The following methods are some that i used when i was equipment and set up person, for the pro tour. I still use these methods for Mizerak's senior tour, when on the road.
To Don Purdy,
Sounds like your having trouble keeping the table level.
I would first check out the floor, and if it's wood make sure there is no give to it when jumping up and down. [good way to check it]. Next, i would either brace up from under the floor if possible. If not use some 3/4 plywood under each leg to spread out the load, or use a thin steel plate[1/4" is fine]. This will help stablelize the table. Either the wood or steel can be painted to match whatever, in your game room.
Don't make these too big, as your feet will bump them each time you get up to a shot. [ this will raise the table by the thickness of your plywood, or plate].
Settling the base to the floor!
If you have carpet, [this will not hurt the floor or carpet girls]..... Take your table 'frame" the base, and wrap a garbage bag up around each leg, to asure no water seaps up into the leg or stains the carpet with brass or metal flanges.. Take some pretty hot tap water, and pour a small amount around each leg on to the carpet. It let the carpet become limp, will allow the tables legs 'drop" and settle right away.
Ladies, this, WILL NOT HURT YOUR FLOOR OR CARPET. When you spill something on the carpet, first thing you do is use water to clean up. Try hot water next time, girls.......
This method is not nessesary with a wooden or tile floor without carpet.
Floors of tile, you can use a small piece of plywood to sit the table legs on, so it won't shift when your playing, or place some duck tape on the bottom os them.
Now the table base is settled in. Level it for the first time without the slates, best you can. Check your top main beams and cross beams, for being flush to one another, with a long straight edge or long level. Sometimes they are not flush on top as meant to be. You can loosen the bolts and adjust these up or down. After these are trued, then go back and retighten the bolts again. Once in a while with these mass produced tables, they require a little dressing up, and or sanding.
Fine adjustments of slates!
Most slates come with a board gluded to the back side. check these and see if they are flush at all corners. If not, you can lightly sand them with an electric belt sander. Go easy and don't over do it. Do just a little and stop and lay your straight edge or long level across them.
Don, you mentioned some shimm stock you have. This is fine for shimms. I perfer to do it another way.
You can purchase a small 2"X2" alumium angle at "Ace", or your local harware store. Cut you at least 4 peices of this angle about 2" long per slate. [12 total]. Next drill and tap one hole in one of the legs,[angle flange] I used a 1/4" X 20 thread tap. Now drill two holes in the opposing leg. These two holes will allow you to bolt them to the inside of your beams, with some small 1?4" lag bolts..
Place them in the 4 corners of each beam and sub beams, in way of where your slate will lay. Place a small round piece of flat steel [ or a penny] on top of the bolt so it will not allow the bolt to penatrate the wood on the back side of the slate.
Now replace your slates and level, with the bolts in the angle. This make it easy to keep level. These are a little trouble to do, [couple of hours for the average Joe], but in the long run you have no wooded shimms to move with moister. These are solid and will not move with moister, from season to season. This method works very well. Now grout and block sand the two joints.
Now clean your slate and lay down the cloth. Get the cloth paralle to the edge, and with enough over hang to staple. next, get a chalk line with white or blus chalk, and snap a line down the middle of the cloth, next snap 3 lines side ways, one from each end about 6 inches from the end and the last one from side pocket to side pocket. Now we have designed a grid, that runs paralelle to the weave in the cloth, in both directions.
Stretching cloth is not hard. While at the store, purchase some flanged vice grips. This will help hold on to the cloth while stretching.
Stapling cloth!
Most mechanics, will staple all the way across one end of the table and then go to the other end and stretch it. What happens, is the first end was never stretched.
What i do is simple, and a no brainer. On the first end staple about 6" wide, and go to the other end and do about 8 to 10" and go back to the other end and repeat untill it's all completed on both ends, to the inside corners, maintaining the cross ways chalk lines as straight as possible. takes a little time but well worth it.
. Now start the sides. At the side pockets, work one side about 6" and and go to the other side and continue this as you did with the ends, working towards the ends, and then start the other two. Stretch your corners as normal. [always put an extra cloth strip in the corners and side pockets first and then stretch the bed cloth over them. This will keep the balls from tearing the cloth when they bounce of the back of the pocket, and hit the double covered slate.
By using this method, the cloth is now stretched the way it was woven. It should not have "hot" spots or soft spots where the balls slow down. All the cloth should be the same speed.
You can now vacuum the chalk line up.
Rails!
Again, most mechanics will just place the rails and bolt them down. WRONG.
Put the rails on top and install the bolts only finger tight. now take your straight edge and place it along the side rail cushions. Tighten this side a little tighter than finger tight.
Now with a framing square, or a jig that is square, square the end on that same side. then go to the other end of your straight rails, and square that corner, now go to the other long side and get it straight, and tighten all bolts down. All 4 corners now should be square to one another.......
Now when you cross bank, or go two rails, or use the diamond system, the ball should be coming off each rail as intended.
For stretching cloth and squaring rails, most mechanices I have seen, over the years, do not use these method. They may not be aware of these methods or just want to hurry and go to the next job. This is really the best way and only takes about 30 extra minutes.
Stains, on your table or carpeted floor.
Ladies, if a drink of some sort gets spilled on the table or carpet, try this method.
Whipe it up with a dry cloth , then take some warm water and pour on the spot, and lightly rub it in. . Mop this up with a clean cloth and repaert 3 times, this should remove the fresh spilled drink. Place a fan on the wet spot for about 20 minutes, and your ready to rock and roll.
