Strange middle pocket measurements and help needed

[Mulambo]

I got a non-brand table from a private table maker, but my middle pockets are a bit odd. And therefore hard to pocket from an angle…



If I cue from an angle, the ball hits the nail and gets thrown out of the pocket again, although it should be a valid pot. As I am a beginner player, this makes it very hard for me to pot into the middle pockets, as my aim is not that accurate to alyways avoid hitting the shoulder of the pocket on the left side, and if I do sometimes I hit that nail. Which is obviously very dissappointing when trying to improve your game.

Is this a correct way to build such a pocket? It seems not very deep either, as the hole is about as deep as a 57mm ball. Are there other options beside this nail, which will not damage my balls if hit? Should I change the cheap plastik pockets to something better?

Any help and tips would be much appreciated!

 

[straightline]

Balls don't do well against nails.

 

[JPB2]

Replace the middle pockets with side pockets. .

Sorry, couldn’t resist the switch to American instead of English.

Nails are the same in both languages though and aren’t a good mix with pool balls.

 

[garczar]

I got a non-brand table from a private table maker, but my middle pockets are a bit odd. And therefore hard to pocket from an angle…

View attachment 798829

If I cue from an angle, the ball hits the nail and gets thrown out of the pocket again, although it should be a valid pot. As I am a beginner player, this makes it very hard for me to pot into the middle pockets, as my aim is not that accurate to alyways avoid hitting the shoulder of the pocket on the left side, and if I do sometimes I hit that nail. Which is obviously very dissappointing when trying to improve your game.

Is this a correct way to build such a pocket? It seems not very deep either, as the hole is about as deep as a 57mm ball. Are there other options beside this nail, which will not damage my balls if hit? Should I change the cheap plastik pockets to something better?

Any help and tips would be much appreciated!

Nail???? Get rid of this pos table is first thing to do.

 

[Black-Balled]

The 'private maker' had no care for pocket angles, I say you that. He may be a fabulous woodworker but he slept a major functional item.

Good news: it can be fixed.
Bad news: gonna be expensive to fix, unless he or you does the work.

 

[boogieman]

You want a cheap fix? Take the nails out and use adhesive backed double sided tape to stick the liner to the wood. That's a ridiculous way to build a table. It may be a great table other than that, but that's definitely something that will not play right.

If it were me, I'd probably just try to get some good double sided tape and go that route. They have some that is made for automotive type situations and not the foam backed kind. That's what I would try. It's not the "correct" fix, but it should work for years as long as you clean the surfaces well with something like isopropyl alcohol.

Something like this.

 

[Mulambo]

Replace the middle pockets with side pockets. .

Sorry, couldn’t resist the switch to American instead of English.

Nails are the same in both languages though and aren’t a good mix with pool balls.

English is not my mother tongue so I probably just mixed it all completely up

 

[Mulambo]

Thanks for all the replys so far!

Well I just can rate his wood working skills. And I watched him build the table the whole day it took. I didn‘t see any problems there. And as I never really played before anywhere else, I have no clue if he did it all right…

I just saw that my table and pockets don‘t look like others on the videos I watch. I tried to research correct table measurements, but couldn‘t find anything really helpful so far. It‘s just that the table feels odd in some situations when pocketing. For example, when I play a long pot to a corner pocket and I hit it hard and fast, the object ball hits the plastic thing in the back of the pocket and jumps out of it right over the table. I thought it‘s just because they are made cheap and don‘t absorb an impact as more expensive ones of leather (or whatever is used there) would do.

I should be able to get some good 2 component industial glue, and fix it that way. That stuff should probably hold longer than the mdf board of the table itself

 

[straightline]

Thanks for all the replys so far!

Well I just can rate his wood working skills. And I watched him build the table the whole day it took. I didn‘t see any problems there. And as I never really played before anywhere else, I have no clue if he did it all right…

I just saw that my table and pockets don‘t look like others on the videos I watch. I tried to research correct table measurements, but couldn‘t find anything really helpful so far. It‘s just that the table feels odd in some situations when pocketing. For example, when I play a long pot to a corner pocket and I hit it hard and fast, the object ball hits the plastic thing in the back of the pocket and jumps out of it right over the table. I thought it‘s just because they are made cheap and don‘t absorb an impact as more expensive ones of leather (or whatever is used there) would do.

I should be able to get some good 2 component industial glue, and fix it that way. That stuff should probably hold longer than the mdf board of the table itself

Replace the plastic pockets with web bags or at least line the cups with some kind of shock absorption. And the glue, you occasionally need to get the rails and pockets off to recover the bed and rubber so think about that fix.

