Monthly Archives: August 2015

Last visit of this job in Wellingborough Coopers snooker club to complete work .
Table one which is the most used in the club has re-cover in 6811 Tournament  30 oz Strachan all pure new wool

Table one stripped down , all twelve full size snooker tables are Karnehm and Hillman square legged tables , one table has steel cushions fitted to it but not this one

Table one new bed cloth fitted , it gets very warm in these rooms during the summer , that is why there are fans around the room and also on top of each shade .

Table one finished recover in Strachan 6811 tournament 30 oz all pure new wool cloth .

I have just completed a two day trek up to Scotland to dismantle a full size snooker table in Livingston which was a FREE give away to our client in Kelso
We set off at 5 AM  to Livingston and arrived at 10.30 AM .

the free table advertised for Free on GCL billiards web site , the owner was moving house just wanted it out to complete the move

We re-covered the cushions on strip down to save time on the assemble at Kelso , many billiard fitters do this,  it takes around 15 mins per cushion to re-cover each cushion
they are then ready to re-fit at the other home , and there is a time saving in doing this although my client in Livingstone did not see it that way .

I do not know who re-covered the table in Livingstone before we stripped it down maybe around 20 years ago  , but on the cushion re-cover we found that the slips where all nailed in
and the blocks where loose , I re-screwed the blocks back onto the wood every 10 inch  , and fitted new slips to the cushions . the slips are now nice and tight and the cushions will give a better rebound now the blocks are on solid to the cushions .

The van loaded by 1.45 PM and ready for our trip over to Kelso , we took a pallet to place the slates on as we had arranged for a fork lift at the other end to take them off .

on arriving at our receiving clients home we where shown the upstairs room of the old barn , the only way up to the barn room was by concrete steps as shown here
But we had planned ahead , and we where able to get the local farmer to turn up with his extending beam Manatou fork lift  , this made light work as we had placed the slates onto a pallet in our van
and they where just unloaded and lifted up to the top of the stairs , where we just slid off one slate at a time and then wheeled them to the frame  .

And by 6.pm 13 hours after we set off from Nottingham,  The frame with the slates on in the position and level with slate filled  , where it is finally going , our clients had this very modern looking room with a 65 inch curved TV screen at one end
A bar at the other with WC room , the table fits in very well , a modern table for a modern room .

after staying in a local B&B  at 9 AM the next day we continued the work on the install , Our clients wanted to keep to the Blue cloth , so we arranged to have it fitted with the best Strachan branded 6811 Tournament 30 oz ,
The old blue cloth that came off the table was none branded and no where near the quality as this 6811 tournament cloth

The table has been leveled and the slate joints filled over and sanded in
The new bed cloth has now been fitted

the table finished ,and ready for play , I did re-check the level and adjusted the middle section which had dropped slightly overnight

View from the TV end of the room towards the doorway with bar being built to the left and WC to the right .

I stayed at a very nice B&B near Kelso , I would like to say it was one of the best I have stayed in ,
the name of the B&B is Stonefold Farm near Greenlaw .
Alison made me very welcome , and the rooms and Bathroom was spotless , I had a very good nights sleep , I would recommend this B&B very highly

We are away for two days from tomorrow for a table dismantle and move from Livingston in Scotland to Greenlaw in the border region
We have to move a full sizes snooker table from a bungalow to an upstairs room .

This table based in Livingston was advertised as a free table in our for sale section , it has been claimed by our client based near Greenlaw
It is going to be a long day tomorrow as we set out at 5 am from our base in Long Eaton near Nottingham .
We hope to arrive early enough to strip down the snooker table and re-cover the cushions in new Royal Blue cloth and load onto our Van , we then in the same day  hope to get over to Greenlaw which is 1.5 hours away ,
and get the table assembled upstairs with slates on ready to finish off the next day  with bed cloth fitting and bolt cushions back on , before we travel back later that day .

For the next 30 days we are fully booked out for work
with work booked in for a Wellingborough snooker club , pool table installs , Ashby de la zouch  re-stretching bed cloth cloths x 3 , Butlins Skegness 2 re-covers ,
Derby Snooker club fit new cushions , Golf club install replacement table , Derby club 2 stretches , various pool table re-covers , Nottingham club re-cover , more pool table re-covers and also american pool re-cover plus open up pockets on snooker table ,
This work will take us up to the middle of September to clear .
it will then leave around 15 days spare to get more work in for September before we take a two week break Holiday from 2nd of October to 16th of October .

