preparing A.N. Other table

[taffy]

Rings

been testeing these acetal rings recently:

this one has an ID of 51mm which is 1mm over the standard 4-pin ID of 50mm. It's all i wanted! the balls are either in or go by the hole. this means the reverse shots are far better. if the ball rims it is for but a few degrees so it has every chance of missing the pin.

ITS STAYING. but what i.d.?

Alan had sent me two rings, one was an easydrop. well it ain't no easy drop from my day!!!! this barsted has 4 extruding points inside the hole and they make the kind of racket that's like your teeth being hit by a spoon. horrible! it has an i.d. of 55mm but 51mm across the extrusions.


the second is a Jelkes I think? it is black and has an i.d of 55mm. there's no rimming but then at 55mm there didn't ought to be. I don't mind the game being easier, i don't think the hole sticking out though 55mm is helping the reverse 200 though. so it's 'no go'.


so I have had a 52mm and a 53mm pocket ring made in acetal by my engineer Mick and we are testing them now. initial thoughts are: quicker.

Taffy

[taffy]

two weeks ago Alan got some new pins to me. I call them 'barbed' pins. the idea is that the ball hits the foot before it hits the side.

well it works but too well! anything at low speeds and the pins push the balls away! seriously, until you've seen a ball deflect off at a new angle you won't believe it! as I say, it has to be slow or 'trickling' along. They would be an excellent set for people looking for a great score regardless or good for newcomers who get fed up picking up pins!

don't get me wrong, they fall at medium plus speeds like normal pins but about the same as the tree trunks we used in the national 4-pin open at Sudbury this year.

look carefully at these three below....

the one on the left is thicker and I certainly haven't tried that because the one in the middle already doesn't fall 'fairly'. the one on the right has the wire through it set lower to lower the C of G. it works fine. all that is wrong with it is that i like to retrieve "the nearest ball" using my cue and if the ball is anywhere near this skittle then my cue can't get to the ball!!!!

as for the C of G and all that well i can try it again another time but the problem is the 'barb'. so perhaps none of these three will be used. back on the lathe for a "tickle" Alan?

cheers!!

Taffy

Aug 13, 2017 14:46:01 GMT taffy said:

as for the C of G and all that well i can try it again another time but the problem is the 'barb'. so perhaps none of these three will be used. back on the lathe for a "tickle" Alan?
Taffy

Well Taffy it seems to me you have two problems here: you need a pin that won't fall down........


...and a use for the ones that you've tried and don't work.


(a simple adaptation needed in each case)

[taffy]

ha!

reminds me of when i used to drink. all night and never fell over... got to be a weeble wobbles but not anymore!

as they say: "I have no drinking problem. first I drink. then I get drunk. then i fall over. no problem!

cheers!

TAffy

[alanturner]

Aug 13, 2017 14:46:01 GMT taffy said:

two weeks ago Alan got some new pins to me. I call them 'barbed' pins. the idea is that the ball hits the foot before it hits the side.

well it works but too well! anything at low speeds and the pins push the balls away! seriously, until you've seen a ball deflect off at a new angle you won't believe it! as I say, it has to be slow or 'trickling' along. They would be an excellent set for people looking for a great score regardless or good for newcomers who get fed up picking up pins!

don't get me wrong, they fall at medium plus speeds like normal pins but about the same as the tree trunks we used in the national 4-pin open at Sudbury this year.

look carefully at these three below....

the one on the left is thicker and I certainly haven't tried that because the one in the middle already doesn't fall 'fairly'. the one on the right has the wire through it set lower to lower the C of G. it works fine. all that is wrong with it is that i like to retrieve "the nearest ball" using my cue and if the ball is anywhere near this skittle then my cue can't get to the ball!!!!

as for the C of G and all that well i can try it again another time but the problem is the 'barb'. so perhaps none of these three will be used. back on the lathe for a "tickle" Alan?

cheers!!

Taffy

mmm !!!!very interesting.............i would say that red skittle does exactly what you expected it to do ...........perfectly ?
I will be able to do some experimental testing of rings , skittles/mushrooms soon , once i get a table set up ? i am going to set up a spare Sams i acuired on Sunday ............i/d of rings 50mm.........................spin right round then drop !
Alan

[taffy]

well I didn't know quite what to expect really? I mean did you know what they were going to do? I didn't even know if the pin would even resist the ball let alone deflect its travel. I thought that there would be a resistance to falling but this is even better than that. it's the term; 'better'.

what i'll do is loop back to these sometime. right now, I'm close to working on the table and the slate. I don't have much time spare though so I will have to do it in one big effort and everything else will be put off.

