New muntin slate support fitted .
Today I have been in the workshop custom making some adjustable brackets for converting a standard table to incorporate adjustable slate supports, these are called centre muntins in the billiard trade.
I have two tables in the same club to retro fit these parts to. I will be taking photographs of the finished job next week and putting them in my photo gallery on this site. Many tables in the 1980’s had soft Italian slate being used on them unlike the older thicker welsh slate. It is not as good or as dense as welsh slate.
The modern method of making the table frames ignored the traditional centre muntin slate support being level with the side frame to stop slate deflection. This resulted in many tables being sold where the slates would sag down in the middle over time. Today tables are made with adjustable slate muntins which support the centre of the slate across its 6 foot span and stop any deflection or ‘sag’ as it is commonly known.
This is a photo of the underside of the table before I fitted the retro adjustable muntin supports. as you can see nothing there to support the slate from sagging in the centre of the table .
The two tables in question should have had the adjustable slate supports in them, but they were just not fitted at the time of installation. This has resulted in the tables playing out of true and the balls rolling in from each side is the result of sagging slates.
My custom made muntin brackets will rectify the problem. It may not be able to rectify it in one go, so I may have to call a couple of visits to tweak the centre muntins by a simple 1/4 turn of 6 bolts that will take the sag out of the slates.
This photo shows the new Muntin’s fitted underneath the slate , note the adjustable nut for screwing the muntin upwards to support the slate.
If you are having problems with snooker table level, please get in touch. I am sure I can find a solution for you.
