What makes two similarly equipped tables feel so different? (RKC?)

K

KMRUNOUT

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hopefully someone can help me figure something out.

Recently I played in 2 different pool rooms. One has 9' GC3's and the other has 9' Brunswick furniture style tables, but the nicer more commercial type...maybe Medalist?

Anyway, both have centennial balls with the blue circle centennial cue ball. Both have Simonis 860 cloth. Both have Brunswick cushions.

My question is: why does one table play very "light", and the other very "heavy". Here is what I mean: On one table, the balls feel lighter, they slide around better, the overall play is faster. It seems more effortless to get significant draw, though there doesn't seem to be any less follow. You just get the feeling that you can move the ball around with far less stroke.

The other table somehow makes the balls feel very heavy. Like even if you just shot a straight in stop shot, it gives the sense that the balls weigh a lot, and like you have to hit the cueball harder. Its the same balls, same cloth, the cloth appears to be quite tight on both tables. As I said the "lighter" feeling table plays about 10% faster.

However, I don't think the speed accounts for the difference, because I have felt slower tables feel "light" and vice versa.

Curious if anyone has a clue what I'm talking about and could offer any guesses as to what explains this difference in feel.

Real King Cobra, any words of insight here?

Thanks,

KMRUNOUT
 
could be humidity, difference in rails, dirty cloth or balls, etc. Its very difficult to pinpoint without actually looking at and playing on that table.
 
A number of reasons.
860 on some and 760 on the others.
Age of cloth.
Simonis as opposed to say Mali.
K66 bumpers as opposed to K55 or a lower cost bumper.
 
If you know for certain that the cloth, rails etc. are the same specs I would suspect that cloth stretch is the most likely suspect. I'm not sure how much even a slight difference in stretch can make but certainly it may have some impact to the extent the the looser cloth can "bunch up" even ever so slightly in front of a moving ball.

The other possibility might be the age of the cloth or especially the cushions, particularly if they are Superspeeds.
 
Thanks for the replies so far.

Yes, let me repeat that the cloth and cushions are the same. I would rule out the cushions anyway, since this difference I'm talking about can be felt on a straight in shot, without the rails involved at all.

This means that the likely difference is the method by which the cloth was put on. It is very possible that while it feels tight on the table, the cloth was not stretched as much on the "heavy" feeling table.

Thanks again,

KMRUNOUT
 
KMRUNOUT said:
Thanks for the replies so far.

Yes, let me repeat that the cloth and cushions are the same. I would rule out the cushions anyway, since this difference I'm talking about can be felt on a straight in shot, without the rails involved at all.

This means that the likely difference is the method by which the cloth was put on. It is very possible that while it feels tight on the table, the cloth was not stretched as much on the "heavy" feeling table.

Thanks again,

KMRUNOUT
Click to expand...

My guess is that if you WEIGHED the tables...the heaviest table would
be the liveliest.
The great Raymond Ceulemans said that if you add a half inch to the slate...the table will play a length faster.

regards
pt..<..who hopes RKC reports in
 
slates could be different....

pt109 said:
My guess is that if you WEIGHED the tables...the heaviest table would
be the liveliest.
The great Raymond Ceulemans said that if you add a half inch to the slate...the table will play a length faster.

regards
pt..<..who hopes RKC reports in
Click to expand...

This is one thing that I was thinking. Slates can vary between models substantially.

The first thing I thought was one had tighter pulled cloth than the other one. Unless the same mechanic laid both, this is what is most likely for the difference you felt, and even if the same mechanic DID lay them both it doesn't mean that he pulled it the same...

Sometimes the cloth is cut a little short and has to be pulled that much tighter to get it to fit right... etc...

Jaden
 
It is possible for the cloth to be the difference here. Humidity can play a factor as well as how the table is maintained...Dirty vs clean cloth. As far as the thickness of slate goes, that would not be noticeable. The home style table most likely has the same 1" thick slate as the GC. Also, how are you measuring the 10% "heavier" figure? Just by shooting, or do you have some sort of a set standard and you are measuring? The condition of the balls can also come into play.

If you were talking about the way the rails play that can be night and day different even if the tables have the same dimensions on the sub rails, same cloth, and same rubber. The way the GC rails bolt down is better than most home style rails, and the density of GC rails is greater for the most part which will result in a better response off the cushions.

How old is the cloth on each table? Who installed each? Was it the same person using the same stretching pattern? Are they both Simonis 860 or is one 860HR?
 
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