Pocket problems

[philip in china]

I know your opinions on Chinese tables but here I don't have much choice!

I keep getting balls dropping out of the rails that lead from the nets. Is there any simple way of stopping this please?

Otherwise the table I bought doesn't seem too bad. I can cue from the brown spot and get the cue ball to hit my cue tip on the return having gone over the other spots so it runs completely true. It is also dead level. The only shims the fitters used were a couple of playing cards so it was fairly accurately made.

Whilst asking questions I saw the thread about an old table in a building to be demolished and the sale of the accessories. How much should I pay for a second hand oak scoreboard?

[Geoff Large]

I know your opinions on Chinese tables but here I don't have much choice!

I keep getting balls dropping out of the rails that lead from the nets. Is there any simple way of stopping this please?

Otherwise the table I bought doesn't seem too bad. I can cue from the brown spot and get the cue ball to hit my cue tip on the return having gone over the other spots so it runs completely true. It is also dead level. The only shims the fitters used were a couple of playing cards so it was fairly accurately made.

Whilst asking questions I saw the thread about an old table in a building to be demolished and the sale of the accessories. How much should I pay for a second hand oak scoreboard?

Those chinese rails are rubbish , they fall apart with low quality nuts on the ends which you cannot tighten up , so just superglue them on if that is the problem , the nets too are not much good in china , if they are too long maybe you should take the wire out of the under support to the net and take it up a loop . make sure you get one end loop to go around the fixing screw or bolt to the pocket , this will close any gap for a ball to squeeze through .

Rolling a ball down the centre of the table is not the way to test for trueness of slates and level , to make sure they are true across the full width , roll a ball 2 inch away from the side cushion , down each side , if they roll towards the middle , you will have dished slates (concave ) a problem not only with chinese slates but a good percentage of Italian and Brazilian.
unless you know someone who can hand float slates , they will not be 100% true on any table , machine honing is just not good enough .
they may be allright if the machine has new bearings that support the honing heads , but as they wear in they flap about and make the slates concave .

For the score board , how long is a piece of string , you could be lucky and get a good one for just £10 , but if it is the life pool board or some ornate board with mirrors etc , then expect to pay a lot lot more . average price for a good life pool scoreboard is £600 to £1500 depending on make and size .
but I would say any UK made board is worth more than the average new chinese 4 hand scoreboard which sell for around £45 to £65 from Billiards retailers .

[philip in china]

Thank you again for your help Geoff.

I went round all the nuts. The ones which were loose I have replaced using some torquelok. That should hold them solid. There is no space for a ball to slip between the net and the rail. I think the balls just jump off the rails.

I cued a ball down the edges as you suggested. Some times the ball came back and hit my cue tip. I think the times the ball didn't hit the tip were due to my bad cueing. I say this because some times the ball went left, some times right so I assume it isn't due to dished slates.

I also got a paintbrush and got in under the cushion. The fluff etc. that I got out was amazing! Bear in mind the table is only 2 weeks old! I think a certain amount of the detritus stemmed from the original fitting though so I don't expect it will get as bad as quickly in the future.

So then having swept and mopped the snooker room floor as well I am feeling pretty virtuous at present.

[barracuda911]

[QUOTE=philip in china;411008]

I cued a ball down the edges as you suggested. Some times the ball came back and hit my cue tip. I think the times the ball didn't hit the tip were due to my bad cueing. I say this because some times the ball went left, some times right so I assume it isn't due to dished slates.
QUOTE]

I don;t think Geoff meant for you to play the ball down the rails hard enough so that it came back to you...I think he may have meant at a slow pace, from end to end, so you could see any roll off.

[Geoff Large]

That is correct a slow ball 2inch away from cushion not quite reaching the end cushion is all that is required in pace , as the ball slows this will either roll true if slates are true , or off to left or right where a level may cure it , or in from both sides which are dished slates and cannot be rectified by a simple level , a ball can also roll in if the end of the table is sloping up so check for this as well .
an angle shot from middle pocket to diagonal corner pocket from both sides is the best way of spotting this fault in level . a simple level will rectify this either bringing the end down or the rest of the table up .

[philip in china]

Yes it does run off just the tiniest bit on one corner. The slow ball does just run in slightly as it gets onto that last slate. Don't shout at me though when I say at our stage the run off is so tiny I am just going to leave it as it is for the time being. It really is only a tiny bit out!