The following information has been compiled to help keep Tech's game room at the above average quality that people here like. It will also help reduce operational costs by extending the life of the equipment.
When people come in for a game they should receive a laminated copy of Please help us maintain our equipment along with the balls for the table they'll be using. Let them know you will be happy to hear of any problems they find and you'll pass the report on so the problems can be addressed. Remind them they should treat the equipment with respect (it's not often they'll find a room with such nice equipment).
If you read the news group Rec.Sport.Billiard (RSB) some of what follows may sound familiar as parts of it came from articles by: Ron Shepard, "rr", Deno Andrews, Jay McVinney, and Bill Baird.
Don't let food or drink near the table. Ice cream can be especially nasty. There are numerous other (non-billiard) tables to place food on around the room. In the worst case food and drink can be placed on the floor well away from the feet of players moving about the tables (much much better than putting it on the billiard tables and mucking up the cloth).
Idle tables are not a place for storing things (like coats, backpacks, ...). Don't let a table be used as a platform to reach lights or the ceiling.
Sitting on a table should be actively discouraged for the following reasons.
When it comes to leaning against a table that in itself usually isn't a problem. The problem comes when people who were sitting on a table say they were only leaning on it and so continue their sitting. To avoid the argument of whether a person was leaning or sitting on a table I've found it easier to just not allow leaning (when you don't allow sitting).
It should also be noted that leaning often becomes sitting after a time.
The tables should be covered when they are not in use. Once a table is uncovered though it can be left that way until closing (or some other event, like ceiling tile work) requires it to be covered again.
The cover should be removed from the table such that it becomes easy to fold in a way where the inside of the cover (the surface that touches the table's cloth) does not get dirty while the cover is of of the table. One way to do this is to take the foot end of the cover and fold the cover back over itself and then continue dragging the cover in that direction until it is half on and half off the table. By folding the part that is half off the table back over the part that is still on the table you will have folded the cover in thirds. If the cover is now picked up at the middle of the edges which are over the head spot with one hand and walked off the table while the other hand is holding the middle of the opposite sides the cover can be removed from the table without spilling anything on it's outer surface onto the cloth, and it can be folded in half so that only the outside of the cover is showing. The cover can then be safely stowed without worry of the inside getting something on it (and later transferring that to the table cloth).
A good quality cloth (worsted gives the best play-ability) that is well cared for should last about two to three thousand hours (that's about a year in the usual commercial room).
The cloth should be covered when the tables is not in use. (To reduce the number of times a cover is removed and applied it would be best to leave the cover on a table until somebody needs to use the table.)
When removing a cover from a table it should be "carefully" folded so that the inside of the cover never touches anything. This will help to keep things like floor-dust (if you stow you cover on the floor), split sodas or food (if you store your cover on an eating table), and lint (should you stow it on a couch or chair).
To keep chalk (dust) from building up on, in, and under the cloth it is best to brush the cloth after each session. The brushing should be done so that the dust is being "flicked" up and off the table. You don't want to use the brush in a way that would force the dirt into the cloth. Keep the brushing light and easy (even if more strokes are required -- once the dirt is in the cloth it's there to stay). The final brushing of the cloth (during a cleaning session) should be from the head of the table to the foot.
In addition to the brushing, the cloth should be vacuumed after five to ten hours of use. As the brush used for cleaning the cloth will keep some of the dust removed from the table it is also wise to vacuum the brush.
Here are some particulars about vacuuming the cloth.
WARNING — READ and UNDERSTAND this section BEFORE doing this type of cleaning. Mistakes could call for re-clothing the table!
About once a month, AFTER being BRUSHED then thoroughly VACUUMED, the cloth should get wiped down with a damp (not wet in any way) lint-free towel. Be very careful not to use a towel that has been dyed (note that many white towels are dyed white), as it will likely leave streaks on the cloth.
Some important notes on water cleaning.
Keep the balls clean and lightly polished. Do not over polish the balls as any excess polish would be transferred to the cloth (and change it's playing characteristics). Mild soap and water is all that is needed to clean the balls. Aside from clean balls playing better they will also help the cloth last longer (by not grinding the dirt, oils, and abrasives that can reside on their surface into the cloth).
The balls should be cleaned daily. With daily cleaning polishing can be done just once or twice a week.
One of the most important things to know about storing cue sticks is that they be stored as near vertical as possible. Storing sticks at an angle (like leaning it up against a wall, or resting part of the stick on a table bed while the other part is on a cushion) will cause the stick to warp (generally, sooner than you'd think).
Sticks should not be tapped, or banged, against the table top. Some players do this to remove any excess chalk they may have put on the tip. Problem is that it puts dings in the stick. In some cases it will dent the rail. (Some players do this after missing a shot as a rage release. Their pocket should be made lighter.)
Players should use chalk to keep from getting a glossy tip. Once a tip gets glossy it will not hold chalk well unless the tip is groomed (usually with sandpaper) to roughen it's surface up some. The problem with grooming the tip is that most people will overdo it and you'll end up with thin tips (and the resulting dented ferrules and nicked cloth) rather quickly.
When the edge of a stick's tip is less than two quarters thick it should be replaced. Should the tip get much thinner than that the ferrule can be damaged on power shots that hit near the edge of the tip (definitely includes miscues).
