Waiting on RKC

asiasdad

Banned
So I'm waiting on RKC to take a nomadic adventure to South Texas
to set up my humble little 55 year old pre Gold Crown Sport King. As
I have some experience with table mechanics in the PNW where RKC
calls home (when he's not in his truck,) I have learned to do as much as
I can myself so the critical work I cannot do will have the mechanics
undivided attention.

This is intended to be a primer to assist those of you who are willing
to wait for a quality table mechanic in such the same manner as you
would wait for a quality cue maker to spin a few chunks of wood
on a lathe get the maximum value from their time:

View attachment frame_alignment.BMP

Know exactly where you want your table. I know how irritating it is
when I move and my woman has no clue where she wants the damn sofa.

Once you know precisely where you want the table, take some of that
blue painters tape and map out an outline. In this case,
I mapped out a 10' x 5' rectangle perfectly centered in the area I had
available to handle a 9' table without having any "house hazard" preventing
full cue stroke from any angle around the table. I am fortunate that my
available space is a 22 X 18 area.

Once I started building the framework, I then measured where the legs
would be centered, and put some alignment tape down in the event of
table shifting from bumping it while putting it together.

View attachment base_set_up.BMP

Now I have the frame built and the slate mocked up close to where it
will be when Glen is done gluing it together. What matters most here
is that the center pockets are centered where you want them. In my
house I have a center ceiling beam that pretty much tells me where
center is located, so thats where it went.

Placing the slate on the frame was not so much to save Glen any
nut ache as it was to create a solid base where I put a work bench
on the slate, then placed that big 7' light on the workbench, and had
a much easier time hanging it off the ceiling beams.

I'm quite proud of the way I got that big ba$tard up there being only
1/4" off level on the first try ;) With the table being perfectly centered,
it was very easy to do the same with the light.

View attachment hardware.BMP

From years of rebuilding custom motorcycles, I had long ago learned to
label everything in component groups. The time saved not looking for that
damn "_______" is well worth the time spent organizing the
hardware in the first place.

View attachment artemis_rails.BMP

Also, make certain you have everything you need for your mechanic to
put it all together. That truck ain't sitting in your driveway burning gas
for free.

View attachment slate_frame.BMP

You can also save a lot of time and money by not having a table all beat
to hell by previous table butchers. If yours has bits of cloth and staples
in the frames, its' been butchered. Pull that stuff out before your table
mechanic shows up.

Take a look at this slate frame, and you will see it's in very good shape for being 5+ decades old.

(more to follow)
 
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Waiting on RKC part 2

I have had 2 competent table mechanics on this table and one complete
jacka$$ since I've owned it. One mechanic I would call a young journey
man truly interested in improving his craft...that is the man you want.

View attachment front_ballbox.BMP View attachment back_ballbox.BMP

The other competent mechanic, unfortunately is a complete flake, and
cannot honor a time line, however he is an exceptionally good woodworker
who made new aprons for this table (to get rid of that funky formica
stuff that was on Sportkings), and he hand made that light above the table
as well as a bad ass cue cabinet for me.

View attachment house_rules.BMP

The jacka$$, being supposedly a man of the cloth
completely butchered the rails which is why I'm waiting on Glen to
rehabilitate them with artemis, and get them back to the 4.5 pro cut
corner openings they used to be.

These balls deserve to be playing on a well set up table:

View attachment cloth_balls.BMP

Good night.

View attachment sleeping_table.BMP
 
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Waiting on RKC part 3

PoolTableII.jpg

This is what the table looked like when it was in my house
in Portland, Oregon before the butcher got hold of it.

I am looking for a plating company presently in South Texas
who could put a fresh brass plating on the castings. It makes
quite a difference in the table's appearance.
 
View attachment 258113

This is what the table looked like when it was in my house
in Portland, Oregon before the butcher got hold of it.

I am looking for a plating company presently in South Texas
who could put a fresh brass plating on the castings. It makes
quite a difference in the table's appearance.

