Category: Shuffleboard Maintenance

Though your opponent will probably blame it on lack of skill, there may be issues with your shuffleboard table’s alignment if your pucks repeatedly drift to the middle of the playing surface or off the edges of the table.

While checking and adjusting shuffleboard table alignment is relatively simple, this can vary from table-to-table based on preference. For all of your shuffleboard table alignment questions, McClure has prepared a guide on how to get the perfect balance for your playing surface.

The first step in determining if your shuffleboard table’s alignment needs adjustment is based on the condition of the playing surface. If your surface is rough, uneven, or showing visible damage, it is most likely that the surface needs to be refinished. For help with this, you can find a guide on refinishing shuffleboard tables here.

While shuffleboard alignment is ultimately determined by preference, standard professional shuffleboards are typically set up to be slightly concave, or curving inward in the middle. This slight concave curve helps to keep pucks on the table’s playing surface, though excessive curve can drastically reduce the challenge of aiming pucks and is not recommended. On the contrary, there are some people that prefer a perfectly flat table for challenging gameplay.

To find the sweet spot for your shuffleboard table alignment, we recommend sliding a piece of standard printer paper under the center of a straight edge. See the picture below for an example of checking your table alignment.

As a general rule, the paper should be able to slip under the center of the straight edge, though it should be difficult or impossible to slide the paper under the straight edge near the sides of the board. If your shuffleboard passes this test, it should be fairly close to standard alignment.

If you find that your shuffleboard table’s alignment is off, you will need to use your shuffleboard table’s climatic adjusters. You can find an in-depth guide on loosening and tightening climatic adjusters here, though keep in mind that the effects of these adjustments can take 24-48 hours to show. After calibrating the climatic adjusters, you can check the new alignment by shooting pucks down the playing surface.

When testing the motion of the pucks, it’s best to shoot along the sides of the playing surface. This should give you a clear indication of whether the pucks are drifting toward the middle of the board, or if they’re drifting off the sides.

Should the pucks still slide erratically or to one side after completing the paper test, there is a chance that your table needs to be refinished or that the table’s legs are off-balance. While a damaged surface should be visible to the eye, measuring the legs should determine whether or not the balance is off.

Regardless of your alignment preference, all tables should be regularly maintained with cleaning solution, silicon spray, and shuffleboard wax to keep your table in optimal condition. You can find an in-depth guide about maintaining and cleaning your table here.

After all of these steps have been completed, you should have the perfect alignment for your shuffleboard table.

Looking for shuffleboard wax, climatic adjusters, or other vital supplies for your shuffleboard table? You can find our complete listing of shuffleboard supplies here.

Shuffleboard wax has one of the most unusual names in tabletop sports, all the better to match its interesting purpose. The reason the name is unusual is because it is misleading. You might at first naturally think something known as shuffleboard wax would be used for waxing the table, but you’d be wrong. It’s actually used to control how the surfaces of shuffleboard tables react to the pucks being slid across them, and it’s more like powder than it is like liquid.

So what is shuffleboard wax? This item, so necessary for effective shuffleboard play, is typically made from dried silicone beads: perfectly rounded pint-sized silicone pellets. You will also find shuffleboard wax that is made from a combination of silicone and cornstarch. (Shuffleboard wax in general often resembles cornstarch or baby powder.) This powder has many other names in the shuffleboard industry as well, some in part due to its appearance: shuffleboard salt, sand, sawdust, dust, and even shuffleboard cheese.

The main purpose of shuffleboard wax is to decrease friction on the table. Spreading and sprinkling this powder on shuffleboard tables allows the pucks to slide down the table in the blink of an eye with only the slightest of pushes. The tiny beads of silicone are a non-liquid lubricant and act like like miniature ball bearings. In scientific terms, the shuffleboard wax lowers the coefficient of friction on surfaces, so that the objects sliding across don’t as freely stick to it.

Shuffleboard is all about how the pucks interact with the board in order to enable the players to get their pucks past certain point lines, as well as land some elusive hangers. A crucial component of gameplay, then, is speed, and shuffleboard wax is all about exerting some control or being able to alter the speed potential of your shuffleboard surface. General cleaning and polishing the surface does reduce some of the friction between the puck and the board, but sometimes that’s just not enough. When you need more speed and less friction, you can call on shuffleboard wax.

Shuffleboard wax does come in different varieties, which offer different levels of speed. If you have too much of a wax that is too fast, you could send those shuffleboard pucks flying left and right off tables, and no one wants that. Ratings are not comprehensive across brands of shuffleboard wax, although the level of speed is typically indicated in the name of the products usually point to the level of speed. Adroit Speed Wax, which is what we carry at McClure Tables, comes in two different varieties with four levels of speed, with 1 being the fastest and 4 being the slowest.

