Table maintenance

[sklskl]

Have just been through this thread some good tips. Just got my new supreme winner 7x4 yesterday, really pleased with it thanks to Dave who supplied and levelled it up. Just wanted some tips on cleaning the pool balls especially the white ball. What would you recommend?

[Deepscrew]

I used to used to 'pledge'em'up'. That and a yellow duster. Worked for me!

[sklskl]

I used to used to 'pledge'em'up'. That and a yellow duster. Worked for me!

I was thinking the same thing, but a few people said use it online some said don't.

I will now, thanks for clearing that up.

[Geoff Large]

Pledge has waxes and some furniture or household polishes even have silicon in them , balls are to kept free from grease and other slippery substances ..... use a proper ball polish available from most cue sports stockists .
I recomend just a bowl of warm soapy water , one ball at a time emerse in water and clean , buff up on a dry towel . do not put all the balls in the bowl to soak , only one ball at a time .
Cue balls require replaceing at least 3 times in a set of balls lifespan , due to contact all the time with the cue tip and chalk which scuffs the balls surface .
Cheap chinese balls suffer from impact marks more than top makers balls .....

[sklskl]

Pledge has waxes and some furniture or household polishes even have silicon in them , balls are to kept free from grease and other slippery substances ..... use a proper ball polish available from most cue sports stockists .
I recomend just a bowl of warm soapy water , one ball at a time emerse in water and clean , buff up on a dry towel . do not put all the balls in the bowl to soak , only one ball at a time .
Cue balls require replaceing at least 3 times in a set of balls lifespan , due to contact all the time with the cue tip and chalk which scuffs the balls surface .
Cheap chinese balls suffer from impact marks more than top makers balls .....

Thanks Geoff, also much appreciation in an old thread with helping me choose a supreme winner.

I have one last question, the new table I've put in my garage is quite humid, I bought a hygrometer recently and I got reading of 73% and I noticed from when I bought the table to within a week the table had proper sped up. It's fine I enjoy a speedy table but there are a lot of scratches with the white ball and I want to reduce the humidity so I've increased the ventilation in the room. Is there any other way I can improve the consistency with the way the cloth plays?

I also notice when I first got the table shots tight on the cushion were smooth but now when I try cutting a ball tight to the cushion it always moves away from the cushion. Any help would be great thanks.

[Geoff Large]

humidity is a problem with any cue sports table , hard woods tend to not move much , but a winner is made from fibre board and if this gets any dampness absorbed into is , then it can swell slightly .
The winner has a two support board on their sides system running the entire lenth of the tables slate , they can sag slightley or dip which ever you want to look at it .
I find taking the slate out and putting say a 4 foot strip of old snooker cloth useing a centre mark on the two supports , 2 foot either side staple this on , then useing a 3 foot piece staple this on top of the 4ft strip , then useing a 2 ft piece staple this ontop of the 3ft piece , what we are trying to achieve is to lift the centre of the slate up by forming a pyramid of gradual cloth strips stapled to each slate support , this will take the dip out of the slate centre .
you realy need to buy an engineers level , as pool tables will require regular checking , more so than a heavy slated snooker table . and an engineers level will also let you know if you have slate sag . a normal spirit level is not good enough . look on ebay for engineers level but do not buy the GG tube version with red gradual markings they are too accurate and you will be chasing the bubble all night long , just get a normal two line version with black markings .
You can if it is a coin mech winner , make two tubes with a flat plate on one end and a bolt and nut that slips inside the tube to make 2 small lifting jacks by adjusting the lower nut against the tube the bolt extends upawards lifting the slate bearer , these are placed under the gap of the centre slate supports and the inner cabinet floor as you can gain acess to this point by taking the side out , on none coin mech tables there is no gap under , so the supports go to the bottom of the tables inner floor support so use the strip cloth method .

Iron the cloth on a regular basis and try and keep the room warm as the cloth will absorb damp .

a small oil filled radiator under the table will help , and if you like get a hole cutter and cut a few holes in the under floor so that heat can be absorbed into the slate and keep the inner slate supports dry . I do not recomend putting heaters inside the table though .
Small floor mounted sealed oil filled rads are best .

