Monthly Archives: May 2026

This table was bought for just £500 off our web site page and then had a lot of money spent on it fully renovating it .
The frame was stripped and polished by a third party polisher , but all the other work of dismantle loading transporting setting up
plus re-rubber , Re-clothing , new nets an leathers and ball rails where carried out by GCL Billiards

Just look at the finished table , this is one of the best tables I have worked on , to find an untouched unmolested private owned table , with woodwork in very good order is very rare .

From the border of Wales to Derbyshire , we collected and installed the table
here are a photo by photo of the work carried out .

Here is the table before collection from near Shrewsbury , from our selling client Jackie for just £500 as it stands .
The table was made approx. 1947/48 and has steel cushions and note the old billiard ball pocket nets .

Date on rubber is 547 = May 1947
The original rubber manufactured date , this dates the table to around that time period just after World war 2 .

cushions stripped of cloth and rubber , and set to the slate , rubber is ready to be glued
note new pocket plate templates , made especially for us with our own GCL Billiards logo on them to WPBSA 3.3/8th 2005/6 standards

Rubber has been fitted and cut to new middle template nice and snug .

The corner pocket also cut nice and snug to new templates

cloth on bed ready to go on and be fitted . Hainsworth Match .

Bed cloth part fitted middle falls down ready to pull out from 4 corners .

The bed cloth fitted and marked out and ironed , and the steel professional grade cushions set to receive the cushion frieze’s , once bolted up .

The finished table , ready for play .

Both centre and corner templates showing snug fir to WPBSA standard

Centre pocket template .

Corner pocket template

Original Burroughs & Watts Fitted with Steel Vacuum Cushion End plate , 19 Soho Square London .

GCL Billiards end cushion plate to show who re-rubbered it . We call this the re-rubber plate , or table set up plate .
People often get confused when they find a name plate on the end of a cushion and think they made the table .
always check both ends of a table , and also ask on a Billiards forum website who the table was manufactured by .
Seen many a Burroughs & Watts arrowflite re-rubber badge on the end of say a Thurston or Orme & sons table and people often get confused as to who manufactured the table .

and our client bought his own professional grade table lighting
Now taking everything into consideration a new star or Riley Aristocrat table with steel cushions today would come in at £13000
Our client used mainly GCL Billiards to work on the table apart from the polishing which was done locally to our owner to a very high standard , and I will be asking for his details to pass on to other clients wishing for high class work of polishing .
which on its own came in at around £1500 alone to strip and polish including collection and delivery back to site .

The re-rubber / Re-clothing in Match grade cloth / new peradon leathers and nets , plus ball rails , the lighting unit , brush iron and a few accessories and balls made a grand total for the whole project to come in at a round £5500 .
The quality of this table is far superior than a modern Chinese Star or UK made Riley Arsitocrat or even a BCE Westbury .

The quality is there to be seen , just look at the flame mahogany in the cushion capping’s

The size of the solid mahogany bulbous 10 to 11 inch turned Tulip carved legs , some may say why have this high quality mahogany leg sprayed silver ,
The Young player is of a modern era , tables now come with legs and trims in gold , silver bronze or even reconstituted stone marble or resin legs .
He will be playing mainly on gold and silver legged tables in star and riley tables , this gives him the quality of a period made higher quality wood but with a modern twist .

these are 10 inch turned legs down from around 11 inch , riley and star in comparison start with an 8 inch block and end up at around 7 inch turned legs .

The rigidus frame is unique to Burroughs and watts

Center Leg Spacing: Unlike conventional billiard tables, the Rigidus frame features central legs that are positioned closer together. This specific geometry was engineered to distribute the massive weight of the slate bed evenly and prevent the heavy timber from warping or bowing over time. [1, 2]
Frame Rigidity: The reinforced frame acts as a rigid, monolithic foundation. It absorbs the impact of heavy match-grade balls and ensures the slate remains perfectly level for professional play. [1, 2]
Premium Materials: Tables built with this frame—dating predominantly from the early to mid-20th century—were often crafted from dense, heavy woods like Cuban or South American mahogany and oak. They were frequently paired with the brand’s famous steel-block cushions for the ultimate bounce and

again superb quality of wood used in the manufacture of this table

All cut to pro size pockets for an up and coming young player who wishes to step one more rung up the ladder to becoming a professional player .
A local Derbyshire Lad … look out for him his name is Kai Hopkins .
A big thankyou to his Mother and Father in putting their trust in GCL Billiards to not only source a table for them at a very reasonable price , but to get it up to pro standard for their son by collecting and fully fitting as you see above .
They have put a lot of sacrifice in a house move and financially in getting this table and an large extension on the new house for their son to make that step further up the ladder to becoming a pro player .

Health risk of breathing in mould spores

Due to me breathing in mould spores from a re-cloth on a pool table last week , I am now laid up with a very bad chest infection and sore throat , also my kidneys ache .
I do not know how long this is going to affect me , but for now I have a cancelled a few jobs this week and rearranged the work for later on ., this gives me a few more days to fight this infection off .
I will not now be doing any table work on such bad spore growth mould on tables .
and I think it is on the owners of such tables to clean them up before arrival and spray anti mould spray on them , removing all cloth that is affected .