Wish I was down there right now buddy, freezing my nuts off up here in Baltimore at 12 degrees and snow:eek:
 
Wish I was down there right now buddy, freezing my nuts off up here in Baltimore at 12 degrees and snow:eek:

This is intended to be a primer to assist those of you who are willing
to wait for a quality table mechanic in such the same manner as you
would wait for a quality cue maker to spin a few chunks of wood
on a lathe get the maximum value from their time

Speaking of waiting for a qualiy cue maker to spin a few chunks of
wood, could you perhaps check out:

154 Willard St.
Baltimore, MD 21223
(410) 233-6300

and see if there are any finished shafts with my name on them ? :grin-square:
 
Table

Sir,

I love this table. I have one I am restoring now. Looking at doing the base in black lawyer and the sides in a curly veneer. Looking to get the rails extended and the pockets down to 4 1/8". Any suggestions.

Richard
 
Sir,

I love this table. I have one I am restoring now. Looking at doing the base in black lawyer and the sides in a curly veneer. Looking to get the rails extended and the pockets down to 4 1/8". Any suggestions.

Richard

1. Brass plating the castings make a big difference in appearance,
especially in reddish/brown toned finishes.

Where are you located ?

2. Invest in Artemis rail cushions. I found my best deal with Donny
here (SDBilliards).

3. I really like the idea of the leather pockets from Ken Hash
at pooltableparts.com or classicbilliards.com. I have this set:

LTHR/BURG/ANN
http://www.classicbilliards.net/html/antiquepooltablepartspockets.cfm

This is also a great place to find parts .

If at all possible, get RKC to do your table after you have all the parts,
as he has the rail re-calibration down to a science.

Coincidentally, the young (as in table mechanic experience) now
qualified Journeyman table mechanic I was speaking of is named
Randy Smith of Portland, Oregon.

4 1/8 ?

You must have really good eyes :eek:

I want the balls to go in. 4 3/8 is pretty darn tight, and as most
tournaments are set up for 4 1/2 it would still make your home
practice table more difficult than what you would be playing on
in competition.

I can't see, and only play one pocket, but I still would like the ball
to go in once in awhile, so that is why a 4 1/2 pro cut set up is
plenty tough enough for me ;)
 
another month has gone by, and the slate on my table is getting
cold waiting for the tailor to show up to make a Simonis suit for it.

Any RKC sitings of him heading to the Republic of Texas ?
 
1. Brass plating the castings make a big difference in appearance,
especially in reddish/brown toned finishes.

Where are you located ?

2. Invest in Artemis rail cushions. I found my best deal with Donny
here (SDBilliards).

3. I really like the idea of the leather pockets from Ken Hash
at pooltableparts.com or classicbilliards.com. I have this set:

LTHR/BURG/ANN
http://www.classicbilliards.net/html/antiquepooltablepartspockets.cfm

This is also a great place to find parts .

If at all possible, get RKC to do your table after you have all the parts,
as he has the rail re-calibration down to a science.

Coincidentally, the young (as in table mechanic experience) now
qualified Journeyman table mechanic I was speaking of is named
Randy Smith of Portland, Oregon.

4 1/8 ?

You must have really good eyes :eek:

I want the balls to go in. 4 3/8 is pretty darn tight, and as most
tournaments are set up for 4 1/2 it would still make your home
practice table more difficult than what you would be playing on
in competition.

I can't see, and only play one pocket, but I still would like the ball
to go in once in awhile, so that is why a 4 1/2 pro cut set up is
plenty tough enough for me ;)


The pocket size makes no difference to how it will accept the balls....if the rails are done correctly the ball will go in the pocket close to the rail......as hard as you want to hit it.
My GC5 has 4" corners and the balls go just fine down the rails.....but again the rails have to be done correctly.

My price is higher for sure.......but what I do to the rails....only Bobby DeTurk and Glen do.
I cut the old sub rail off to the Formica.....then rebuild and calibrate the sub rail as factory....with my spec's.

That's why the others are cheaper in cost....big difference in the play of the tables. Trust me I tried the way Glen showed others....major difference in the way I do the rails.

Mark Gregory
 
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