines. Just take your time and measure 4 times before drawing all over your new Simonis.
 
perfectpocketz said:
The cross lines on the foot spot.....serve as a guide to spot a ball....also when racking the balls.....not to rack high or low....playing games like one pocket....some people try to spot balls on the spot...and think as long as the ball is touching the spot....that's where the ball goes....the center of the ball mush be spotted on the center of the cross line.

You need to find a none bleed fabric fine marker....black one and white....so the lines don't show up from across the room. I get them at fabric stores....like JoAnn's
Click to expand...

Thanks, I will have to go try to find a white one. Have you ever tried the silver sharpie? That seems like it might work pretty well on the blue cloth.
 
All these years I've been saying "measure twice, cut once".... I'm not sure I can switch to "measure four times, draw once".
 
@Dave... you're always coming up with good one-liners. (BTW, How are the walnut aprons coming along? Any photos of your Anni restoration?)
 
goldcrown4 said:
@Dave... you're always coming up with good one-liners. (BTW, How are the walnut aprons coming along? Any photos of your Anni restoration?)
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Hi GC,
I sent you a private message.
Give a shout when you have a minute and I'll fill you in... and digress... and then digress again.

Dave
 
"Tournament Blue" Sharpie

I set up an Anniversary last weekend for a fellow AZ'er. He wanted the lines drawn for the Head String and One Pocket Spot line on the foot end. I picked up a multicolor set of Sharpies at Lowe's which included this color...

FinePointMarker_BlueIce.jpg

It is called "blue ice" & is a perfect match for Simonis Tour Blue cloth! Stands out much less than black :thumbup: but is still easily visible.

I neglected to take pics but maybe Woody_968 can post some?
 
Planning on snapping a pic as soon as I can stop playing, probably sometime next week lol.

Got a 7 hour drill session in yesterday :)

The light blue was perfect for marking the table. I went and bought a marker so I can do the rack line when I get the new rack. I have only seen that blue in the multi color set, but my local staples had the set on sale for 5 bucks, ya can't beet that!
 
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