Taffy

[taffy]

Part 1

Time to report on my table refurb and i'll try and be brief-ish!

First of all, just a reminder that I am doing this because i want what i call a 'better game'! also, I didn't want to do this but the wooden top and baize weren't up to snuff so i did what I can. It has been a lot of work but if it had been a straight slate job it would have been far quicker.

the only tests done on the old wooden tp were to test the ID of the new square edged rings and after tests, 52mm was found to be 'fair'.

So in February this year I hired a van and took s stand at the Classic dirtbike Show in telford. luckily an old Pool Table slate finished at ebay auction while I was there and i'd kept the number. A call secured an agreement for £50 and Ally and I collected it from Leek, Staffs on the way home.

6 months passed and finally we decided to tackle my addiction of 5 games per day by denying me the table. I went into DT (denied table) and had the old cold turkey which I prefer with ice and a touch of tonic.

I decided to drill the 60mm holes with a circular steel hole cutter (mistake number 1,234,567) and bought acetal tube to make the drop rings from.



I made one miscalculation and to this day i don't know how....I did the old measure twice cut once but luckily my old saviour came to the rescue! Isopons p-38!!! it really was a good repair. I then re-drilled correctly.



having drilled the first practice hole on an off-cut of slate, mick, my engineer made the 9 drop rings.

I carried on drilling for real and straightaway all the teeth disappeared on the hole cutter! after re-cutting fresh teeth i eventually got 3 holes completed and 5 holes started. If i did this again i would still have started all the holes with the steel cutter with its pilot but just started the holes. so I gave Mick back the rings to have a smaller OD done.

I then bought a diamond cutter that did NOT have a pilot drill bit but it didn't matter as all the holes were already started. the diamond cutter went through like a knife through butter and it was done in 5 minutes (it seemed!).

alas the offset of the steel teeth was the reason for the 59mm holes and now i had the right rings the diamond cutter was making 60mm holes 'again'. the rings are now a loose fit (mistake number 1 million, one.......)

Damon the chippie made a wooden frame and screwed it into the table top, dropped the slate in and then drilled the slate. we should have actually turned the top over and just rested the whole lot on the cushions and then drilled through the new slate frame into the table top walls but well (mistake n.....) but at least we did it like this later.



I then stretched the cloth around the frame on the kitchen table. I had approached the neighbour about this but he claimed a bad back and i had to walk from here (number 35) to number 45 before nobody had heard of what was required....turn the slate over. John is now claiming disability benefits....sorry john. I owe you a beer!

i stretched the baize across the middle and stapled 6 times, then lengthways the same and then went back to the middles and removed the outside pairs of staples and concentrated on pulling away from the middle and stapling a little on each of the 4 sides.



ace job done and just 30mm spare in one direction and nothing spare in the other I just did it!

cut the holes and then flipped the slate when the mechanic arrived on the Monday. I struggled to think what could help me to do my (visions of clockwork orange) cloth pulling through the holes when i saw the floor mop bucket and wringer!



with crocodile clips that really are brilliant off ebay and a few rubber bands i was off!

If i had only used rubber gloves! but they aren't the only thing missing! Ally! you naughty girl!


made by Alan - crazy guy!!!

anyway, you can see how i did it. I used the glue that peradon were selling and it is BRILLIANT.

so the cloth was glued in the holes and the rings were wedged in from below to put the squeeze twixt cloth and hole.

as said before, the idea was to design a better table for a better game. I'm going to tell you that if you want kids to play this: they need to score lots of points! lots of reward and not a lot of pain.

so that is the end of it to here. let us look at what I did for 'the better game'!

Taffy

[taffy]

Part 2

So let us look at what I wanted:



I wanted a better reverse 100 and 200 twixt 30 & 20(shot 3) and a bigger space so a player can angle a shot for the reverse 100 OR another shot for the reverse 200 - there needs to be a distinction. so the top 5 holes were moved out apart by a further 3mm each and also the 200 twixt 10s and 20s would also now be "on" (shot 4).



this would mean that the corner shot into the 200(shot 1)would catch the 10 pockets so I had to now push the top 5 holes back towards the top cushion and I did this by 25mm which allows that corner shot uninhibited. This also gives the balls less chance to just roll laterally across the back.

