Pool Table Issue - Need ideas

[Old Dutchman]

I think that if You are going to start with a piece of 1 inch by 4 inch wide stock, I would just set the fence to cut a piece of 1/16 in material off of the board. If Youfirst measure the thickness of the blade, plus the1/16 in. thickness, and cut blanks off a board. These could be added to the fence to cutt the 1/16 in material. There is also a jig that I have seen that is home made that can adjust the thickness of the board, and is set firmly from the rite side of the blade. This way, You would set the board against the jig, and move the fence to contact the board, and this will set the fence to cut 1/16 in. m aterial from the board each time You set it. I am sorry, I am not very good at explaining what I am trying to say, or You would see Me post more often.

[jdon]

How tight do tolerances need to be? Seems to me that resawing (at least with my skills) would lead to some waviness, not to mention possible warpage.

As an alternative, maybe you could use something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Styrene-Sheet-...m_sbs_indust_2

seems a lot easier, IMHO

[Pappy]

I have an old coin op table. The edge of the cushion is 1 3/4" above the slate.

[Raffi]

How tight do tolerances need to be? Seems to me that resawing (at least with my skills) would lead to some waviness, not to mention possible warpage.

As an alternative, maybe you could use something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Styrene-Sheet-...m_sbs_indust_2

seems a lot easier, IMHO

This is an interesting option. I wonder if it is sturdy enough, the rails need to be cinched down pretty well. Creative solution that I will look into.

[Raffi]

I have an old coin op table. The edge of the cushion is 1 3/4" above the slate.

Pappy, I am finding that it varies based on the profile of the rail cushion rubber.

Man, I am learning more than I ever thought I would or wanted to about pool table construction!

My rails are definitely low. The 'nose' of the cushion is 1 3/8. From what I am reading that is 1/16th below what it should be for my table.

The question is whether it is just the height, or angle of the cushion attached to the rail that is the problem.

I've decided to just rip some 1x4 material to 1x 1/16 strips on my table saw and see if that solves the problem. Then I can figure a more permanent solution.

If it is the angle of the cushion attached the the rail, I am in for a much more complicated fix: remove cloth, remove cushions, add wood or remove wood to create proper angle, re glue cushions, replace cloth - $$$$$$

[conwaygolfer]

If you have ever used an edge band for the ends of plywood, I think it is about the right thickness you want. Just iron it on perhaps down the sides and one down the middle. That would save you a lot of work.

Conwaygolfer

[Raffi]

If you have ever used an edge band for the ends of plywood, I think it is about the right thickness you want. Just iron it on perhaps down the sides and one down the middle. That would save you a lot of work.

Conwaygolfer

I think they would be a little thin, but I will for sure check them out at the BORG. I plan on scoping the place out for a creative solution if it comes down to just having to raise the rails.

Thanks.

[JR]

How about vinyl floor tiles? That should be about the right thickness...

[JR]

How about vinyl floor tiles? That should be about the right thickness...

Answering my own proposal. Vinyl tiles are made in metric thicknesses. The thinnest, 2mm, is a hair over 1/16" - between 1/16" and 3/32".

I guess whether this would work depends on the accuracy of your 1/16" requirement!

[Raffi]

The guy who put the cloth on and leveled the table is coming back out on Friday to look at the issue. Also another pool table "mechanic" has offered to look at a rail and give his opinion.

It's December and I don't have a whole lot of spare cash, so hopefully they can give me an idea of what i need to do to address the issue.

Thanks so much for all of the creative ideas.

[Raffi]

Update

Installer came out and recommended shimming the rails, his idea: go buy a couple dollars worth of nickels and throw them under.

I also took a couple rails to a pool table mechanic out here. He actually took the cloth off of a part of one of the rails.

As I think I explained a bit before there was a change at some point in the design of the cushions for pool tables. K-55 which had a longer face on top than the bottom, then they went to K-66 in which the top face and bottom face are the same.

The part of the rail where the cushion attaches has an angle to it, and it needs to be set appropriately for K-55 or K-66.

My assumption was, older table and at some point someone put on newer (K-66) cushions without changing the angle on the rail to match.

When the mechanic took off the cloth he found that it was exactly opposite. Table was meant to have K-66 rails and they put on K-55.

So the fix would be to replace all of the cushions (which are in good shape just the wrong shape lol) which would run in the area of $400.

His suggestion? Same as what I and the installer had guessed, he said "try shimming the rails and see if it fixes the hop". And his suggestion for shims? "When I run into this problem I just go to the craft store and buy poster board".

So I like the poster board idea. Very similar to many of the suggestions here. Thanks everyone for all your great ideas.

Raffi