Table maintenance

[barracuda911]

perhaps you shouldn't be ironing your cloth if you can't work it out?

the iron MUST be flat on the table, not on its edge!

instead of ironing the cloth with the iron parallel to the top and side cushions, just turn it a fraction, so its leading edge isn't going straight ahead like a bulldozer, but slightly angled. thats the secret to avoiding those 'tram lines'.
but the iron MUST be flat on the table, not tilted, like you mentioned.

[highbreak 8]

Thanks Barracuda , I had heavy night , i get it now .
ps i dont iron the tables , they wont let me near electricity and heat , and cloth so thanks for the tip ,slight angle slightly going over the previous line .

ps , Can the slightly white tramlines that have been left on our table be erradicated , it looks like a green zebra .

[bob1]

Hi: New to this, what direction should the nap go in on a 6x12 table? I have a Westbury BCE professional that has iron rails. It has not been put together yet I also was wondering, when the
room is ready, the best new rubber to put on these rails and the best felt?
Any help appreciated.
p.s. I have heard the "best"?? cushions are GP German black rubber, and the cloth
West of England 8611 cloth?
Thanks again

[bongo]

Hi Bob,

The 'nap' on a snooker table cloth should ALWAYS run from baulk end to spot end (spot end is the 'black spot end'.)

I am not so sure about the cushions but I think the best is 'Northern Rubber'. The cloth is West of England (WoE) 6811 or WoE No.10.

[bob1]

Thanks for the help!

[Terry Davidson]

Bob1:

Where are you in Canada? I can recommend an excellent table fitter who was trained by Riley in the UK and who doesn't charge an arm and a leg. He can get you the good rubber and the WOE 6811 cloth and he will put the rail cloths in the right direction as far as nap goes too (there's a specific way to do the cushions, with the nap running baulk to top cushion and the top runs towards the yellow side and the bottom cushion runs to the yellow side.

Terry

[bob1]

Thanks for responding Terry:
I think I know the name of the person you are talking about. I don't need to mention his name. I believe he did the tables at Shooters for the Canadians. One concern I did see
with the snooker tables was the way the side pockets were done. It was like they got
the wrong size leather and just put it on. Then they used thin white tape to try and
cover the exposed iron, at least an inch on each side. I thought that was pretty poor
especially for the Canadian Championships. I do know that he had a helper who was
as you know in the Canadians, but I thought they did work together. That was the only
problem I noticed with the tables, but since I have zero training on preparing a table
there might be other problems although the cloth looked pretty good? By the way
do you know the age and make of these tables?

I am in the Toronto area, and hope at some point to get some coaching from someone,
like yourself, who has an open mind and a great interest in getting training from a variety
of people. You obviously have a true love for the sport. I would think all the costs you
have and seem to be putting into coaching /training seem to be as I said for the love
of the sport and not just to make money of coaching.
Thanks again for your advice.

[Geoff Large]

Bob1:

Where are you in Canada? I can recommend an excellent table fitter who was trained by Riley in the UK and who doesn't charge an arm and a leg. He can get you the good rubber and the WOE 6811 cloth and he will put the rail cloths in the right direction as far as nap goes too (there's a specific way to do the cushions, with the nap running baulk to top cushion and the top runs towards the yellow side and the bottom cushion runs to the yellow side.

Terry

hi Terry , I would differ from youre description of covering end cushions to direction of yellow side of table , as a billiards fitter of over 30 years experience and trained by a fitter who was trained by ex riley Thurston/clare and burroughs and watts fitters , I was taught that the cushions are numbered 1 to 6 , 1 being baulk cushion and in a clock wise direction the numbers would be 1 2 3 4 5 6 , numbers 1 to 4 cushions are nap to left of cushion , number 5 and 6 is nap direction to right of cushion , the exception being burroughs and watts fitters who where trained to cover the end cushions in the same direction as 5 and 6.
And this is where some fitters argue in which direction the end cushions should follow , but if you think about it , most fitters are right handed and it is the body and minds direction to brush to the left of the body if right handed , try brushing the bed cloth from both sides and tell me which is most comfortable , you will find right handed people prefer the green side of the table to brush ( or iron ) as youre body is facing the direction of the brushing , change to yellow side of table and youre body is facing into the table if you still use youre right hand to brush , so that is why 1 to 4 is the prefered direction of those cushions , the side cushions have to follow the direction of the bed cloth nap , so no choice on 5 and 6 cushion these have to be covered to the right to be the correct method of recovering .
So I and most fitters would argue the case of the ex riley fitter who chose to recover the baulk and end cushion to the right towards the yellow .
UNLESS he is left handed , but that is no excuse because if the owner is right handed or the table cleaner is right handed , he has to contort his body bringing his right arm across the body in an unnatural pose to brush the end cushions .