Whether you are a casual player or shuffleboard aficionado, your shuffleboard experience is just not complete without shuffleboard wax. Whether you call it shuffleboard sand, powder, salt, cheese, or dust, know that all these terms refer to the same little beads of silicone that get that friction to its lowest possible amount on shuffleboard tables. Not only that, but the powder also helps to protect your table’s finish, extending its life in the process as it speeds up your shuffleboard game. While other attempts throughout history have been made to reduce tabletop surface friction, shuffleboard wax is the most successful and effective yet. Keep your table in tiptop shape by always having a canister of shuffleboard wax on hand!

If you love shuffleboard, knowing how to refinish a shuffleboard table is a useful skill you can teach yourself. That way, if you ever find an old shuffleboard you’d like to use, you can refurbish it yourself! All shuffleboard tables require refinishing from time to time as it is, since frequent playing and changes in temperature can affect the surface. Whether you have come across old shuffleboard tables at estate sales or have one at home that just needs a little bit of work, bring some joy back into its life and yours by refinishing it.

Before you can begin learning how to refinish a shuffleboard table, you must consider a few basic things. One major piece of information you must have prior to attempting a refurbishing is what type of finish your table has on the playing surface. Since shuffleboard tables can be finished with a variety of applications, including lacquer, varnish, acrylic, and polyurethane, it’s crucial to determine which kind your table was finished with.

We recommend a careful and gentle technique in preparing the surface for refinishing. Being too forceful might cause you to inadvertently damage the table or surface and make your task even more difficult. Take it nice and easy with finer grit sandpaper and an oscillating sander. By carefully and delicately going over the whole surface with long, even strokes, you will keep the surface level and in fine playing condition.

If your shuffleboard table surface only has scratches in one area and you’d like to try repairing it by section, we would advise against it. Unless you are quite skilled, transitioning the refinished section to the rest of the table without having an effect on the playing surface would be quite difficult.

After enough of the finish has been removed so that the surface is smooth, the next major step in how to refinish a shuffleboard table is to determine if you also need to recover the markings. If you had to sand the surface of your table past the finish in order to get the surface smooth, that could ruin the markings. Although this is a situation you would like to avoid, sometimes it can’t be.

If you need to reapply markings, now is the time. Once you have reapplied the markings, the third step in how to refinish a shuffleboard table is also the last step. At this point, you can begin reapplying the finish. Here’s where finding out what the original finish was comes into play. We suggest that you use the same type of finish as originally used because the chemical bond between the two will be more powerful. Not all finishes adhere with the same force to one another, and some can even fail over time and through frequent use. This is something that you definitely want to avoid!

Not sure about the original finish? Don’t worry. You have a few options for help. The first thing you should do is contact the original manufacturer. They should be able to provide you with the exact specificatio

ns of any of their shuffleboard tables. If, however, the identity of the manufacturer is unknown and unable to be located, give a local game table dealer or professional refinisher a call. Yet another option is to take the dilemma online and hit up game table and/or refinishing forums. Post pictures and give as much detail as you can, and an intrepid shuffleboard enthusiast might just be able to help you out.

One final note: you should view refinishing as maintenance work rather than a repair, because by refinishing your shuffleboard tables, you will be keeping the playing surfaces as fresh and smooth as the day you got them. Taking care of your table will help you avoid having to refinish it too often. Use shuffleboard cleaner once a month and buff with a cloth and make sure, prior to every game, to apply silicone spray and cover the board entirely in wax. By following those tips, you can keep any shuffleboard tables looking and playing like they were just freshly manufactured!

Our guide can help anyone learn how to refinish a shuffleboard table. Whether you love the game itself or home projects, knowing how to refinish the playing surface is a good task to add to your repertoire of knowledge. If, however, you don’t feel confident in your abilities, save yourself some time and trouble and take those shuffleboard tables to professionals who know exactly what they’re doing.

Shuffleboard tables bring plenty of fun into our homes, but it’s important to properly maintain them, especially the shuffleboard climate adjusters. Even the casual shuffleboard fan has probably heard of shuffleboard wax, and avid players will be familiar with silicone spray as well. These items will keep the surface of your table in prime condition, but learning more about your hidden climate adjusters will guarantee optimal gameplay.

Since shuffleboard tables are made out of wood, the playfield can actually expand a little bit in humid weather and contract somewhat in drier surroundings. Changes in temperature can even lead to warping. Climatic adjusters allow you to control the surface of your shuffleboard table to allow for changes in weather.

Shuffleboard climatic adjusters are bolted to the bottom of the board. Depending on the length of your table, you will usually have anywhere from four to six climatic adjusters per board. Generally, they are positioned about a foot from the end of the playing surface on each end. The adjusters should be placed about three to four feet apart from one another.

