American Shuffleboard Pool Table - reversing free play

MrD

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American Shuffleboard Pool Table - reversing free play

So I have an American Shuffleboard brand pool table. It's bar size. Was originally coin op. Ivehad it for probably 20 years. My son has gotten old enough that he likes to play. Thinking about redoing the felt now and the bumpers.

Anyway, before I got it, it was converted to free play. Coin mech was removed and the tray that holds all the balls in the return was blocked open. I think I'd like to convert it back to coin op. It can still be free play but I'd like to be able to have it work like it originally did. Press the mech and "thunk" all the balls will roll out.

I've ordered a coin mech. Seems pretty straightforward- press in the mech. It moves a metal rod which in turn lifts the tray and the balls release. However they must have removed a connector bar between that rod and the tray. I can't figure out what it looked like or where it connected. Trying to figure out a hack to reconnect the two.

It will probably be easier to visualize once I take out the slate. Right now I'm working from the ball return and the ball holding areas. Not a lot of room.

Anyone familiar with either this brand or another brand? I'm sure they are all pretty similar.
 
On the models we had on the route back in the day, Americans had a "fan clock" in the ball tray to slowly drop the ball release arm. The slowing of the release arm was so that all the balls would drop and you did NOT need to hold the coin slide in. The fan clock was exactly like inside of a mechanical Mills slot machine.

It's been 25 years since I last saw the inside of an American pool table. Around 1992 we had converted our entire route to all Valley brand pool tables and sold off all the other brands.

Back in those days if we needed a part for the American tables, we'd just call up American Shuffleboard and order it. Then it would be billed through our (then) local American Shuffleboard distributor, American Games in Seattle.

I do remember that when we had to raise the price from 25 cents to 50 cents per game, the new adjustable price coin chutes did not fit in the hole in the coin door. I had to take a file or rasp to the hole and enlarge a couple of spots slightly to get the new chute to fit. Once I did that, it worked fine and any adjustable price chute would fit and work.

Your table likely would have originally shipped with a Monarch model 444 (quarters) push chute (that model is still made today). The multiple coin push chutes like the Monarch V8L are where you'd need to file out your coin door hole to accept these larger chutes.
 

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Thanks Ken. I did find this: http://arcarc.xmission.com/PDF_Shuffler/American_Shuffleboard/AS_Company_Catalog.pdf

Based on my dimensions and that document I have a 6 1/2' table. I think with the mechanical drop. I think though, I'm missing another part.

When I look at a similar pool table here: http://www.pooltablesbuddies.com/what-brand-is-my-coin-op-pool-table-33494.html

The 3rd picture down I think shows what you are talking about. The lever the coin mech hits is to the right. The mech that actually pulls a rod horizontally left is shown mounted to the left and behind the wood held in by two bolts.

My coin area is missing that mech on the left. Without that, I think I'm probably screwed.
See my coin area attached.

Unless I can hack something together to have the coin mech pushing back the moves a rod to the left.
 

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Thanks Ken!!!! I got it to work. Your comments made me realize I was looking at things wrong. I mounted an angle bracket behind the bar that the coin mech hits. That changes the force 90 degrees. Then connected a $2 wooden dowel from that to the ball return area. I had to adjust it a little so it wouldn't hit the ball chutes from the pockets but it works ! My coin mech should be in this week, and with the right blanks I should be able to either make it free play or coin. So much simpler than I thought it was going to be. I might replace it with a metal rod but it really does t get that much force on it. Either way, it's working!
 
Glad you got it going. It's been so long since I saw the inside of one of these tables. All I remember was that fan clock unit could be seen by taking off the side access door of the table. I believe the American uses either a 2-5/16" or 2-3/8" diameter cue ball (don't remember which).