I wanted make the Oxford break harder so I moved the 50s forwards by 16mm and this was done for three reasons, the break off and to get a 100 off the front of the 50s (shot 2) and also although the 100 went back making it harder to differentiate a 100 from a 200 the reward is hoped to be balls coming out of the top area being "lucky" and avoiding the 100 skittle. I also brought them in 3mm to make sure theat 2 balls pass each other outside the 50 peg for a reverse 'clip in'.

the 200 hole moved the furthest to facilitate the 200 shots; 31mm towards the D!!!

Table done and back on its legs I played with a new set of skittles from Alan again. He also sent me some 'Adams family' freaks, I mean, put this lot together and you'd call for the yellow van....

so how is/was it?

Terrible. A phuqin disaster, a nightmare!

Cut a 200 in and you wipe out the 50 skittle when it used to go through the gap. sob!

The rings are a little proud although Mick cleverly left me a very thin but 0.5mm rim on the top which i could easily file down and so could make the rings lower in the holes and disappear.

The cloth also seemed to ripple especially around my first 4 holes - the front 4.

The new skittles weighing the usual 25 grammes were shocking and sometimes they fell over just thinking about my next shot!!! I swear it! about as much good as an Italian tank.

Time for a re-think! Time for Cahunas!!!!! Cahuna time!!!!!!

The balls were even catching the edge of the 10 pockets for the diagonal 200. nothing was right.

So i did some checking and noted that Damon had added 5mm to the wooden batons for the new cushions he'd made and this was screwing with my shots! Two balls abreast wouldn't go around the back of the 50s, the diagonal shot....

So, new narrower rails with the rubbers were fitted;
Then I re-clothed again.
Then I flipped the slate and undid all the glue around the 200, 100, and 50 holes. I pulled the cloth through this time with DOUBLE, yes DOUBLE (isn't that incredible!!) crocodillo clips AND with the rubber gloves back from the bedroom I kneeded the cloth toward the holes from below (unsighted) and gained 2-3mm at each hole.
I then re-marked all the pin marks further from the holes and now they are 4mm from the ring but more like 7-8mm from the hole's edge.
Finally (or is it?); I decided to take my favourite skittles made of heavy African wood and drill them up the middle and add weight.


The most efficient weight which is heavier than lead even, is tungsten and tungsten is used for fishing weights but they just didn't do the job and i had to put two in the first skittle.


so i relaised that I need to go for dart barrels made of tungsten


after a little work drilling i had what i needed, left a little of the tip on, tapped it into the skittle and then used Araldite 2-pack to glue them in. 3 darts...4 pins but there... I used the 28 gram weighted darts.


the overall weight is now 55 grammes and the skittles are narrow as you can see. they are the minimum width where it matters. The 55 grammes allow liberty's and 'I got away with a scrape' this is no different to the Sudbury tables but the mushrooms do it by having a broad grip on the table surface.

so I put it back together two weeks ago and the difference is night and day! I also changed the table from high at the far end to flat and now everything just WORKS!!!! all the angles have changed for the better.

sure I have a couple of ideas but this thing is ace!

The break shot; I can only do a 50 and 10 (called '110' here as we have strict Nmkt & BSE & district Rules). The Oxford break can't be done but also, here's one for DAVE; because I have square edged drop rings, a ball CAN'T GO IN THE 50 FROM THE SPOT.

and this is with my narrower skittles!

I have a couple of ideas which i'll discuss soon but the table is awesome. My mates came over and baptised it last friday and gave it a huge thumbs up. Whilst their break scores weren't amazing I was and am scoring 1,000 breaks and the other night i did a 3,000.

I am lucky also that a 50 tapped in from the inside lets the object ball go on between the 20 and 30, reverse, and go in the 100 hole.

this table is the future because it is FUN!!!!

regards

Taffy

[taffy]

The one shot I wanted and can't get is the corner shot. on the table in my local that we played at; the Tharp, Arms in Chippenham Cambs in about 1980 we could fire the ball into the top corner and it would go back in the 200. 'plain ball' means that the ball is coming back about 25mm from the 200 skittle. as soon as you put side on the ball it can 'fan out' anywhere. so II need to get it nearer so that i use a 'trace' of side.



tests show that putting the 'D' further forwards will sort this. 40mm is the figure. the 'spot' then moves forwards 20mm and guess what...the friggin Oxford break is back on!!!!

