hole size and new iwan

just had my table redone and boy does a good mechanic make a big difference. when i bought the table in feb of 2001, i assumed the guys knew what they were doing. seemed ok to me.

the original crew used some kind of white powder mix for the slate seams and they were simply not flush. my guy sraped all that off and replaced it with beeswax. eyes closed without cloth there was no seam. by the way, my guy is violently opposed to sanding away the excess. just touch the slate and the dip is there forever.

the shims were a mess. whatever they had used to glue the double shims together dried out and gave up. that explains the dead pocket thing. he used a double sized single. he laid the shims on the cut and shaped them to the cushion. just a work of art. i've seen some disagreement about how to measure pocket opening, points or shelf, but it jams two balls hard.

he even found where they had left the bottom rail crooked and fixed that. yes, it's adjustable on the g.c.

lastly, i had forgotten how new simonis plays. yes, it makes the holes play much bigger. we're putting stuff down that would have just rattled on the old cloth. explains why i wrongly thought the us open was played with big holes. it won't last long but till the cloth completely off-gasses it's fun.

i guess the point is that a good mechanic can make a huge difference. by the way, he did the table that strickland won the break and run million (discounted by settlement)on.

dan

"i bought the table in feb of 2001, i assumed the guys knew what they were doing. seemed ok to me."

Don't know if you bought from a retailer but if you did it's typical of their work. Never let a retailer recover your table unless you've heard rave reviews from people who know their table work. Especially when you first buy it. Let them deliver and install it, but spend the extra money and hire your own mechanic to do the slate, rails and cover.

[Rich R.]

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote: Anonymous:</font><hr>Don't know if you bought from a retailer but if you did it's typical of their work. Never let a retailer recover your table unless you've heard rave reviews from people who know their table work. Especially when you first buy it. Let them deliver and install it, but spend the extra money and hire your own mechanic to do the slate, rails and cover. <hr></blockquote>
This sounds like good advice, as long as you know a good mechanic. But what if you don't?
I am going through this now. I do not know a good mechanic, other than the local retailers. The one person I know, that works independantly as a, so called, table mechanic, I would not hire to brush my table, let alone recover it. The people I know, that have tables, have all had them installed by the retailers where they purchased them and have not had to recover them yet. I settled on having mine recovered by the retailer I purchased it from, who does have a very good reputation, but they also have a premium price to go with it.
How do you find a "GOOD" table mechanic?
Rich R.

have you made the rounds of the local rooms to see who does it for them? if there is a real "players room" that's where i would start.

dan

[Rich R.]

Thanks for the suggestion Dan. I will try that.
The room, where I play most, is also a retailer. I will have to try some of the other rooms.
Rich R.