When I first started working at Capitol Amusement in 1976, we had several different brands of pool tables on the route:

Fischer (uses a 2-5/16" diameter cue ball)

American Shuffleboard

Irving Kaye

Valley (best and most reliable IMO)

Dynamo (crappy wood in the side rails, piss poor weighted cue ball system)

Lola (a local brand made in Tacoma, Washington and went out of business 40 years ago)

Eventually, all except the Valleys were sold off to home users. We actually bought several brand new Valley pool tables over the years too. I helped uncrate many of them. It takes several people to uncrate a brand new table and you also need a pool table dolly. Once we switched over to all Valley brand tables, we joined the VNEA Pool Leagues.
 
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Coin mech came in today. Just like you said I needed to file out the opening to fit the larger mech. Added a metal bracket to press against the release bar. Works great - even without coins as it moves enough to release the balls.
 
Ken -

I'm going to try and replace the felt this winter. I've watched some youtube videos and I get the main idea. The table itself doesn't seem too difficult, if I take my time. The rails seem to be a little more complicated. If I've read correctly, there is a metal trim around the top of the table. When that's removed, there are screws that hold in the side rails. I'll have to pull those anyway to get the slate out. How difficult is it to refelt the rails? Or even replace them? I've seen Valley rails but never American Shuffleboard. Or maybe it's easier to have someone redo the rails for me, and I handle the top?

Any thoughts or advice?
 
Over the years at Capitol Amusement, we hired several people to recover our pool tables. The reason we hired it out is because us technicians were to busy on service calls to be tied up 3+ hours at a location doing table recovering. And besides, the boss felt is was better to get someone who did this all the time for a living. I occasionally got to watch these guys do their work.

It's fairly simple really, but hoisting the slate is where you need help due to the weight involved. One guy from Tacoma (Washington) used a Harbor Freight engine hoist to lift up the slate by himself. Once the slate is in the air, you shove a 4 x 4 (cut about 5 feet long) underneath each end of the slate and one in the center. That gets the slate in a working position for you to strip off the old cloth, clean up the old contact cement, and lay down the new cloth on fresh contact cement. The 4 x 4 posts support the slate for you.

Remember, to get the slate out you MUST remove the side rails first. Generally there will always be some sort of trim around the outside of the top of the table. This trim "hides" the rail bolts which are recessed in holes. Usually these bolts can be removed with a 3/8" hex head socket (some tables use phillips head).

Supplies you need:

Vacuum cleaner to clean out the interior of the table while the slate is out. You'd be surprised at all the junk in there.

Can of contact cement (for the bed cloth). Use 3M brand as your first choice and if not available locally, then use Weldwood as a 2nd choice)

One 2" disposable paint brush to apply the contact cement.

Can of 3M brand # 77 spray contact cement (for the rail cloth). Only use the 3M brand, nothing else is as good.

Staple gun (electric or air powered is prefered) with 1/4" long staples.

Sheet metal Vise Grips (to grab the cloth and stretch it tight)

Staple puller to remove the hundreds of staples in the rail cloth.

It takes a pro about three hours to do a 4' by 8' table. So I'd say it would take you about 5 hours to do it.

I noticed the pros always check the "rebound rubber" attached to the side rails when they remove the rail cloth. Sometimes the rubber cracks/breaks from old age or heavy play and must be replaced. Most commercial amusement parts suppliers stock pool table parts/supplies/felt/glues. If the rubber is bad and you simply place new cloth over it, the play will be bad.

We bought all our pool table supplies primarily from Imperial International (a division of Betson Enterprises):

http://www.imperialusa.com/

We also dealt with Amusement Emporium (a.k.a. Crystal Leisure), but they only sell to amusement route operators and now have a $2,000 minimum order:

http://www.amusementemporium.com/

Also, Happ Controls sells a lot of pool table supplies:

https://na.suzohapp.com/products/billiards/

As well as these other suppliers:

http://www.competitiveproducts.com/list.php?id=7

http://www.amusementsplus.com/index.php?pr=Category&cat=138
 
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As always....thanks for all your great advice Ken!

I'll take pictures and post when I get done.
 
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