[sklskl]

Ah I hate when you write a long message and it gets deleted!

Thing is when I got the table I played a cross table shot where the ball was tight on the cushion and it rolled along the cushion sweetly but as I said now the ball slightly moves away from cushion.

Could you recommend a level from ebay I don't really have a clue if you don't mind.

When the room was really damp before we sorted it out you said to put polystyrene on top and it would protect the cloth should i still do that just as a precaution to protect it from the high humidity? I opened the doors and windows recently and it reduced the humidity by over 5% but it's impossible to always do that or keep the room heated because it's in a detached room.

It is ok to use a fan heater like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3KW-INDUST...item27b65b4541

or should it always be oil filled?

I've read about cleaning chalk of the cloth and people have said brush whilst some say use that spray thingy but I don't want to use any chemicals on the cloth I just don't trust it. With the brush method some say that all it does is push the chalk into the cloth.
Do you have any suggestions to sort that out.

Thank

[philip in china]

Dehumidifier

A dehumidifier can work wonders in a room.

[Geoff Large]

Fan heaters have open elements , oil filled radiators are sealed and therfore better to leave on when no one is around .
they are thermostat controlled and can be put on a timer .

Sounds like you have slate sag . so take slate out and use the cloth strips as described stapled on top of the two inner slate supports that run the lenth of the table to lift the slate upwards in the centre , DO not put packing under in the centre of the slate like a few beer mats COWBOYS do this and it may result in a broken slate , you have to use long lenths of cloth strips , then the slate is supported gradualy as you staple shorter lenths on top of the longer lenths , building up a pyrimid .
like 4 foot then 3 foot then 2 foot etc until you have the bow out .

the level below is ideal .
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rabone-Eng...item3a6bd03001

[sklskl]

Ah I see, it' not a big deal for me at the moment but I may sort it out the next time the table is unlevel because that top is heavy!

Surprised that pyramind method would work in the middle of the table despite the weight of the slate. Howcomes you know so much about tables etc are you a supplier?

Philip I'm guessing the humidity where you play must be a lot worse due to the heat. I may invest in one but I'm not sure what size yet becauese the room is about 35m2.

[Geoff Large]

Ah I see, it' not a big deal for me at the moment but I may sort it out the next time the table is unlevel because that top is heavy!

Surprised that pyramind method would work in the middle of the table despite the weight of the slate. Howcomes you know so much about tables etc are you a supplier?

No a time served billiards fitter who has come across these problems and solved them , iv'e seen a few ways of getting bows out of the slate , a pool table has 4 corner legs or on older tables two end bench legs , nothing to support the centre of the slate , as the slate is only 5/8th thick it sags after time , ALL POOL TABLES do this I have not come across one that will not eventualy sag , I am realy surprised that manufacturers do not put an internal jacking device to adjust any future sagging out , something that could be adjusted from under the table ?
But until then the best method on winners is the thin strips of cloth forming a gradual pyramid , I've used this method on tables in clubs where other fitters have failed to correct a bow saying to the owner sorry the tables bowed it's a manufacturing problem , i recentley leveled 4 tables in Newark cue club this way and two at stapleford cue club , also put carpet tile in the end section where the balls drop into , including a strip of carpet tile at the very end where the balls clatter , this gets rid of any anoying clattering when balls fall into end section , you can also repeat this for the cue ball exit , of course if it is a home play then all balls come out at one end .

if you have a small 2.5 x 4 foot table the same height as the pool table you can shuffle the slate out onto this , to gain access to the inner part , winner top surrounds can be unclipped off , just unclip the string retainers , and if you let the top go back a few degrees the hinges are part open to allow the top to be removed , best if two of you do this , but I do it on my own , don't let the top fall back or you will damge it .

Geoff

[sklskl]

Just had a quick go on the table and the baulk end seems worse now......Is the engineers level the most accurate instrument?

I used a normal builders level before and did the cue ball roll test into each corner pocket and across.