choices appear to be;
A) a wider D to take the cue ball out to the side
B) the 200 hole nearer the D
C) widen the table
D) thinner wood in the cuchions (so = same as C)

If I move the D the 50s are screwed because the Oxford is back on. mucking with the cushions seems the best way. I shall be asking damon to take the first set he made and get them almost down so there's no wood looking 'from above'. it's cheap and easy to try. we just have to make a longer piece of wood for the back cushion but the rubber will stretch 4-6mm no worries.



if you played on this table....you wouldn't use anything else. I'd love to see someone like Nigel Senior as mustard round the table as he is at the break shot and THEN on this table.

after an Electric Light Orchestra evening we had a game.....Jeff would be proud of us!



regards

Taffy

Weighted skittles: Genius !!

What size or shape of D are you favouring ?

[taffy]

Hi Tommo

It came with 80mm wide and 40mm forwards and if a ball is hidden behind the 30 then it takes the utmost skill just to clip it so 80mm is about spot on.

Taffy

So, re-visiting the two diagrams recently put up, my guess is that your D is shaped like the one in the second diagram. For 3-pin we use as standard a perfect semi-circle with a diameter of +/- 75mm.

I am trying to put forward a recommendation for a standard D for Narrow tables, which would be shaped like the one in the top diagram, which I reckon would be a 70mm square with arc-ed side cutouts.

Your table is standard width of course so 2nd paragraph not applicable.

Thanks for the info, very helpful.

tommo

[taffy]

Below are dimensions of my table BUT it is NOT drawn to scale at all!


THINKING of taking the side cushions outwards from 808mm to 816mm but not the ends so may have to put a strip of wood behind the top cushion rail so that the side rails remain a tight fit.

If I did it all again I would move the 50s out towards the side cushion, the first 3mm or so would be to keep the same distance from the new thinner side cushions and then 7mm as well so 128/131 (call it 130mm) would be 120 (obviously drilling correctly next time!) which is actually a move of 10mm.

Below is a diagram of the present problem.


moving the pockets outwards would allow shot A so that you can 'get inside' the object ball shown and knock it down the 50 without any loses elsewhere. but I'm now getting shot B again because the cue ball is now going around the back of the 50 pocket twixt cushion and hole. balls 10-20mm away from the hole are easy as the cue ball goes around the back of the 50 skittle.

But I'd hope that the move from 808 to 814/816/820 will give me the diagonal into the 200, THAT'S the one I want!

yes Tommo, I have a semi circle of 80mm and although 75mm wouldn't hurt all this is judged on the narrow waistline of the 200 skittle.

Are your Skittles Twiggy or Monsurat Caballiel? LOL!!!!

Taffy

Dec 18, 2017 17:49:31 GMT taffy said:

Are your Skittles Twiggy or Monsurat Caballiel? LOL!!!!
Taffy

Our skittles are the standard 'pegs' used for 3-Pin throughout the bar billiards world: if you knock one over you've usually deserved it.

When we play 4-Pin it's a different matter entirely: I own five sets of mushrooms, all to a slightly different design or dimension. Most would take a hefty whack and a suppose you could class as "Monserrats", but the fifth set are rather spindly in nature and usually get an outing if we are playing Eastbourne !



.......oh, and for your amusement, read my thread on painting mushrooms, I underwent a similar painful experience to Taffy's initial attempt on the table covering:
barbilliards.proboards.com/thread/15652/mushroom-painting

[taffy]

This has been said before but the tables i see in the odd pub obviosly have 3 pins and are mushrooms. My old league only had skittles so I'd always figured that was the difference between 3 and 4 pin.

then I meet up with you all and because Sudbury use Mushrooms and you have skittles 'somewhere darn sarf' others have a visiom of our games the other way around!

Wisbech use skittles like us. Norwich Copy Sudbury as they had no 4-pin till recently. What is Wellingborough?

anyway, do you remember that for a couple of Friday nights I got my 3 old team mates out and we practiced at Dave's pub of choice: the White Horse in Sudbury? Andy and Colin hadn't played for 20 years, Alfie for 25 years except that Alfie had been around mine.

They didn't like the Mushrooms because they cast a shadow but of course they weren't fussed but when asked...that's what they said.

I just think people should have their ego massaged because that is what they EXPECT now.

