Now and again I get emails from people who have had a table fitted saying they are having a few problems and how can it be sorted out , now I am not going to embarrass the person who sent me this photo
And I will not name and shame the firm who sold him the table who have badly fitted it . but thought it may be a warning that low cost table fitting can not always be the best option. but in this case I understand it was not low cost.
but even if it was , there is only one way to put a table together and that’s the right way .
they say a picture tells a story , well this one certainly does.
First glance it is obvious that something is wrong here ,
the obvious one those blue double glazing plastic window frame shims should not be there in the centre of the slate , looks like this fitter also doubles up as a window fitter between snooker work .
The numbering indented into the supporting slate muntin , this is upside down so informs me the muntin may also be fitted upside down and therefore this may be the reason of the very large gap that has to be packed to support the slate from dipping in the centre of the table.
Look further across at the side frame , I see more blue plastic shim and also thick wood or cardboard , this side rail of the main frame is supposed to be planed straight , most are good straight off the machine , some have to be shot with a long iron plane to get straight before the slate is put on .
Now and again you may see a playing card here and there which is acceptable on some tables , but to this extent of this thickness . it looks like they went so far levelling with shims under the legs then tried to get it level by packing between slate and frame .
Some may ask how to rectify this problem , well there is only one way start from scratch . table dismantled slates off and make sure all muntins are fitted correct , fit adjustable bracket to muntins to make abetter table if possible .
Shoot side rails straight .
Level from highest leg , then put slates back on , Fine level and fill joints , sand clean and refit bed cloth , result is an expensive job to put right .
The moral of this story is use a qualified time served Billiards fitter
this is what it should look like , note the adjustable bracket , very little cost to put these in on a rebuild .
and no packing in sight on the far side rails , centre muntins adjust up to support the slate.
another conversion using adjustable brackets , this time recycled from an American pool table and used on this 8ft snooker table .
but a simple joist beam bracket from B&Q will do the job and use a bolt and two nuts , drill a hole and weld one of the nuts to the bracket
B&Q Diy bracket
And it is far easy to fit these brackets than messing round packing slate with window packing and chasing bubbles on the level
