now and again I get small tables to re-cover , not my favorite type of tables to re-cover
but you take the rough with the smooth and pull one in n ow and again .
I would much prefer to work on sectional slate bed tables above 8ft size than tables of 5ft /6ft and 7ft type and even some 8fts made the same way .
So this table I took on and found a few problems that I have come across before ina modern Dining table with one piece slate bed .
First of all the strip down , bed cloth off and cushions stripped for re-covering
These small tables are wood screwed on cushions , believe it or not I came a cross a 10ft made the same way the other week !
it is OK for small tables like this to be wood screwed , but table’s above 7ft and maybe some 8ft should all be sectional slate bed and bolted into slate bed bolts for the cushions fixings .you get a much better bounce with proper bolted into slate bed cushion bolts .
on Snooker tables there should be a rebated slot on the rear of the wood block that joins the wood polished surround of the cushion to trap the cushion cloth in
on this table it had screwed on blocks over the cushion cloth which was stapled behind the block for fixing .
a photo of a proper slip fitted cloth , note the thin slip of wood fixing the back edge of the cloth to the cushion .
The slate bed had a few streaks of Marbling , this is natural marble vein going through the slate sediment before it was crushed and formed many millions of years ago .
this slate is Italian and the table was made the 1990s /2000.
it is estimated that welsh slate was formed 400 million years ago . and it is not uncommon to find minute sea creature fossils trapped in the slate when an old billiard table two inch slate is broken
I managed to re-cover the screwed on cushion blocks and cushions because they did not do the trick of putting the rubber on over the screws , I have had a few of these tables to do in the past
it is pot luck if the person screwed the cushions on under the rubber or below it .
if the rubber was over the screws then i would have had to take the whole set of rubbers off and refasten the rubber .
The Original cloth was not in bad condition when comparing it to other tables I have recovered , but my client was not happy with the low quality thick fluffyness of the cloth
and required nice fast short napped Strachan 6811 29 oz cloth , this was the last piece of 29 oz I had in stock .
and only enough for a 6ft bed and cushions .
I will not disclose who I did this work for as it is unfair to start finding faults on their table and saying where it is .
but I like to inform people who may be looking for a dining table and to see the pitfalls of buying one that has not quite been made correct .
My client knows about these faults as I pointed out what could have been better made to him during strip down and re-cover and leveling .
my client actually inherited the table with the House so it cost him nothing but wanted it playing better .
He knows if he wished to upgrade to a proper made Riley Diner table what to now look out for .
a few things that would have made this table much better .
1)….Slip rebates in cushions so it could be re-covered with ease .
2)… Anti Bow beams under the slate bed to stop the slate bowing in the middle
3)… Large penny washers for the cushions screws
4)… higher quality bag nets .
the above table is a copy of the original Riley Dining dual height lifter tables like this one showing the Anti bow beams and lifters which they should have incorporated into their effort of a dining table . .
the modern Riley table is made like this now
I prefer the old type and especially the barley twist leg designed one
A very nice one I renovated in Lincolnshire recently
the same table with it’s solid oak table tops on .
some tables have a differnat type of anti bow mechanism , like this Burroughs and watts anti bow adjustable threaded bar version .
a simple device of wood beam across the middle a bar stretched under and threaded at each end fixed by bracket and adjusted with nuts lifts the center of the table up if it is sagging .