One thing I never quite 'got' when doing the table was how the cloth stays in the pocket? I see some slates have wooden backing across the pockets so do the tips of the cloth glue to the wood? that isn't strong is it? My slate is 20mm thick and the cloth only just pokes down beyond the slate.

cheers

Taffy

Dec 19, 2017 9:01:08 GMT taffy said:

then I meet up with you all and because Sudbury use Mushrooms and you have skittles 'somewhere darn sarf' others have a visiom of our games the other way around!

Wisbech use skittles like us. Norwich Copy Sudbury as they had no 4-pin till recently. What is Wellingborough?

cheers

Taffy

Not just down south, Taffy, skittles are used in all the 3-Pin organised Leagues and Counties - which includes Northants, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire: 10-plus counties and something like two dozen leagues in all.

At the first-ever 4-Pin Open, organised by Norwich - yes Norwich - in 2013, a mixture of pegs and mushrooms was used. A decision appears to have been made at that juncture, as all future 4-Pin Opens have been mushroom-only (Sudbury investing in the requisite number of brand-new sets).

One thing that is not standardised in the 4-Pin playing counties in the East (extending west as far as Wellingborough) is the use of narrow tables which were originally commissioned for the leagues in the Fen district under the name "Snookerette": they seem to use all sorts of tables, even the modern 'Supremes'. We have no influence over that, nor would we want to. However when the two factions meet up, once or twice a year for the 'Opens', it has been gratifying to celebrate 'la difference' in as easy a way as possible which at present is the use of mushrooms. Moves are now afoot to further authenticate the brand with the exclusive use of narrow tables for E.Anglia 2018 which is something I'm looking forward to with interest.

[alanturner]

Dec 19, 2017 9:01:08 GMT taffy said:

This has been said before but the tables i see in the odd pub obviosly have 3 pins and are mushrooms. My old league only had skittles so I'd always figured that was the difference between 3 and 4 pin.

then I meet up with you all and because Sudbury use Mushrooms and you have skittles 'somewhere darn sarf' others have a visiom of our games the other way around!

Wisbech use skittles like us. Norwich Copy Sudbury as they had no 4-pin till recently. What is Wellingborough?

anyway, do you remember that for a couple of Friday nights I got my 3 old team mates out and we practiced at Dave's pub of choice: the White Horse in Sudbury? Andy and Colin hadn't played for 20 years, Alfie for 25 years except that Alfie had been around mine.

They didn't like the Mushrooms because they cast a shadow but of course they weren't fussed but when asked...that's what they said.

I just think people should have their ego massaged because that is what they EXPECT now.

One thing I never quite 'got' when doing the table was how the cloth stays in the pocket? I see some slates have wooden backing across the pockets so do the tips of the cloth glue to the wood? that isn't strong is it? My slate is 20mm thick and the cloth only just pokes down beyond the slate.

cheers

Taffy

When you press the rings in they should be tight enough to stretch the cloth into the hole and hold it there , no glue required , then turn it over and seal the back with .............well they used to use plaster of paris...............but decorators caulk will do the same job and taps out easily when required !

Cut cloth and fit 1 ring at a time , symetrically !
No glue required ............anywhere...............anywhere at all !!!!

[taffy]

yes but as I explained, my rings are now a (relatively) loose fit.

I'm certainly not trying to reverse mushrooms. just remarking on how perceptions got twisted by both parties! (point missed) and how we dodn't like them. but I reckon most of that is stuck-in-the-mud stuff. I enjoyed the mushrooms at the EAO, they are huge for mushrooms but at the end of the day have about the same waistline as the skittles i'd guess.

the weights really help, the mushrooms were too light before. how heavy is correct? well my initial thought for an hour was that 'not 25g, not 55g but maybe 40/45g' but now I like what i have and will just settle into these for a fewe months.

best to have a nice long look before you change something. lots of pause and reflect.

when are you coming up then Tommo! I reckon you need to see the light..... as james brown said; "can you see the light!"

Some big scores going down here Tommo. Carpenter came for his second session last night and reckoned it is a far better game than Pool and he did 3 x 1250. I did 2,500, 3,200 and 1,500. no money for guessing in which game I took out the red pin!

I reckon with a little more lubrication we'll have the wide cushions in in no time!

one thing I forgot to mention is that it is possible to get 100 getting a ball near the 10 hole off the back and across to the 100. it's a squeeze but i have done it.

How many points do you think you should get in a game then tommo? that's you and say a new kid playing for the first time?

