taffy
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Post by taffy on Nov 27, 2021 9:27:01 GMT
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
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Post by Sav on Nov 27, 2021 15:11:01 GMT
Brief reply;
1) I believe the final clocks were made on the Isle of Man, though I have never investigated this, would be an interesting project for my planned marshalling on Manxland next year.
2) Rings, I am STILL not in possession of the correct final version of the CAD file. I have chased this but cannot procede further until I get it. The table with the prototype rings will be going into the Five Bells in Eastry which will be our new home after Chrimble if our league restarts.
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Nov 27, 2021 17:29:26 GMT
Yes I've already booked the manx up as it is 100 years and they are going to make a special effort I'm sure!
Taffy
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Post by Sav on Nov 27, 2021 17:43:33 GMT
Yes I've already booked the manx up as it is 100 years and they are going to make a special effort I'm sure! Taffy Where and when are you staying?
We'll be there for an extended fortnight, staying in Peel.
Mind you you're going a bit early for the centenary in 2023.
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Nov 27, 2021 18:19:37 GMT
yes, you could be right. 1923. Motorhome and not sure where we'll pitch up.
Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Dec 29, 2021 12:36:04 GMT
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Dec 29, 2021 20:11:26 GMT
three more photos. 1. front decals which look suitably 'aged'. 2. the scoreboard - a thing of beauty! 3. size matters! huge new cushion rubber is next to the old tiny rubber. Taffy
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Post by Sav on Jan 11, 2022 12:46:15 GMT
Thanks to Jon I am now in possession of what should be the final version of the CAD file for the rings.
I'm trying a local firm and should have a prototype to check against the set in our league table on Monday.
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Mar 17, 2022 21:35:45 GMT
 Latest table to join the Newmarket Stables of one David 'bach boyo' Lloyd is a narrow Sams I was fortunate to buy off 'Ozzy' here on the site at a more than fair price! So a thanks to Phil for thinking of me and after a trip to hailsham it was soon back in the workshop. As with all my tables I always try a new idea or two and stick to other tried and tested ideas that i now consider to work! So, it was off with the laquer using a belt sander and orbital sander for the little stuff. so, 3 coats of Danish oil and 2 coats of natural beeswax. a new premier cloth made for a Jelks only made it lengthwise by about 5mm...it was fully stretched and just made the wooden frame on the ends. The table lacked the usual 4 items namely; The timer cover (and funnel shoot) on top the money box underneath. the tally counter. the bar (a wooden board) I added the usual ski-drops and know the dimensions in the top of my head. I also narrowed the wood for this as the lanes in a narrow are well; "narrower"!.  The big difference this time was that i decided to lower the under tray by 40mm. This means the balls come down FAST and straight into the fingers of the player breaking them.....sorry, freudian slip there.... no, i counteracted the speed by using the carpet underlay. The task was easy to do; 30-minutes work it was that easy, all i had to do was chop the threaded heads off the table's coach bolts for the tray to fit nicely. I then used rubber foam strips in each lane of the ball tray (by your knees) and hoped the last downhill bit wasn't going to see balls take off and crack a knuckle. If it worked I knew that the balls wouldn't keep bouncing back out of sight. WORRA TREAT! the balls are now silent, fast and there's not even a 'boom' from the very thick rubber pads. a 100% succes and something I'll do again. Now the undertray IS visible for the last 10" of downward travel when viewed from the side, but, I used some 5mm ply and some mastik/silicon and sealed the view off (as well as helping with the noise containment). I'm presuming that old Alfred Sams decided to make the tables tamper proof when he introduced the 'bulkhead bang' that is all too familiar to everyone. The second new idea was the use of waterslide decal paper. I downloaded what to me is the correct script/font and best that "I" could see; "Old Stanndard TT" its called which is one that won't be lost on Sav! Now not being great with computers i knew this was going to go wrong so I found the script, asked to download it, clicked, looked in my MS Word screen and there it sat! Old Standard TT.  I'm not over happy with my efforts and will have another go. I also used that bloody awful, cheap rubber I found for sale on ebay on the front edge of the bar and I can now say 'yes, it has a deserved place on a BB table...just not on it but under it!'. New peradon balls complete the job. I decided to save the score discs and tacs, converted the timer to the £1 coin, and left the cushion rubbers as they felt nice and supple. I even left the leatherette - but not the D and it has an old/new quality to it now. From now on I think, any new Sams I get will have the undertray lowered the 40mm and i may put a security bar across to make it anti-tamper. Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Mar 17, 2022 21:50:01 GMT
The table was donated by Dunstable Fire Service to someone in April 1990.
