Rails on table too low.

pw98

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I had a custom made table installed about 8 months ago. It is a 92' table with k-55 superspeed cushions. The table was made by a local company and I dont want to say their name. I don't want to deal with them at all anymore because they originally provided a warped slate and I was treated like sh!t trying to get them to replace it which they eventually did.

Its probably worth noting that they told me at one point that the technical measurements for the table were copied from an olhausen table.

Anyways the problem is it plays very short and the rails are very fast. I dont play near as good as I used to on the old table (which had beat up cushions) I had that didn't play as short or fast and I am a much better player now....


For example if I hit a ball perpendicularly into the short rail with max side spin I can only get about 2 diamonds of travel regardless of tip height or speed. With my old table it was close to 3. I suspect this might have to do with why my english positions off one rail come up short often. The cloth is broken in 860.


So I have had a mechanic look at the table and he says they really messed up the rails as they are too low. He installed some cloth under the rails to raise them a little bit and the shortness problem still persisted but it wasn't as bad. One rail was so inconsistent in height across the face he had to bend the rail a bit to make it the same height but now if you lag a ball the rails at the same speed the ball comes off a few inches shorter off the tweaked rail than the other rails.
In addition to the rails being too low they are not glued on at a consistent height across the rail. This means the nose height probably fluctuates about 1mm across the same rail.


So basically I need new rubber at this point and if that doesn't fix it then I need to replace the table. I am wondering what cushions have a nose height higher than superspeed k-55s? He said he thought accufast or the Diamond Blacks were possible options.

I am also wondering if any other people who had a problem similar to this felt they played better on their table once they got the problem resolved?
Basically I feel the table plays less consistent than any of the hall tables around here except for one hall with Gandys from the 60s where it might play a little better. In either case both my table and the gandys from the 60s play bad, even though they probably have the best rubber....

EDIT: I was told when I posted this in the main forum that k-66 rails would raise the nose height 1/16th of an inch. What are the best k-66 rails to buy? The only quality brands I can think of are Artemis and Accufast.
 
Please post some pics :)
Show us the wavy rubber and show a ruler or a set square measuring the rail height
 
I had a custom made table installed about 8 months ago. It is a 92' table with k-55 superspeed cushions. The table was made by a local company and I dont want to say their name. I don't want to deal with them at all anymore because they originally provided a warped slate and I was treated like sh!t trying to get them to replace it which they eventually did.

Its probably worth noting that they told me at one point that the technical measurements for the table were copied from an olhausen table.

Anyways the problem is it plays very short and the rails are very fast. I dont play near as good as I used to on the old table (which had beat up cushions) I had that didn't play as short or fast and I am a much better player now....


For example if I hit a ball perpendicularly into the short rail with max side spin I can only get about 2 diamonds of travel regardless of tip height or speed. With my old table it was close to 3. I suspect this might have to do with why my english positions off one rail come up short often. The cloth is broken in 860.


So I have had a mechanic look at the table and he says they really messed up the rails as they are too low. He installed some cloth under the rails to raise them a little bit and the shortness problem still persisted but it wasn't as bad. One rail was so inconsistent in height across the face he had to bend the rail a bit to make it the same height but now if you lag a ball the rails at the same speed the ball comes off a few inches shorter off the tweaked rail than the other rails.
In addition to the rails being too low they are not glued on at a consistent height across the rail. This means the nose height probably fluctuates about 1mm across the same rail.


So basically I need new rubber at this point and if that doesn't fix it then I need to replace the table. I am wondering what cushions have a nose height higher than superspeed k-55s? He said he thought accufast or the Diamond Blacks were possible options.

I am also wondering if any other people who had a problem similar to this felt they played better on their table once they got the problem resolved?
Basically I feel the table plays less consistent than any of the hall tables around here except for one hall with Gandys from the 60s where it might play a little better. In either case both my table and the gandys from the 60s play bad, even though they probably have the best rubber....

EDIT: I was told when I posted this in the main forum that k-66 rails would raise the nose height 1/16th of an inch. What are the best k-66 rails to buy? The only quality brands I can think of are Artemis and Accufast.
If you change the rubber profile it will most likely also change the size of the playing field. I am also guessing the the table builder had no clue the the angle of the subrail was important, that will also change rebound angle and speed. Your best bet would be to send the rails to a professional mechanic who does rail modifications.
 
Any time you try to redesign a wheel you eventually end up with a modified version of a wheel, and often it's a wheel no one is accustomed to. If I were to have a table built I would certainly have an idea of how I wanted it to play. Olhausen would be something other than a 1st choice for almost everybody. If you did not specify some sort of playability factor then it seems you got what you paid for. If the result was to play like a certain type of table at the local pool hall that you enjoy you should have tried to find a used one that played that way, and probably be money ahead in the long run. You likely will end up doing that anyway. Sorry for your loss.
 
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