Players should check that their tip is well chalked before every shot. If they wait to chalk until after they've miscued they may have already done a good job of polishing the tip (and probably missing a number of shots they otherwise wouldn't have). If you notice a person having more than a rare miscue you should check that they know how to properly chalk and the benefits to their game from doing so (offer to show them).
It is best not to chalk the stick over the table. Chalk is abrasive (it's mostly sand) and the less of it on the cloth the better. Another thing to keep off the cloth is talc. Both will work their way into the cloth and change the frictional characteristics of the cloth (and not uniformly either). This will result in the table playing slower (means having to hit the balls harder, hence less accuracy on shots, more chances to miscue, more changes to "nick" (cut) the cloth from miscues, more difficulty playing position, ...), more like a cheaper quality cloth instead of the high quality cloth we paid to have installed for its better playing characteristics.
Deno Andrews passed on his observations about tip shape (and shaping of the tip) on RSB {newsgroup: 'Rec.Sport.Billiard') --
Why on earth would we attack our tips with one of those lunatic shapers? The tips shape themselves, just let them! My tips are very round...at least that of a dime...wait...I am getting my billiard shaft out right now...now a dime...now a nickle...and voila... it is exactly the shape of a dime. Do you know why? It's because I spin the ball all the time. If your tip is flat, it is because of how you play- near the center on most shots (which again is neither good nor bad- just your style). If you reshape your tip when you think it is too flat for your game, you are actually working against yourself. If you would leave your tip alone for about six months, you would understand. Everyone who has tried what I suggested about leaving the tip completely alone has agreed that it is the best method.
I used to sand and shape the hell out of my tips. In fact, my first Moori lasted less than 2 months because I was constantly hitting it with the shaper. My last Moori lasted several years and tons of tournaments. And miscues were as rare as hitting the lottery.
The big thing with tip replacement is patience and an exacting approach to the details required. Before starting study and fully understand the following.
Be very careful when using a knife that it doesn't get away from you! Only apply light pressure to remove what you need to (a good blade won't require more than that and light pressure makes control much easier). You could cut yourself badly if the blade slips off what you are cutting.
An Xacto knife with a #1 blade works nicely for removing the old tip. Be very careful not to cut or nick the ferrule. When you've done all the removal that you safely can with the knife move on to slow and careful sanding as described in the next step.
Talented people (once sufficiently practiced) can do this by carefully shaving pieces off with a knife. Generally a safer approach is to use a good ferrule sander (get a metal one that won't flex, the plastic ones are garbage). Don't be aggressive when using the ferrule sander as this usually leads to a non-flat surface or one that isn't perpendicular to the side of the ferrule (or both). Let the sandpaper on the tool do the work at its own pace (pressing harder just leads to the problems above, clogs the sandpaper, and wears out the sandpaper faster).
If this sanding is attempted by hand (without the tool) you're very likely to end up with a curved surface instead of a flat one.
For cleaning up parts of the tip use (dry - do not wet) 240 grit wet/dry sandpaper (on the above tool). To remove any remaining glue and get a finished surface use 400 grit paper. The wet/dry paper is preferred as it provides better grain consistency.
To check the flatness of the surface you can use the straight edge of the Xacto knife blade. You should not see any gaps between the blade edge and the ferrule surface. Check multiple positions on the top of the ferrule.
Remove any gloss from surface to be glued to ferrule. This is best done by moving the tip in a figure eight pattern, slowly rotating the tip, across some 400 grit sandpaper held on a smooth flat surface (glass is ideal). You don't want to use a back and forth motion as this tends to lead to a beveled surface instead of a flat one.
Dry fit to ferrule to make sure both are flat and have 100% contact. If there are gaps in the contact more sanding needs to be done (don't count on the glue filling them).
With rubber band tip clamps the tip will tend to slide off unless the pulling forces of the rubber band are balanced. Small adjustments to the lengths and stretch of the rubber band can be made with your fingers to keep the tip where it was placed. This needs to be done before the glue begins to set though.
Follow the instructions for the tip glue you are using.
Invert the stick and place a block of wood under the tip. The block of wood will protect whatever surface you have it on from the blade of the knife you're using to trim the tip.
Take thin cuts from whatever part of the tip is overhanging the ferrule. Be sure to keep the cut parallel to the side of the ferrule. If you try to take too large a cut you will likely loose control of where the knife wants to cut and end up taking too much off.
You may find it necessary to trim off some mushrooming where the tip was not against the wood when being trimmed by the knife. This is probably best done with sandpaper unless you have a really sharp knife and a steady hand.
Final shaping of the side of the tip can be done with some very careful sanding of the tip ( do not sand the ferrule ).
To smooth the sides of the tip you can dampen the leather and then use a nickel or quarter to press the leather fibers down.
The easiest way to avoid miscues is to make sure the tip is properly chalked before each shot.
Miscues can —
When possible this preparatory work should be done the night before tournament (instead of the morning of tournament) as it is likely to take a fair amount of time. (NOTE: This routine is also appropriate for important matches, where the players are willing to do some of the work.) Following these procedures should result in playing under nearly new equipment conditions.