Slate Fall and Pocket Size

[lesedwards]

Well guys here I go again....LOL Still complaining about my pockets and not being able to make balls. We have adjusted them a couple different times and now are exactly 3-5/8 at the fall of the slate but the ball can disappear behind the jaws and still come flying back out. If you roll a ball at medium pace down the rail it will rattle and continue to the next corner pocket. Both times when we took a little rubber off it really did not make much difference. On Saturday I was texting with a friend he told me to send a photo of my corner and side pocket and his reply back was I cannot believe how far back the fall is. After all this time we never even thought about where the fall started the only thing we did was take our measurement from the fall and found it very difficult to get to where we wanted to be. I have attached some photos of my corner and side vs. Terry Davidson, now his sides are opened up a little more then template but his falls and corner are dead on. My table is a mid 1920's Burroughs and Watts billiard table.
You will see my fall is about a half inch from the wood.

You will see Terry's is over an inch

Again same thing on side but not as bad

[Geoff Large]

Hi Les

I have sent you a message

but looking at the photo's take that ruler and measure from the face of each pocket leather to the centre of the fall on both tables , I think you will find your B & watts is 3/8th to 1/2 inch less , that is your main problem .
The type of pocket iron used also differs your B&watts is an extra broad bow, the other tables pockets are extra extra broad bow with more deflection angle ground in face of plate/iron / they maybe riley match leather type ?
The main problems are design of pocket plate irons and distance from fall to face of pocket plate iron .

Geoff

[DandyA]

hi Les,

sorry to be a bit off topic but how did you and Terry do last weekend? if I remember correctly, it was the first comp of the new season

[lesedwards]

hi Les,

sorry to be a bit off topic but how did you and Terry do last weekend? if I remember correctly, it was the first comp of the new season

Terry played very well but lost his second match. Tables had brand new 6811 put on them for our Ontario's in the spring and have not been touched since. Looks like hair growing on them. So slow and hard to control the QB. I. Played terrible and will continue to do so until I do something with my table and gain confidence. Both guys that beat Terry and I play out of the club so they think the tables are perfect. Terry has Hainzworth Percision on his and I have 6811 on mine and both our tables are brushed, blocked and ironed regularly.

[lesedwards]

Hi Les

I have sent you a message

but looking at the photo's take that ruler and measure from the face of each pocket leather to the centre of the fall on both tables , I think you will find your B & watts is 3/8th to 1/2 inch less , that is your main problem .
The type of pocket iron used also differs your B&watts is an extra broad bow, the other tables pockets are extra extra broad bow with more deflection angle ground in face of plate/iron / they maybe riley match leather type ?
The main problems are design of pocket plate irons and distance from fall to face of pocket plate iron .

Geoff

Thanks Geoff I will read your message. Terrys table is a BCE Westbury.

[Terry Davidson]

hi Les,

sorry to be a bit off topic but how did you and Terry do last weekend? if I remember correctly, it was the first comp of the new season

I was really disappointed in the state of the tables. It was obvious the owner had not brushed, blocked or ironed the tables since April as the nap was all bunched up and the tables were very slow. I have found I do not play well on very slow tables as I have a problem when shooting hard all the time I end up putting a touch of left side on the cueball (I'm cueing right-to-left because on power shots I tend to close my grip too early and too tight).

As a result of this my long potting was nowhere and my safety play wasn't very good either. The tables were that bad that it took a major effort to get the cueball back into baulk on the break shot and I didn't clue in but all the local players used the 'beginners' break where they used no side at all and brought the cueball back on the other side of the blue, so a 2-cushion break rather than the regular 3/4-cushion break all good players normally use. Even with a lot of power I was only getting the cueball to around the baulkline at best and a red would always come towards the middle pocket.

It was a very frustrating day for both Les and myself. We had told the club owner he had to brush,block and iron those tables frequently and especially over the humid summer months but our advice was ignored.

Terry

[itsnoteasy]

That's a shame lads, I can't see the point of recovering tables then not putting in a wee bit of effort to look after them. That's the cloth we have and it's quite bad when not looked after, ours feels like the nap is going the wrong way when you put your hand on the table, when it's not been done for a while.
Les do the balls catch the wood at all,? it looks like they might on the pic of your bottom bag.

[lesedwards]

That's a shame lads, I can't see the point of recovering tables then not putting in a wee bit of effort to look after them. That's the cloth we have and it's quite bad when not looked after, ours feels like the nap is going the wrong way when you put your hand on the table, when it's not been done for a while.
Les do the balls catch the wood at all,? it looks like they might on the pic of your bottom bag.

I have the same cloth on my table also and it is like a sheet of glass. Brushed, Blocked and Ironed regularly. As for wood on my pockets no that part is fine but the falls according to Geoff Large my falls are between 3/8" and 1/2" to far back in the pocket. I am going to pull the cloth off the areas and grind them out once someone tells me what I can use.

[itsnoteasy]

Oh heck, good luck with that, I know it will be ok for you as you are a skilled tradesman, that sounds terrifying to me

[tedisbill]

It's not the pockets, Les.

[lesedwards]

It's not the pockets, Les.

What do you mean?

[tedisbill]

It's not the pockets that are stopping you from making balls.

Terry would comfortably make centuries in the line-up on your table.

[lesedwards]

It's not the pockets that are stopping you from making balls.

Terry would comfortably make centuries in the line-up on your table.

No I don't think so, Floyd Ziegler who is past Canadian Snooker Champion plays on my table once a week and has played over 50 games on my table and his high break is 85, he runs centuries on other tables but even Floyd says my table is one of the toughest he has ever played on and Cliff Thorburn calls my Snooker Room Snooker Prison. This is coming from two of the best players in Canada. So how tough is it for a hack like me. Terry has played on it once and walked out with a mid 20 break. The corners spit the balls out like there is no pocket. Basically the fall is set back to far in the pocket. I can actually set the cue ball behind the horn and hide half the cue ball and keep it from falling in the pocket. Bought all the tools tonight to file them in a 1/2"

[tedisbill]

Hasn't the table been adjusted since Terry played on it? Twice I think?

Hmmmm. If Cliff is still saying its that bad then it must be I suppose.

[lesedwards]

Hasn't the table been adjusted since Terry played on it? Twice I think?

Hmmmm. If Cliff is still saying its that bad then it must be I suppose.

Pockets have been widened but when the ball cannot reach the fall on and angle shot before it reaches the jaws it has time to rattle back out. Really hard to explain but if you go back to the original post and look at where the fall starts on my pocket compared to Terry's you will understand.