Why burroughs and watts decided to cover baulk and spot cushions to the right is a mystery to me , some say they only did this on their steel cushions , but I have witnessed old tables with standard cushioned which have not been touched since burroughs and watts installed have the direction to right also on end cushions .
I think it is because one of their senior fitters at B&W was left handed , and instructed all fitters under his control to cover 1 and 4 to the right .
Or they where trying to be differant to other firms .

Now there where some firms in liverpool , who in the 1980s and 90s when table manufacture was at its peak , to save time and there BENCH fitters BRAIN , instructed all cushions to be covered nap to the left , one of these firms was Enbild.
When I recover a cushion , I note which number it is , and always put an arrow in pemament marker on the cushion tape covering the rubber to the direcrtion of nap , this avoids an accident of covering 5 or 6 to the left , which in my early days I often did

Bob the best rubber is Northern rubber made in Retford Nottinghamshire UK , the cloth to use is debatable as for what you want from wear and tear to fast or slow table .
No 10 is the profesional cloth made in the West of england , WOE 6811 tournement is slightly thicker and slower due to longer nap , Hainsworth Smart is the same quality as 6811 T , but has a finer nap and therfore plays a bit faster .
No 10 and hainsworth match will not last long , but 6811 and hainsworth smart has alonger life span , as for how long , its all down to use , if youre car is covering 10,000 miles a year , and youre friend is only doing 5,000 miles a year guess which will need new tyres first , it is the same with cloth , use the table every day or use it 3 times a week , the one being used every day will require a recover First .

[Terry Davidson]

Bob1:

The table fitter is not to blame for those pockets. The pocket irons and leathers were ordered by the owner from the UK somewhere and he had the rails made by a woodworker somewhere in Canada who was copying the original rails.

Those tables are old Burroughs & Watts and I loaned the table fitter my IBSF templates, however the owner decided he wanted his pockets done to the WPBSA template size, which are a little more generous on the middle pockets than the IBSF pockets.

Terry

[Terry Davidson]

Geoff:

The fitter who did my table has the nap on the side cushions running from baulk to top which I believe is correct. He has the top cushion nap running from green side to yellow side and the baulk cushion from yellow side to green side, which lines up with your right-handed theory.

Perhaps I stated it wrong originally.

Also, there's a seller on EBay.uk who is selling #10 bed cloths slightly used for one tournament and is supplying 6811 for the cushions. As you say this would not last as long as the 6811 or the Hainsworth although it might last a while on a private table. Not much good for a club though unless they have a resident pro and put it on the match table and restrict access to that table.

We get the 6811 here in Canada for about GBP230 depending on exchange rate (it's $430CDN) and that's what I put on my table. I have to admit I don't iron the table a lot, maybe every 2 weeks, however I do brush it lightly and block it every day and my basement is very dry so the speed has remained very good throughout the life of the cloth.

A damp room will kill the speed of a cloth of any weight and I normally recommend a de-humidifier to those people installing in a basement, which are normally a little damp. In my old house I had a nice Brunswick 8-leg table with leather pockets and before I put in the de-humidifier I used to get mold on the leather s the basement was very damp. I used to get a coup[le of quarts of water every few days out of the de-humidifier.

Terry

[bob1]

Thanks for the clarification regarding the pockets. I guess the owner has the right to do
whatever he wants with his tables.{Granted I wish the tables would be cleaned occasionally.}
The build on my house will be starting in the next month, with the hopefull finish in 3 months. I had contacted other table mech"s and they
all seem to use as a resource the person you suggest, even a person who has been
doing tables for 15 years has contacted your person in regards to advice.
When time comes I guess he will be the person.

[Geoff Large]

Here is some advice:


1) Get your brush and cut the hairs with a crew cut down to 1cm in length, it is said that this will get the dust out of the cloth better.

2) ALWAYS brush in the direction of the nap (baulk-end to spot end in straight strokes straight up the table, no curving.

3) Do not brush to violently or the dust will go into the air and land on the table again!

4) Make sure your brush is clean and not still hairs, they should not damage the cloth!

5) Get your under the cueshion brush and brush any bits of dust under the cushion into a pocket and shake the pocket, do not do this with balls in the pocket.

6) You may want to go under the cushion with your normal brush again. Make sure there is no more dust, dust-free perfection!

Ironing

7) Always iron the same direction as brushing,

8) Do not place the iron near the baulk pocket and slide it underneath the baulk cushion before pushing it up the table, this will leave a mark in the cloth.

9) Make sure your iron is not too hot damaged in any way.