At McClure, the surface of  our shuffleboard tables is set up with a slight dip in it, which is referred to as being concave. This will prevent the pucks from falling off the sides of the board and into the gutter. You can test how concave your shuffleboard is by taking a straight edge and laying it flat across the surface of the board. If you can comfortably slide a piece of paper across the board beneath the straight edge, your shuffleboard table is just the recommended amount of concave.

Now that we know exactly what shuffleboard climatic adjusters are and what they do, we can go over how to use them. The climatic adjusters we use at McClure Tables are made out of steel, painted black, and work on boards up to 2″ inches think. Using them is actually quite simple. Each bracket has nuts on the inside and nuts on the outside. Adjusting these nuts is what allows you to adjust the surface of the board.

To adjust the concave level of your table, first loosen the inside nut all the way on both sides. Next, tighten the outside nut using two turns. Do the exact same thing to the other outside nut. Repeat the process and allow for a few days in between adjusting to see changes! To adjust the convex level of your table, you do the exact opposite. First loosen the outside nut all the way on both sides. Slowly tighten the inside nut using two turns, and repeat on the other side.

The best shuffleboard player knows their shuffleboard table inside and out. The ability to control some aspects of the surface of the table is crucial for understanding your shuffleboard. Once you get a good feel for your table, shuffleboard climatic adjusters will allow you to make the slightest of adjustments to the surface. The attention to detail will not only hone your shuffleboard skills, but also keep your shuffleboard table in tip-top shape for all weather conditions.

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If you’ve never learned how to wax a shuffleboard table, you’ve probably noticed some inconsistencies in your ability to throw a puck. Think back. You’ve just slid the perfect shot, it’s destined to be a hanger and then all of the sudden… The weight’s momentum dies. Stops. Halts. Fineto. To keep your game flowing like a pro, you’ve got to treat your table like a pro.

What Speed Of Wax to choose

• 9 to 12 foot Shuffleboard Tables choose speed 4 to slow down the pucks
• 12-14 foot Shuffleboard Tables choose speed 3 for the proper speed
• 14-18 foot Shuffleboard Tables speed 2 will play fast enough
• 18-22 foot Shuffleboard Tables speed 1 is the professional speed

Should I choose Brown or Yellow Wax?

The yellow wax has a cornmeal base and the brown wax uses crushed nut shells so if you have any nut allergies in your home choose the yellow speed. However the corn meal will break down faster and does not last as long as the brown nut based wax.

Cleaning The Surface

When you learn how to wax a shuffleboard for the first time, it’s important to start by cleaning the entire surface of the table. At McClure, our tables are topped with a traditional piano finish, which should be treated differently than a plain lacquer shuffleboard. These traditional wood lacquer boards are tougher to clean, while our boards with a polyester piano finish can be handled fairly easily. We use a multi purpose cleaner but if you have an older board where the lacquer has worn off some then you can use something like a Johnson paste wax to help smooth out the dry spots where the lacquer is wearing off. We have a full lifetime warranty on our piano finish materials it is a very thin layer of a much harder surface than the poured two part polymer epoxy boards. But both styles our Piano finish or a polymer board are essentially like a plastic and can be treated like a laminated surface.

To clean a table, it’s best to use a soft towel or a shuffleboard brush. Use these handy tools to push the existing wax off the board and wipe away any remaining grains. The best practice for a smooth game is to wipe off the board with a board sweep between match or games. McClure Tables with our Piano finish are designed for more frequent use but after a while the silicone spray layer gets a build up and it is best to clean the board one or two times per month depending on how frequently you use the table. Finish off the cleaning job with a simple spray and wipe of a multi-purpose cleaner or glass cleaner across the whole board.

Silicone Spray

After you’ve cleared the table, apply a silicone spray in a sweeping pattern across the surface of play. Never use any silicone spray that is not specifically designed for shuffleboards, as it may be too slick or could potentially damage some surfaces.

With the entire table coated, let it sit for a few minutes, then gently buff off the remainder with a towel. The silicone spray will work to increase the effectiveness and speed of your shuffleboard table.

Waxing The Table

Shuffleboard wax goes by many names; cheese, powder, dust, etc. No matter your preference for jargon, the powdery material made from corn meal and silicone should be spread on your table the same way every time. In a similar swaying motion to the silicone spray application, dust the table with your shuffleboard wax evenly. Depending on your preference, there are two different types of wax (brown and yellow) with varying degrees of speed.

With the knowledge of how to wax a shuffleboard table, you can truly tailor your surface to your favorite style of gameplay. After all, it’s important to learn each aspect of the game and work it to your advantage. Knowing a table and treating it properly for optimal performance is key to shuffleboard domination.

Bonus: Need to see how to wax a shuffleboard table in video form? Check out the clip below and learn how to wax your shuffleboard table.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Find out more on how to use Silicone and prepare a shuffleboard table for Game Play[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]