[Geoff Large]

engineers levels are the best level to use on any cue sports table , they are used to level flat beds on machines for engineering , so are the ideal tool for a billiard table and on any slate bed table , they will show you the lows and highs of a slate , the builders level can be 0.30 out per metre of slate and thats a good quality one like a STABILA , thats enough to turn a ball though and the bubble on the builders level would show correct , the engineers level would prob show one side of the bubble touching a line or just over it .

makes to look out for is Rabone and chesterman ....Moore and wright ...and for our USA and Canada residents ...Starret .

All billiard table fitters that i have met use an engineers level or an engineers vial on an home made body like this


also see this on ebay if you fancy making a level youreself
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BRASS-SPIR...item3cb97bd3b1

the vials on these two levels are from ex MOD use like a gun turret on anti aircarft ex world war two ?
But they are not as good as the Rabone and chesterman one that I posted before on this thread . although that one is a 12 inch version which I use for a full sized snooker table , you could prob use a 6 or 8 inch version , but the price on that 12 inch is a good one for abuy me now price on ebay .
they are adjustable and you should find a surface and mark a box around the level turn it one way then turn it the other , adjust the nut until both ways read the same , then it is correct for use .

another on ebay smaller one
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-J-...item336d76ad33

and an 18 inch one
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Engineers-...item45fdf41686


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Moore-Wrig...item3f0f47493d
one to avoid because it is TOO ACURATE is a GG tubed moore and wright , these levels have segmented red lines as in the photos on ebay , please do not buy this type as you will be chasing the bubble all night long trying to level it , the slate is not as accurate as this level measures for .
Believe me i bought one when I first started 36 years ago and had to settle for the bubble reading mark of anywhere between the 2nd gradiant on this type of level becuase i just could not get a table to be 100% , it is that accurate that if you put a £5 note under one end the bubble would move 2 digits out of level .

If you fancy something a bit more modern you could use one of these , i have one for leveling the frame work up on full sized tables , they have acontinuous beep when it is level as well as a reading on the screen .
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fisco-Sola...item2a14f6dd68


Now i know a few of you will go out there and buy these levels and try to adjust tables or check the local club table and find that the slate is not as accurate to level as you would think especialy on full size snooker tables where mass production of low cost tables in the 1980s have some shocking sets of slates which are not even fit for garden paths .
So when an experienced fitter tells you that youre slates are not good then take his word for it , as we try to get the tables as level as we can , we are always restricted by how accurate these tables where made from new , thats the tollerance we have to work to .
there are a lot of dished ( concave ) slates out there . and a few warped frames , and warped pool table bodies EVEN FROM NEW !!!, pool table slates are only 5/8ths thick so if the body that the slate sits in is not good then the slate will not be level and will be twisted or dipped in the middle .

[sklskl]

Thanks for that Dave, I should get round to buying one soon. Is there a trusted method to use when levelling it up?

[philip in china]

It is very humid here. Also many buildings are badly constructed and can be quite damp.

I have a very big dehumidifier. My apartment is small- between 60 & 70 square metres so, say, about 200 cubic metres volume. The big one makes a huge difference to the entire apartment once I get it running. My old bungalow was very damp. It always felt much healthier with the machine running. Obviously with rising damp a dehumidifier cannot solve the problem as it just sucks more damp up but it can dry out the air.

When I was in UK I had a smaller unit- I don't remember the name. That had a humidistat but I don't know how reliable that was. I just used to leave it going until I was comfortable. I used that to dry out a utility room which we built that had a very large amount of concrete in it. Once that was finished my then wife used to take the thing to help her dry out laundry. Any emulsion paint or wallpaper we applied you could almost see drying. They are one of those things most poeople manage without but once you have had one you wouldn't want to be without.

Ah I see, it' not a big deal for me at the moment but I may sort it out the next time the table is unlevel because that top is heavy!

Surprised that pyramind method would work in the middle of the table despite the weight of the slate. Howcomes you know so much about tables etc are you a supplier?

Philip I'm guessing the humidity where you play must be a lot worse due to the heat. I may invest in one but I'm not sure what size yet becauese the room is about 35m2.