Spitting pockets

bsmutz

bsmutz

Fearlessly Happy
Silver Member
I have a 1920's Brunswick snooker table with leather pocket rims and crocheted drop pockets. The leather that goes around the irons is nice and thick, then turns into thin flanges at the bottom where the knit part is sewed into them. When I hit a ball at a fairly good speed and it goes straight in, it will quite often hit that flange at the bottom of the leather which is rather stiff and acts like a trampoline. The ball comes straight back out onto the table. Is there an easy way to fix this? Thanks!
 
I think you are talking about the inside pocket liner. On older tables a
lot of guys will tack the leather where it meets the rail. If it is pulled tight,
this liner does exactly what you described, it acts like a springboard. if this is the case i would recommend removing the fastener and letting the liner hang naturally.
 
I second that, the first thing to check is how the pocket is tacked. The second thing you might do is get your thumbs in there and message to loosen up the leather.
 
Adjust pocket irons?

I have exerienced simular situations especially with side pockets. It some cases the back of the pocket irons may be a little low. There is usually a fair amount of up and down play in the irons before they are tightened in the rail. Loosen the bolts which hold the irons in the rails, then lift the rear of the pocket iron. While holding some upward pressure to the iron retighten the bolts. With the back of the pocket irons slightly elevated the rebounding ball should be directed downward into the pocket.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. The pockets are attached to the irons. The irons go into holes in the rail and a bolt comes up from below to go through the hole in the iron. The leather isn't tacked to the rail. I've been spending a little time here and there rubbing the leather in an attempt to soften it. I think I may have helped create this problem by soaking the knit part in Oxyclean. The water/Oxyclean wicked up into the leather and probably made the flanges stiffer than they were before cleaning. I'll try loosening the pockets and see if I can get them to tilt, but don't hold out much hope in that regard. I've been toying with the idea of putting some adhesive backed foam along the flange to absorb some of the energy. Anybody have any experience with a product that will soften stiff leather more quickly than kneading it?
 
my experience with conditioner or softeners hasn't been good. Generally they make the pocket leather weak and the pocket falls apart. There are parts to the pockets the iron, iron cover, innnershield and basket, and an outer cosmetic piece. The inner shield is the part that the ball hits, if this is tacked to the rail untack it. If the ends of the innner shield is tucked underneath the rail, loosen the rail, pull it out and trim it straight down. Secondly there is a basket that is attached to the pocket behind the inner shield, this is the part I was referring to message and loosen. The other side of the basket is mounted to the slate liner or frame, if this is pulled too much towards the frame it causes tensions behind the inner shield and gives you the trampoline effect. What kind of table do you have? Also how close in inches is the innershield to the slate?
 
This is a table from 1926. It has the pockets formed over the irons. The upper part of the pocket is thick like a baseball glove. It tapers down into the pocket. Once the leather is under the iron, it thins down to just two flaps. These flaps are then sewn together over one side of the crochet pocket (made from strings). There is a copper wire that runs through the other side of the crochet to hold it up.
Imagine if you had a bent piece of round bar that fit into holes drilled in the end of the rail. Now imagine taking a piece of clay and molding it around the bent bar to form a pocket. At the bottom, pinch the clay to form a thin skirt. That's kind of what it looks like. The bars have threaded holes drilled in the ends where they are inserted into the rail. A bolt comes up from the bottom and screws into that hole, keeping the pocket in place. The copper wire also loops around these two screws to keep the other side of the pocket in place. The wire kind of rests in a groove between the slate and the frame after it is woven through the top of the basket. The leather flange at the bottom of the pocket was probably pretty supple back when it was made, but the intervening years have stiffened them up. Now it almost looks like one of those pitchback machines and works just like one when you hit it right.
I don't think there is much play in the vertical orientation of the pockets since the bolts have to thread through the holes in the ends of the pocket irons. Once you tighten them down, they can't rotate at all. Also, no part of the pocket (leather or crochet) actually attaches to the table at all.

Check out this page:Antique Table Parts. I have the iron pocket irons shown at the top of the page. My pockets look almost exactly like the 6RET/P1 pockets without the outer shield. Then I have the little string bags like the ones shown at the bottom of the page instead of the outer shield.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top