I knew I had a problem, as the first picture shows. The rail/bumper started to separate. The rubber had deteriorated to the point that it cracked. When I got into it, the rubber was as hard as old dried leather, and way overdue for replacement.
I did the original felt and assembly of this table........20 years ago.
I did a decent job with no toob videos. For this evolution, I watched the first toob video and the dude showed the bumper removal. He mentioned that if the right glue was used, the bumpers should pull right off. Well, this is not the right glue. I quickly realized I would end up stabbing myself, as these rails would not give up. I had to buy a blade for my reciprocating saw and that meant a big fuck you to those rails.
Here is the glue not giving up yet. I had to get out the auto body sander and with a 40 grit paper, I went to war. When done, the rails looked factory fresh.
Many of the toob pros showed a staple remover commonly used. I bent the shit out of it on the first staple. Then I found this one. I had to touch up the points after every rail, but it got the job done.
This is the right glue. I applied the first bumper. Then I counted, the cunt Amazon seller sent me only 5. I reordered and got the correct amount and sent the first five back. Fuckers. You need a stupidly sharp knife to cut the angles on the bumpers and then the end caps. A cheap HF extendo utility knife was perfect for this and it easily made all of the cuts. My executive assistant/wife may have a photo of that operation, it isn't on my phone.
Here are the rails with fresh felt. I did it much better than the first time.
The pile in the corner is for Goodwill.
I probably watched 4 different techniques for stretching the felt on the toobz. I was lucky in that the felt seller was not stingy. I had plenty of overlap to allow easy stretching. If this were on a drum, I could be the next Nicky Six.
Ignore my goodwill pile. Final photo. I won the first game of 8 ball, or the wife was sand bagging.
I forgot to mention leveling and getting the slates flat. Back in the day, local pool table manufacturer Connelly, told me to use Rock Hard Water Putty to fill the seams. (This is an Olhausen table) Many pros use bees wax. Modern digital levels are amazing and much more accurate than the 6 foot spirit level. I moved the table at least three times to do flooring and change the room layout. One seam was a bit uneven. The table was not completely level. Connelly also told me to level the slates with....playing cards. That worked well. I pulled them all out and started fresh. My concrete slab is so uneven that there are 1/2" of metal shims on the foot of the table to make it level and about 3/32" more to get side to side even. This table is level to 1/2 degree. I mud up the seams and then shave them with a carpet/floor razor scraper to make them perfectly flat. The straight edge is to insure that the slates are completely flat, no light should be seen under the tool.