One of the largest Pool tournaments is coming to the Towers Snooker and Pool Venue , on Botany Avenue Mansfield from Monday the 28th to Friday the 30th of October
And it is FREE to watch , Geoff Large of GCL billiards was especially contacted to carry out the refurbishment of the playing surface of 9 of the 15 pool tables located at the Towers Venue
and I thank Jules goodyear for recommending me and for passing on my Details to Harvey Elmhirst one of the the tournament organisers , and Chris Walker Towers Director .
The first four tables being treated to a new playing surface , the cloth of choice and recommended by Geoff and Jules Goodyear ( Current Nations cup senior pool singles champion and also England Team A champion ) is the New lightweight 29 oz Strachan all wool6811 TOURNAMENT cloth , we have been getting rave reviews on the lighter weight 6811 tournament for both snooker and pool tables.
The slates have been cleaned of all dirt and dust and any loose glue removed around the edge and the slate edge and under edge of cloth is glued with contact adhesive
The dry time before stretching the cloth on is around 20 minutes per table bed .
The cushions have already been stripped of all staples taken out , reclothed in the same 6811 tournament 29 oz cloth and refastened back to the frames .
the slate beds have now been re-covered .
at GCL billiards we do not do half a job , we also clean the inside of the tables , we vacuum all dust from the main body and wash down and degrease the rails of wax residue which is a combination of sweat off hands
and chalk and wool residue shedding from cloth as can be seen further down this ball rail , if you let years of the build up you are asking for balls to stick , resulting in player picking the table up and dropping it to free the balls .
the bad thing about this is you can get broken feet , or worse a cracked slate bed .
Cleaning the inside of the table is part of a re-cover . and is part of GCL billiards code of practice to do this .
all nice and clean and ready to accept balls rolling down without the risk of getting stuck, and also nice clean rails will not deposit the muck back onto the nice new cloth you have just had fitted .
Packing sagging slates !
Many pool table fitters pack under the slate bed to get the dip out , my theory of this is it leaves a gap unsupported along the slate between these beer mat packers
I have been fully trained as a Billiards fitter and work on full size snooker tables , I put some of the theory of that training into how to support the length of the slate bed in a pool table if shimming to get level
I use the centre ball rail return gully uprights which is the main support for the slate bed if anyone sits on a table overtime the carcase will begin to sag down between the legs , the centre uprights also distort and sag.
my way of packing or shimming is to run a length of thin snooker cloth down the top edge staple in position , then run a further shorter length on top in the middle , what I am doing is building a gradual pyramid to lift the bow or sag out of the slate , on bad tables this can take three strips each one smaller in length than the previous strip , but normally it takes just two strips , like in the above photo.
My own personal theory into using beermats is don’t , they cause too many problems , if you pack too much you can distort the top lid bend the clamps or distort them and also make the hinge side rattle
I have checked the tables I have re-covered and used the strip cloth method of leveling the sagging slate , and removed all the beer mats that where previously put there by someone else , I staple my strips of cloth in place so it will not move or fall into the main gully like loose beer mats can .
three more tables going through the process of playing surface refurbishment at the Towers
It is important when re-covering cushions to take every old staple from the previous re-cover out , this makes for a neater re-cover plus a build up of staples can lift the cushion above where it should be , ball Rebound can be effected
too high and the cushion is dead , too low and the balls jump , you do not get the full bounce out of cushions if they are too high .
the final part of any pool table re-covering and refurbishment is the Leveling of the tables
I use an old Mercedes car side jack that I have converted to move around the table with ease to lift and drop the tables down for access to the table leg feet
I move in 1/4 turns each foot , I then try a few balls around the table
Good cloth which is looked after will Run very fast and true , cloth that is neglected will fluff up shed and you may get what we describe as cardigan arms ball fluffs appearing or clumping of cloth .
a simple rule of thumb is every 10 hours of use Brush then Blocker and Iron , and even if the club has ironed the tables early that day if it’s match night Iron them again .
the Iron setting of a Dowsing Iron with thermostat for this type of Strachan 6811 Tournament cloth is the hottest setting N0 9
if you are using Hainsworth Match cloth then setting number 8
keep the iron off the cushion rubber by about 1/8th ” , heat will make the rubber go off and you will end up replacing cushions due to dead bounce from early rubber deterioration
As photo from one end of the room
one of the Black pearl cabinet finish Supreme winner pool tables , fitted with the new 29oz Strachan lightweight Tournament cloth
and a table in the white Pearl finish , notice all the tables have racking cloths fitted , if you are a Pool Player there are a few rules to think about and get used to doing or not doing here are the 6 most important .
Rule one = always use the racking cloth
Rule two = never sit on the table the slate will distort and sag
Rule three = clean hands never eat greasy crisps or nuts when playing pool
Rule four = keep drinks well away from the table
Rule 5 = Respect the table keep tips and ferrules in good order and never dig into the cloth with your cue and keep tip well chalked .Green chalk for Green cloth , do not use BLUE chalk .
rule 6 = cue cases opening on the table some have sharp hinges or catches that can damage the cloth open the cue case on a side drinks table never on a pool tables playing surface .
If you like the way I go about my business in maintaining pool and snooker tables and you have a venue or a table of your own then please contact Geoff Large at GCL billiards
contact details are ….c.large@btinternet.com or phone 07753466064 or home 01159725355
Interested in going over to check this event out then please contact the towers Snooker club or just turn up , its FREE for spectators .
Upstairs room at the towers has another 6 Supreme winner pool tables