Taffy

Dec 20, 2017 11:11:54 GMT taffy said:

How many points do you think you should get in a game then tommo? that's you and say a new kid playing for the first time?
Taffy

With respect, that's a bit of a futile question, Taffy......

We are gearing up for next March for the top 4-Pin event of the year at Sudbury, held this time on narrow tables, and none of us have any real idea as to what a good score will be.

In previous years 3000 has been a good score, achievable by maybe half-a-dozen players, but this has been on well-maintained All-England Championship tables: wide ones like yours. When it comes to it 1800 will win most games.

I'm really surprised that you haven't organised yourself some regular league play by now, either with Fenland, or by installing a table in a pub and resurrecting Newmarket and BSE on a minor scale.

Practising by yourself on your own bespoke table is fine, but it's a completely different matter when it comes to competition conditions. However in view of your obvious enthusiasm and the sheer scale of the practise you're getting (neglecting poor Ally !) I'll be tipping you as a dark horse.

[taffy]

dark horse? pa!!!

I wasn't asking you for facts tommo, i can quote them... We had the 4-pin team match so that is a good idea and of course Sudbury have their league games. In all honesty, i do a 10 hour day and walk the dog for an hour so a game at home is all i need now.

your a bit mean with your support, I did go around sudbury twice, wisbech twice and there's always a lack of people to play just when you need them.

we have asked two local pubs and they are non-committal so the next stage is to offer a table out of my own pocket to put a table in a pub at a cost to myself. do you have a view on that? now don't commit yourself now....!

anyway, the correct answer was: as you full well know

'LOTS and LOTS'!!! see, you didn't have to commit!!!

I reckon a good game is lots of great breaks, banging them in from everywhere, the lead changing regularly, the occasional peg (as a warning) a high score and something that makes you want to spend another quid. Most people have no idea where the shots are but then again someone else would say that Pool can be mastered from the first game which is where we fall down.

they say that they studied footie and the ideal scoreline is 2-1 for a thriller.... see Tommo, you learn so much when you come here.

Taffy

Really Taffy, you're targeting the wrong person, having been playing fifty years I am rather lacking in drive but rather looking to hang up my cue in a couple of years with the minimum of ceremony.

Other points worth answering......
4-mushroom represents only a tiny part of my playing life, which favours 3-Pin by about 20:1.

There are several people down south who have put tables in pubs, ourselves included. I recently paid out £40 for a coin slot coneversion: there's commitment for you.

For an exciting football scoreline, 1-0 will do for me as in the 1988 Cup Final.

Walking the dog an hour a day ? pah !! Mine gets four walks a day, and he's now shooting me a sidelong glance to remind me that the time is now !

[taffy]

oh boy Tommo. I've scribbled out my notes a few times. I don't want to hear anymore mate until you get it.

Taffy

[taffy]

OK back up a couple of posts I have re-drawn my table more accurately. one dimension was out by 100mm and I've also added the 'spot' and the distance to the 50s this time!



and below is how the break shot works on mine. I've left some important dimesnions in still.



the object ball in the 10 directly is only with a firm shot.

regards

Taffy

[taffy]

Ok I thought enough has happened to make it worth making another report on "A.N.Other" table.

I've now played 3,000 games in 20 months and the table is very fast still.

here is a link to a video of home game on youtube I did about 6 weeks ago.





those who haven't read higher up i shall be brief and say that i use a pink as an extra red to speed the game up. the holes are 52mm not 50mm but have sharp edges, the skittles are weighted and waisted.

having been to Sudbury and Northampton for the 4-pin tournaments I can see how slow my return balls are so perhaps I need those channel speed wedges under the holes sooner than later!

Today i decided to clean the cloth and thanks to Al Turner for the little sample of baize and Tommo for advice. I've had a job doing the 50/50 the other way to the video as the object ball can go anywhere. also over time the balls are stopping earlier, not much but anyway...

I took Tommo's advice and
brushed all the rubbish out, polished the rings, hoovered, back brushed against the nap, sprayed Ambersil, left it half an hour while I polished the wood surround, and made a wooden dolly for the baize to be stapled too, then I used it with the nap on the dolly running across it and put 'front' on one side and 'back' on the other and stroked towards the head of the table. then came three times up with the iron on just over medium heat (semi sizzling to the spit) and then with the hoover again, gently sucked a few hairs and crumbs up. The Ambersil, is basically a starch, so i'm not sure why Yanks on Youtube would spray and straight away put a squee-gee across the table, I mean WTH???? anyway to my table....

wow!

in a test before and after, the ball rolled a further 12"/30cm and the object ball that could take the right-hand 50 pin out just strokes in! what a difference!

the tables really palying well, it's close to perfection.