I have been over to Northampton again to visit Coopers snooker club
My instructions where to re-cover the match table with Strachan 6811 30 oz all wool cloth

The main reason for the re-cover was that the cushions where splitting , this was caused by two things
Sharp angle of undercut from a previous fitter , which is only rectified with a new set of rubbers and cut to modern undercut  with flat face all the way into the back angle of the pocket
all sharp rubber to be sanded to remove sharp edge .


The above photo’s of the way I undercut and finish the sharp edges of rubber off , before I recover the cushions
the other reason for splitting cushion cloth  was the iron has also been rubbing against the cushion cloth , this has now been rectified with instructions to all who iron the tables to be 1/8th of an inch away from the cushion when using an iron  .

the finished table , new Strachan 6811 tournament cloth fitted and checked for level .
I was also asked to re-cover three cushions on two other tables that had split cushions and one with cloth coming out of slip
and also to level an american pool table frame put the slates on level and fill slate joints , and  re-fit the old bed cloth back on and re-spot .
I am now suffering as I tweaked my back lifting the slates onto this american pool table , and I have now taken the next day off before the weekend to rest it , and rearranged that working day for later in the month .
I have a full size Snooker table to dismantle transport and install next week in Scotland , so the rest is necessary .

the type of slates that damaged my Back , not thick or heavy like a full size snooker table , but I had to lift these up from the floor and this is where the damage was caused
I normally lift off a piano trolley and pivot the weight not actually lift it .
A three to four day rest is going to give it time to repair itself though and I will be ready for Scotland next Tuesday and Wednesday for a dismantle transport and install of a full size snooker table
that was actually a Free table that was advertised on my web site

Nest week we have this full size to dismantle and deliver in Scotland which was advertised for Free .
from ground floor bungalow to upstairs above a Garage , with the help of an extending beam  fork lift for the slates !

Something like this

Today I have been over to a members club in Bloxwich close to Walsall and Birmingham
the Members club have  a very nice upstairs room with 3 period pre 1900 snooker Tables
these tables had been totally renovated with new cushions and pocket plates in 2008

The far table was my first to be worked on , this table had thin slates and I would say was circa 1890
I stripped down the cushions and payed close attention to the sharp woodwork that was causing split cloth on the center pockets where balls where impacting as they went down the slate fall
I filed and rasped the sharp edge off and sanded the wood too , I stuck two pieces of tape on top of this filed and sanded wood angle  before I re-covered the cushions , the cloth will now last far longer before a split appears .

although the slate joints where not too bad , I did improve them by surface filling with easy sand car body filler to make a much better blend of joint .
I also checked the level and found it to be good on this table

The table has just been finished and tomorrow I will also re-cover the table furthest away from this one

the balls being set up for play , I re-covered this table in the new light weight Strachan 6811 29 oz cloth
I did panic a bit when I unwrapped the cloth as the supplier had only put 4 cushion strips in the pack , a quick phone call informed me that this new 29 oz 6811 tournament cloth came 6 inches wider than normal
and that the other 2 cushion strips had to be taken off the side of the bed cloth to make up the 6 required for the re-cover
The new cloth went on very well , I found it easy to stretch , and that it had a finer shaved closer nap than the 30 oz that I normally use .
I am awaiting feed back from this re-cover from the players before I could recommend , but it all looks good for fitting it .
I will add further photo’s later of the 2nd re-cover .

the second table, both tables had some sharp edges to the end of the cushions , these where being caught as the ball went down the center pocket
and with hard ball and sharp wood the result was splitting cloth .

I sanded the sharp edges to the cushions with a file and sand paper , this rounded the sharp edge away and the cloth will now not split at this point in the future
I always look out for this on cushions , especially on replacement cushions as all three tables had been upgraded with Brand new modern cushions in 2008 .

the Strachan 6811 29 0z light weight Tournament (new for 2015) is extra wide and you have to take two cushion strips off the side edge .

the 2nd table I re-covered was a an old Roberts table circa 1880’s / 90’s  with octagonal legs and had three munting slate supports in each of the three sections ,
the other two tables have two muntins per section
in fact all the three tables in this room  are very old pre 1895  Billiard tables which would have had finger brass top pocket plates on , they have very thin just over an inch slate thickness ,
I think these tables where chosen because the snooker room is upstairs and the slate would have been half the weight of 2 inch thick welsh slates of the day .
the Padmore table at the other end of the room , I can date the start date of Padmore’s to around 1830 when they moved from London to Birmingham
This firm still lives on today , under the Thurston Umbrella of companies of Padmore / Clare/ & Thurston brought together by Clare’s of Liverpool and now based in Liverpool
Based on leg design I would say the center table is the oldest table in this room but the other two tables are within a few years of it