The ski drop across the top 5 now consists of a vertical piece of wood screwed to the end frame, then a piece of damp MDF (4mm) that has been sawn to miss the runners and then soaked into its curved shape is added.  The waterslide decals after 2 coats of laquer to strengthen them and seal the numbers in. they are still incredibly delicate....3 coats next time!  I should have put them on like this but used black. or white on 'clear' and be able to view the wooden background. Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Apr 14, 2022 10:51:38 GMT
Can anybody sell me one of these old pre-war Sams skittles? cheers Taffy Attachments:
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tommo III
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Post by tommo III on Apr 14, 2022 11:00:14 GMT
Your best bet is Alan Mee: ask him nicely and I'm sure he'll make you one.
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Post by Sav on Apr 14, 2022 18:01:52 GMT
I've got several old pegs but don't remember having one with rings on the stem.
New one won't have the patina of age.
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Apr 14, 2022 19:05:01 GMT
I've got several old pegs but don't remember having one with rings on the stem. New one won't have the patina of age.
agreed!
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tommo III
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Post by tommo III on Apr 14, 2022 20:27:00 GMT
Get Al to make two identical then. Then bury them in the garden for a week. Then dig 'em up .... et voila !
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taffy
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Post by taffy on May 20, 2022 12:21:25 GMT
Well I've just finished Jelks3 today and she is a beauty! She had been fully refurbed by Bar Billiards Ltd and the moths had eaten the cloth. It came to me in need of a re-cloth and not a lot more - I hoped. Anyways, the darn thing had a cracked slate  and so I did the trick of red oxide primer again by building up layers of it and then ordinary grey primer. I promised last time I wouldn't brush it on the next time....clearly I don't even listen to myself because I did it again and, again created a lot of work! The red oxide dries immediately and won't spread on the brush which is a big problem. I MUST spray it on next time! I reckon I spent 25-30 hours on just the slate. I tapped the rings through the cloth from the top and this worked like it used to, the cloth ripped last time but this time the rings are a better fit and don't have the sharp edge of the scarlet red rings. I decided to keep the old score discs but on swopping out the 30s for 10 and 10 for 30s I was short of '10's so I repainted the discs. I did this by dint of simply cutting the masking tape out over the current discs and then laying the masking tape in the right place and painting through onto the disc. a little cleaning with a razor blade and i'll polish it up soon. Job done! The bar made a racket stopping the balls so I put furniture pads on the leading edge and it is 70% better. The real culprits are the hinges, they can rattle with each ball. If I were still in the car trade and the paintshop to boot, I would find little plastic teets used to hold panels on etc that the hinge pins could wear to quieten them down. New cloth, weighted mushtittles, mechanism to £1 thanks to my mate Mick the engineer, a money box from Alan Mee. I also was in a jam over the cushion rubbers and so I bought a new set of 5/8" Northern Rubbers off of Masters of Games. Now they supply 3 side rubbers and I had 2 end rubbers still in hand so I used only two of the new side rubbers and an old end one. The result is I need to do this purchase once more and I'll have a set of cushion rubbers spare. The cushion screws have pulled the wood out in several places so i was forced to buy 2 1/4" jappaned screws and glue in match sticks.....all good now! Don't ask if Swan Vesta are better..... I bulged out the coat hangers this time so that they accept cues more easily. I have lightly laquered (car paint aerosol cans) some scratched bits which at least protects everything while keeping the 'patina'. I also kept the leatherette the same for that reason. Several jobs around squaring the slate, the centreline, where the D cloth, 'the dot' go have been refined recently and the tables quickly play symetrically now. on all my recent tables, the balls bounce upwards going down the ski drops and that makes more noise than anything. It might be time for double padding for a proper soft landing on the next one. Nice to get another Jelks in, I like them laquered more than I do the Sams. I think laquered Jelks and waxed Sams; they then both look right! Should have a place for this sorted this weekend on the way home from Northampton. Taffy
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