10) Angle the iron to avoid tram lines!

11) DON'T IRON THE CUSHIONS!

'Blocking'

8) The same as brushing but do continous strokes instead.

9) Grab your brush and wrap a clean damp cloth around it, then 'block' the table and this gets rid of chalk marks and makes it perfect!

10) Always in the direction of the nap!

And be careful!

Hope this helps!

I will anmswer a few of these myths in order of statement .

1 , Never cutt the brush hair down , a top quality Brush have pure bristle hairs that split into 3 or 4 strands as they wear , the more use a Genuine pure bristle brush gets ,the better it is as more hairs will be in contact with the cloth , you can never get all the dust out of the cloth but do not be tempted to use a vacum cleaner as the joint fill may come out under suction .

2 , correct as stated

3, you can brush as hard as you like , any floating dust that settles , leave for 10 mins to settle or longer if you like , then use youre blocker or the brush wood back wrapped in Billiard cloth to wipe surface dust away and lay nap ready for ironing , as you place the blocker on the table , go from baulk cushion to spot cushion lift blocker up and wipe dust away from blocker with hand away from table , wipe cushion wood capping down after blocking the table to remove any dust on these .

4, I have seen worn down brushes damage cushion cloth to the point of it splitting long before it is worn from ball wear .

5 , the best tool for getting dust from unde the cushions is an evo stick glue spreader , the type with serated platic teeth , this gets the dust from right under the cushion , just by useing the end tooth to ease it out .

6, correct

7, correct but do not rub iron on cushion nose as they may split the cloth through iron wear and danage the rubber due to heat . try and keep 1/4 of an inch away from the cushion , the bit under the cushion will not require ironing too much anyway as no ball contact is made at that point .

8, correct , I often see this , where the person ironing has slid the iron from a side cushion across for the next overlap , and again for the next run down , this will definatley mark the cloth .

9 correct , dowsing thermostat irons should be set on number 9 the hottest setting so no fear with a thermosattic iron made by downings will burn the cloth , UNLESS you leave it in one spot . you should realy use a billiard iron as an ordinary iron has no wieght to it , the old type that fit on gas stove's are better than electric irons due to the plate being tseck and the iron heavy . these can be picked up for uunder £30 .

10 Correct , the iron plate which houses the element is only 1/8th thick , they tend to bow , by twisting at an angle the front and back leading edges do most of the work , with the bow or warp within these lines , the way an iron bows its plate is when people place the iron on its stand face down during heat up or cool down , when an iron is heating up or hot , it must be upright so heat can get away from the plate , and not trapped , this is the main reason so many irons are bowed or warped .

11 , Dont iron cushions = Correct .

other tips .

never mark Baulk out in felt tip permament marker , when the cloth is stretched you cannot erase it .

Always use spots to protect the cloth in normal play , in matches you can take the spots off , but always replace for normal use . the cloth will last longer .

[moglet]

9 correct , dowsing thermostat irons should be set on number 9 the hottest setting so no fear with a thermosattic iron made by downings will burn the cloth , UNLESS you leave it in one spot . you should realy use a billiard iron as an ordinary iron has no wieght to it , the old type that fit on gas stove's are better than electric irons due to the plate being thisck and the iron heavy . thees can be picked up for uunder £30 .

Sorry Geoff this is not correct, No 9 setting is fine for the Milliken cloths, no more than No 8 setting for Hainsworth Match cloth which contains some nylon in the mix and too hot an iron melts and picks up the nylon content. I wondered what the problem was when I started using Hainsworth cloth, only after some legwork and research did I find what the problem was with the iron having a sticky deposit on it after ironing. Hainsworth's actually claim 100% wool when in fact there is a small inclusion of fine fibre nylon to increase the wearing quality of the cloth.

[Geoff Large]

Sorry Geoff this is not correct, No 9 setting is fine for the Milliken cloths, no more than No 8 setting for Hainsworth Match cloth which contains some nylon in the mix and too hot an iron melts and picks up the nylon content. I wondered what the problem was when I started using Hainsworth cloth, only after some legwork and research did I find what the problem was with the iron having a sticky deposit on it after ironing. Hainsworth's actually claim 100% wool when in fact there is a small inclusion of fine fibre nylon to increase the wearing quality of the cloth.

true moglet , I forgot to mention the cloth brand that this setting was recomended for .

[poolqjunkie]

Hi Bob,

The 'nap' on a snooker table cloth should ALWAYS run from baulk end to spot end (spot end is the 'black spot end'.)

I am not so sure about the cushions but I think the best is 'Northern Rubber'. The cloth is West of England (WoE) 6811 or WoE No.10.

Is WoE and Strachan and Milliken the same company?