I may try some easydrop 'cuts' on a couple of new pocket rings as a test (as opposed to the proud bump type you can see earlier in this thread). I will also beg the carpenter to come back and put thinner rails on to widen the table by 3-4mm each side and make the diagonal shot easier. Basically, a ball played into the corner and out doesn't want to go in the 200 hole but come almost through the 200 pin.

My home record now stands at 17,000 but I have decide whether a 'quick' 110 is better than a very slow 150 - using the Nmkt'red-ball-as-the-cue-ball' rules.

Alan has also supplied a money box and the next thing is to adjust the mechanism to take £1 coins.

cheers

Taffy

[taffy]

I have a photo of some old rules, look like they are around the war time. It suggests that the BB table should be brushed backwards towards the baulk line. so was the nap of the cloth still towards the head of the table but brushed back?

which way should you iron?

also, has anyone experimented with the side cushion cloth having a 'nap' too? I have done some side cushions with cloth cut across the nap so it faces into the middle line of the table. I feel the balls off the side cushion straighten up too much? maybe if the nap was against the player it would kick off at the right angle a bit more?

PS, i no longer have a photo host so can't upload photos directly off the computer.

cheers

Taffy

Hi again Taffy.

The prodigal has returned and how I've missed you !

Nap being reversed having to be ironed the wrong way falls in line with my theory that Snookerette (aka 4-Pin) was designed to be mainly about "down the table and back" shots. On long, narrow tables set up to be "uphill" so that balls don't accumulate at the top end.

Regarding your query about the cloth on the side rails. Variations in bounce of the cushion will be down to the rubber inside (and how it is fitted) rather than the cloth, which has minimal effect. The rubber degrades (hardens) in time, causing the cushions to lose bounce accordingly.

If you try ironing the side cushions you will only succeed in flattening them all the more, so not recommended !

Rgds

Zeds

[taffy]

Oct 17, 2018 14:46:33 GMT tommo III said:

Hi again Taffy.

The prodigal has returned and how I've missed you !

Nap being reversed having to be ironed the wrong way falls in line with my theory that Snookerette (aka 4-Pin) was designed to be mainly about "down the table and back" shots. On long, narrow tables set up to be "uphill" so that balls don't accumulate at the top end.

my hero is back! every site needs a 'stato' thank god you're here!

I really would like to test all these theories! My own cushions bounce evenly but I swear they straighten on the table I've done at Stapleford and on this one I just bought at the weekend!

what do people use for photo hosts? some sites used to let you keep photos on the site and then you got a link from the store to the post you were making. It takes up a lot of space though.

I'll PM you.

Taffy

Hi Taffy,
Posting photos used to be problematic on the previous version of ProBoards but not now.

Before we used to have to use an external host such as TinyPics.

Nowadays a lot simpler:

1. Save the pic you want on your own computer's Desktop.
2. Start your post.
3. Click Add Attachment
4. Click Add Files
5. Enter your Desktop and click on the pic that you've saved.
6. Click Open
7. Click on insert and then on Done (you have the opportunity to load a maximum of three pics)
8. Add any text that you want, and click on Create Post.

Simples !

Cheers,

Zeds

[Chris_Sav]

Not the whole picture, please operate within the constraints of This thread

We are currently using 165meg of our 200meg limit, unless someone want to pay the monthly fee to increase this.

I am waiting to see what the long delayed version six of Proboards brings.

[taffy]

I've just done 50 hours on a Narrow Sams. new underboard in 6mm ply with a razor sharp front edge, 4mm furniture pads abound, carpet underlay, ski-drops all round she is a thing of beauty and goes into the Social Club at newnham croft this weekend.

the slate is backed by a piece of wood across the holes but it intrudes inwards a little on all 9 holes. the pocket rings couldn't drop and someone had tried to iron them down! The pocket rings look similar to the scarlet red ones but are brown. I had old Mick remove 2mm from the shoulders of the rings and they all drop in nicely now.

Another thing I noted was that the shaft on the timer is stamped "N.E." and then "I.O.M" and I recalled reading somewhere that the last tables manufactured were by Sams and even after Sams someone on the Isle of Man made them for a time. Can anyone enlighten me more on this?

I wish Sav you would get those rings made!

Taffy