 

[dquarasr]

Balls jumping out of pockets should be a very rare occurrence.

 

[Mulambo]

Replace the plastic pockets with web bags or at least line the cups with some kind of shock absorption. And the glue, you occasionally need to get the rails and pockets off to recover the bed and rubber so think about that fix.

I can‘t use a web, because the balls are rolling to the front of the table.
But thanks for the hint!

 

[Mulambo]

Balls jumping out of pockets should be a very rare occurrence.

Part of it might be me miscueing, I fear. If I try to make a draw shot and hit the cue ball low, My cue ball makes a little jump, hence hitting the object ball like a little jump shot. I guess this changes how the object ball hits the pocket and increases the chance of jumping over it.

I‘m currently trying different cue tip diameters, because I thought I made something wrong there…

 

[JPB2]

Part of it might be me miscueing, I fear. If I try to make a draw shot and hit the cue ball low, My cue ball makes a little jump, hence hitting the object ball like a little jump shot. I guess this changes how the object ball hits the pocket and increases the chance of jumping over it.

I‘m currently trying different cue tip diameters, because I thought I made something wrong there…

That’s not a tip diameter issue. That’s technique- stroke- tip placement. Others can address it better than I if they see what you are doing.

 

[Mulambo]

That’s not a tip diameter issue. That’s technique- stroke- tip placement. Others can address it better than I if they see what you are doing.

I know I‘m doing it wrong, and that’s a whole discussion for it’s own. I just wanted to not blame it all on the pockets itself, as I‘m aware of my lack of cuing

 

[ChrisinNC]

I got a non-brand table from a private table maker, but my middle pockets are a bit odd. And therefore hard to pocket from an angle…

View attachment 798829

If I cue from an angle, the ball hits the nail and gets thrown out of the pocket again, although it should be a valid pot. As I am a beginner player, this makes it very hard for me to pot into the middle pockets, as my aim is not that accurate to alyways avoid hitting the shoulder of the pocket on the left side, and if I do sometimes I hit that nail. Which is obviously very dissappointing when trying to improve your game.

Is this a correct way to build such a pocket? It seems not very deep either, as the hole is about as deep as a 57mm ball. Are there other options beside this nail, which will not damage my balls if hit? Should I change the cheap plastik pockets to something better?

Any help and tips would be much appreciated!

It appears from the overhead photo that the radius cutout on the slate does not extend out far enough. The middle of the cutout should be about even with the cushion noses, and it appears to be 1/4”-3/8” short of that, which would make it very difficult to pocket a ball from an angle.

 

[Mulambo]

If you mean, the pocket/hole should extend to the line of my trianlge, then no it does not. Which oviously decreases the angles with which I can pot into the side pockets. And the hole of the pocket is barely 1/2“ deeper than the ball, which means if I hit it too hard it bounces back out.



My corner pockets look way better. Well not judging the angles here, the shoulders look pretty parallel to me. But if I get my physics right, this should be an advantage when pocketing


I was curious now, and removed the nail. It is just a cover for a screw which fastens the pocket rubber into place. So If I remove just the nails, I would absolutely destroy my balls with those pockets. I will have to remove the screws as well…

 

[straightline]

Nails, screws, - same thing. you could pad the screw heads with a dab of silicone or Gorilla Glue but most of your problem is there isn't enough pocket past the slate.

 

[maha]

just a poorly made(designed) table. so use it for fun and dont expect it to perform like a well designed name brand one.

if you can afford it or care more about pool then bite the bullet and get a table made for pool players. not one made for show or price.

 

[Bob Jewett]

... I was curious now, and removed the nail. It is just a cover for a screw which fastens the pocket rubber into place. So If I remove just the nails, I would absolutely destroy my balls with those pockets. I will have to remove the screws as well…

If the person who made your table is ever going to make another, I think you should get him to fix the problem.

 

[Mulambo]

If the person who made your table is ever going to make another, I think you should get him to fix the problem.

It‘s actually a small company, and he makes pool and carom tables in various designs. Hence I didn‘t think further about it before buying one. As I understood it, he builds them and has a carpenter company who makes all the woodworking for him…

It is a private table for fun evenings though. I‘m not aiming at getting semi professional on it anyway.

Maybe I am wrong about this, but the slate should be a standard size/product anyway. All it needs to fix it, would be to fix my sides and rails, which are attached to the main frame and bedding of the slate anyway. So it should be possible to just switch the sides and improve it.