On this visit the Centre table which does not get as much use as the two outside tables did not require any work but the level was checked
This club is called St Johns Snooker club and is based in Bloxwich and they are looking to increase their membership

 

here is a link to the face book page https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.699270330122868.1073741842.442976969085540&type=3

but if you live in the area or close by then I can highly recommend this club please contact Keith for membership details on 0775 696 4101
they are based on Victoria Avenue Bloxwich WS3 3HS
*Please note the Club is none alcohol as it is in an annex of the Main St Johns church , but that is a good thing for serious snooker players , there are a few century break members at this club

 

 

August 18th 2015  we have just had an update feedback on the thinner 29 oz cloth we used on these two tables

Players feedback as follows on the 29 oz Strachan 6811 tournament cloth

Mick Faulkner  = cloths are superb fast and accurate control on screw shots top class job

Steve Barton  = Knocked in an 88 Break on 1st session on cloths very very nice lovely and fast nothing at all to criticize  , They are just perfect

Riley Parsons  = Sensational ! they are just perfect for knocking in yet more 100 breaks

Jack Harris  = They are the best tables I have ever played on

Mark Thomas ,  = Perfect can’t fault them in anyway

Stuart Langford  = Best I have ever played on

Keith Myatt = even for me , the 2 new cloths are far more reactive than the 30 oz table and very very fast .
Playing on 30 oz is no longer enjoyable .
Everyone wants to play on the 2 tables with the 29 oz clothed tables .

the two juniors Jack and Riley , have now transferred from Ladywood SC to St Johns SC so that they can play on these 29 0z cloths.
They have  both been selected to play for ENGLAND U18s and have both already had 3 or 4 centuries each on the new cloths .
As you can see , these tables are perfect and fitted the same.
Assuring GCL Billiards and Geoff of our Business in the future and looking forward to seeing you when the cloths are due their 12 month re-stretching of bed cloths
Kindest regards and thanks for your attention to detail and being a perfectionist like myself.

Keith Myatt ( Secretary St Johns SC )

 

 

 

We visited Sawley near long Eaton to re-cover a 7×4 supreme winner pool table

we have a regular agreement with the land lord to re-cover this table every 6 months , photo above with cloth stripped off slate and cushions

The finished table re-clothed in Strachan all wool fine napped 6811 Pool Cloth
inside of table also had a good clean out and ball rails washed down also side door and ball flip out tray and coin mech serviced

I have worked at the Kirby Cross snooker club on and off  for near on 40 years , and in that time for at least three maybe four different owners
they did try out a different firm on the last re-cover but have returned to Geoff  Large who now has his own firm  GCL billiards for this water Damaged table caused by a burst pipe from the upstairs flat .
Rachel Phoned me in the week and asked for a quote and if I had any time ASAP , I am fully booked out for work for all of August so I agreed to come in on Saturday to do this work as it was the only free  time I had .
I would really like to tie in most local club’s as possible to Me , I am based in Long Eaton at Junction 25 of the M1 and this club is just off junction 27 of the M1, so we are under 30 mins away 
the table in question is an old George Wright circa 1910 , with very large bulbous reeded legs , as you can see at one time they had 5 or 6 tables in this room and the other tables are stored underneath these two .
that’s around three ton of slate , two sets under and one on top , the floor has been well supported underneath !

I spent a good 4.5 hours in recovering this table , I paid attention to the slate joints as I could see they where out of true and had been filled very badly with soft filler which was coming out of the joints
I checked table for level and filled the joints with soft sand car body filler , this made a very good improvement , balls will now glide over the joints without jumping or rolling off .
I also replaced one net Free of charge on this table .

after I had finished I tested the cushion bounce  , although not as lively as some tables there is a few years life left in them , I got a 7 cushion rebound by throwing the ball around the cushions at an angle and 4 runs up and down ,
this will increase to 4.5 runs once the cloth has been worn in a little and the new cloth on the cushions are not pinching the rubber tight as the cloth slackens off in the two weeks to a month, then the rebound will increase .
all tables that have been freshly re-covered will have tight cloth over the rubber , this will restrict the rebound value for a couple of weeks .
Ex professional Gary Wilkinson still has a knock around in this club . it was the club he learnt how to play the game in as a youngster in the 1980’s .
Both tables that are left have had at sometime a replacement set of cushions with BCE extra bow pocket plates fitted , the tables cushions are not steel cushions as used by professionals , but they are pretty good for standard wooden cushions .
If they require new rubber going forward then maybe on the next re-cover ? but for now i think they will be OK .