Hope this helps,
god bless
blud
To Don Purdy,
Sounds like your having trouble keeping the table level.
I would first check out the floor, and if it's wood make sure there is no give to it when jumping up and down. [good way to check it]. Next, i would either brace up from under the floor if possible. If not use some 3/4 plywood under each leg to spread out the load, or use a thin steel plate[1/4" is fine]. This will help stablelize the table. Either the wood or steel can be painted to match whatever, in your game room.
Don't make these too big, as your feet will bump them each time you get up to a shot. [ this will raise the table by the thickness of your plywood, or plate].
Settling the base to the floor!
If you have carpet, [this will not hurt the floor or carpet girls]..... Take your table 'frame" the base, and wrap a garbage bag up around each leg, to asure no water seaps up into the leg or stains the carpet with brass or metal flanges.. Take some pretty hot tap water, and pour a small amount around each leg on to the carpet. It let the carpet become limp, will allow the tables legs 'drop" and settle right away.
Ladies, this, WILL NOT HURT YOUR FLOOR OR CARPET. When you spill something on the carpet, first thing you do is use water to clean up. Try hot water next time, girls.......
This method is not nessesary with a wooden or tile floor without carpet.
Floors of tile, you can use a small piece of plywood to sit the table legs on, so it won't shift when your playing, or place some duck tape on the bottom os them.
Now the table base is settled in. Level it for the first time without the slates, best you can. Check your top main beams and cross beams, for being flush to one another, with a long straight edge or long level. Sometimes they are not flush on top as meant to be. You can loosen the bolts and adjust these up or down. After these are trued, then go back and retighten the bolts again. Once in a while with these mass produced tables, they require a little dressing up, and or sanding.
Fine adjustments of slates!
Most slates come with a board gluded to the back side. check these and see if they are flush at all corners. If not, you can lightly sand them with an electric belt sander. Go easy and don't over do it. Do just a little and stop and lay your straight edge or long level across them.
Don, you mentioned some shimm stock you have. This is fine for shimms. I perfer to do it another way.
You can purchase a small 2"X2" alumium angle at "Ace", or your local harware store. Cut you at least 4 peices of this angle about 2" long per slate. [12 total]. Next drill and tap one hole in one of the legs,[angle flange] I used a 1/4" X 20 thread tap. Now drill two holes in the opposing leg. These two holes will allow you to bolt them to the inside of your beams, with some small 1?4" lag bolts..
Place them in the 4 corners of each beam and sub beams, in way of where your slate will lay. Place a small round piece of flat steel [ or a penny] on top of the bolt so it will not allow the bolt to penatrate the wood on the back side of the slate.
Now replace your slates and level, with the bolts in the angle. This make it easy to keep level. These are a little trouble to do, [couple of hours for the average Joe], but in the long run you have no wooded shimms to move with moister. These are solid and will not move with moister, from season to season. This method works very well. Now grout and block sand the two joints.
Now clean your slate and lay down the cloth. Get the cloth paralle to the edge, and with enough over hang to staple. next, get a chalk line with white or blus chalk, and snap a line down the middle of the cloth, next snap 3 lines side ways, one from each end about 6 inches from the end and the last one from side pocket to side pocket. Now we have designed a grid, that runs paralelle to the weave in the cloth, in both directions.
Stretching cloth is not hard. While at the store, purchase some flanged vice grips. This will help hold on to the cloth while stretching.
Stapling cloth!
Most mechanics, will staple all the way across one end of the table and then go to the other end and stretch it. What happens, is the first end was never stretched.
What i do is simple, and a no brainer. On the first end staple about 6" wide, and go to the other end and do about 8 to 10" and go back to the other end and repeat untill it's all completed on both ends, to the inside corners, maintaining the cross ways chalk lines as straight as possible. takes a little time but well worth it.
. Now start the sides. At the side pockets, work one side about 6" and and go to the other side and continue this as you did with the ends, working towards the ends, and then start the other two. Stretch your corners as normal. [always put an extra cloth strip in the corners and side pockets first and then stretch the bed cloth over them. This will keep the balls from tearing the cloth when they bounce of the back of the pocket, and hit the double covered slate.
By using this method, the cloth is now stretched the way it was woven. It should not have "hot" spots or soft spots where the balls slow down. All the cloth should be the same speed.
You can now vacuum the chalk line up.
Rails!
Again, most mechanics will just place the rails and bolt them down. WRONG.
Put the rails on top and install the bolts only finger tight. now take your straight edge and place it along the side rail cushions. Tighten this side a little tighter than finger tight.
Now with a framing square, or a jig that is square, square the end on that same side. then go to the other end of your straight rails, and square that corner, now go to the other long side and get it straight, and tighten all bolts down. All 4 corners now should be square to one another.......
Now when you cross bank, or go two rails, or use the diamond system, the ball should be coming off each rail as intended.
For stretching cloth and squaring rails, most mechanices I have seen, over the years, do not use these method. They may not be aware of these methods or just want to hurry and go to the next job. This is really the best way and only takes about 30 extra minutes.
Stains, on your table or carpeted floor.
Ladies, if a drink of some sort gets spilled on the table or carpet, try this method.
Whipe it up with a dry cloth , then take some warm water and pour on the spot, and lightly rub it in. . Mop this up with a clean cloth and repaert 3 times, this should remove the fresh spilled drink. Place a fan on the wet spot for about 20 minutes, and your ready to rock and roll.
Hope this helps,
god bless
blud
