Some of you may be wondering what gives a billiard ball its bounce. We’ll take a closer look at the inner workings of a pool/billiard table rail. All of the rails you see here are different clients’ rails that we have here in my billiard repair shop. A typical cushion rubber has a life of about 25-30 years, as is the case with these rails that I’ve been working on here. The first thing a pool/billiard table owner might start to notice about his/her table is a slow rebound when a ball bounces off of a particular rail. This is the point at which you will need a re-cushion job. So, once you’ve decided to shell out the hundreds of dollars to “rejuvenate” your pool/billiard table, you’ll hopefully get a visit from me to your home where the job starts.

We’ll disassemble your rail sections from the slate bed, wrap them up and bring them to our workshop. The first step is to strip the felt from the rails, then gently pry the rotten rubber from where it was glued. The second step is to block sand the cushion seat and completely remove any traces of old adhesive. Next, we’ll cement the new cushion rubber to the rail and set the nose of the cushion to the proper height. This step is very important to produce the optimum ball rebound. After we’ve allowed the contact cement to dry for a few days, we’ll use a straight-edge razor knife to trim the excess rubber while also keeping the proper angles in mind. The next step is to glue on new cushion facings, allowing them to dry a day or so. Once dry, we’ll trim the eight corners and four side pocket facings to the exact shape of the cushion.

The final step is to install the new billiard cloth onto the rails. Piece of cake, right? Don’t you want to jump right in there and get started? Well, if you’re the do-it-yourself kind of person, we have all the billiard supplies you need to get the job done right! If you’re not the type to try new things, then give the Pool Table King a call. He’ll have you making seven rail bank shots like nobody’s business.