We have a very nice oak finish Optima Monaco pool table for sale from a private house in Edinburgh Scotland
the buyer would have to arrange to collect and dismantle themselves , and the table has to come downstairs but the good news is , it all comes apart .
lid up slate out , thin line body , and 4 bolt off legs .
I will put any buyer int ouch with our private seller , who is moving house , and is now selling the table .
I have looked at how much these Optima Monaco tables are now and they are a top range table with a price range of £1915 to £2034 at liberty Games .
I have advised our buyer that some may decide to have the table re-clothed others will make do with it as it is for a year or so .
the pool table comes with a good range of accessories .
The table if on the ground floor would be worth close to £1000 , so our guide price of £650 just for a stairs problem is very good value , some may be able to fit a slide U channel to the slate , a few blankets or a strip of old carpet and you would be able to slide the slate down bit by bit in a controlled fashion with ease .
This is how a professional fitting firm may do it and I will show photos of that with a full size table slate section which is much heavier .

Any way priced to sell quick at just £650 which is a Bargain for one of these tables .
I only sold one of these the other month with a re-cloth at £1350 , if it was closer I would have had it myself .

This last photo shows a two inch thick piece of slate with a U section slide strapped to it and behind you can see the strip of carpet we put on the stairs to slide this down bit by bit .
The same method could be used if you made a U channel to strap tot he pool slate which is 1/2 the weight of this snooker slab section .
a pool slate is 5/8th thick , the snooker slate is 2 inch thick .

Please contact Geoff at GCL Billiards , and I will put you in touch with the owner in Scotland .
This is ideal for someone up that end of the Country , most for sale are right down south .
There area few table fitting firms in Scotland who may quote you to bring this table downstairs and deliver it to a ground floor .
I do have a couple of contacts up there including Scott Mcintosh and Tayside Snooker .

Ball sets include a snooker set / pool set / cue rack / scoreboard / Brush / triangle / and 4 cues .

I have a custom made set of highly polished wood table tops in 4 sections , all bubble wrapped as taken off a table from a very nice furnished house where the table tops where very carefully handled on and off the table , the table has been sold , and we now have this set of very expensive table tops that where hand made by a joinery shop and polished , fitted with under bracing to stop dipping or warping .
My client paid around £1395 to have this hand joinery made set of hard wood trim and veneer table tops made up , when he bought the full size snooker table as an extra cost to the table .
Asking a very reasonable £495 and if local to Nottingham or Derby I will deliver .
Ask any joinery shop to make a set like this and you will find they are not low cost .
I have two sets of hard wood tops , I have only ever had one set up for sale before these , they are rare to find , and when you do some are nothing more than rough bits of 8×4 from the wood yard bare wood just slung over the table .
I did get someone inquire for a set a few months back but never took their number as I said they rarely come up for sale , then this past month two sets come up .
This set is £495 cash sale . the other set is a bit lower at £250 , take your choice , if you are not fussed about polished wood then go for the silver ones they are also a very well made set , but if you like to see a bit of craftmanship and polished wood grain these are the ones for you .
and as can be seen from the photos they are as mint condition as you will find a set .
and to keep them like that I bubble wrapped them on site , they are now at my own home in storage in Long Eaton Nottingham wrapped ready for collection or delivery if close by .

I have a client who has sold his table and now has a rare to find 4 section table cover in silver finish
Cloth underlined to protect cushion capping’s frieze and cushion cloth .
Simple sale £250 buyer collects .
You cannot make them for this kind of money , buyer to arrange collection from Walsall
Table is going tomorrow Saturday the 16th , table 4 section top are available from after this date .

PRIVATE SALE DIRECT FROM THE SELLER . collection to be arranged from High Wycombe , please read more >>>>>

We do not get many 10fts come up for sale and when they do , they normally sell very fast , especially if priced sensibly taking into account what it would cost to have one dismantled and delivered and set back up , so this one has been very Fairley priced and comes with all accessories as shown .
My client thought this was a 3/4 size but it is a bit larger than that , 9ft is 3/4 size , this one is a rear size to find at 10ft .

*** The table also comes with a hard top cover as used by the selling client as a dining table
Light is also included .

Size: 323 cm (L) x 174 cm (W) x 82 cm (H)

Slate bed

3-piece wooden dining top cover

Overhead green snooker light

Full set of cues and rests

Multiple sets of balls

Cue rack

Traditional scoreboard

Triangle and accessories

Not sure on rubber rebound value in cushions , but it definitely could do with a re-cloth and maybe new nets and leathers if required at same time .

The table is based in High Wycombe , and we could quote for the dismantle , traveling and setting back up if on ground floor at both ends . we could also recommend a firm if you collect and needed a fitter closer to you .
Contact Geoff at GCL Billiards for more information .