Today I have recovered a very nice light oak Riley Aristocrat. This table is used by many of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire’s top players. The table can only be described as mint condition and is a joy to work on.
Steve Butler’s mint Riley Aristocrat in American oak. A very nice table to work on.
After I recovered the table in 6811 TOURNAMENT cloth by STRACHAN, I received the following text on my phone from the happy owner:
WELL HAPPY. HAD A 64 BREAK IN MY 2ND FRAME!
4TH HIGHEST BREAK EVER
This table will only get better the more it is played on. It was re-rubbered last year with Northern rubber and the new cloth will after a while speed up. When a new cloth is fitted to a table it is at it’s slowest as the nap is at full length and the cushions are restricted by tight cloth being just applied to the cushions. When the cushion cloth slackens off, the rubber will be free to rebound the ball at a faster pace. This will take around 2 to 3 weeks of play.
The old cloth had a baulk line marked out in white tippex. Although this looks good as the TV tables have this, it is only for the cameras to pick up on TV. By using a soft lead black pencil, the baulk line will fade. In 6 months to a year the cloth can be re-stretched and the old black lead pencil line can be removed with acetone, without the fear of having two white lines, as the tippex is very hard to get off a cloth once it has been put on.
I always recommend the black pencil baulk line over the white tippex pen, but it is down to the customer what they require and I will put on whatever they want.
