Category Archives: News

Posted in News

Back from Holiday , January already booked up

After our two week break in the Canaries

We are back to work , I have a few table moves this month along with a American pool , snooker and UK pool re-clothing too .
I am now taking bookings for February and March .
So if you require tables moved , or essential re-clothing and re-rubber , nets and leathers or new pockets
then GCL billiards is the Cue sports firm with the vast 47 year personal experience to do this type of work .
Geoff Large with over 47 personal years billiards fitting is the man to trust to work on your table .
Geoff will not only re-cloth but will look at the last work done and improve on it if possible .
some of the work we do .

Re-rubber and pocket opening adjustments .
Table assemble installations , dismantles .
Re-clothing
we also do American pool tables
America and UK pool tables
we also re-rubber or replace exchange sets of pool table cushions
old hard rubber taken off and new superior black rubber replacement , if wood is too worn we will search for new cushions for you as replacements , we never rubber rotten worn out wood .
we offer a range of colours and nap or no nap speed cloth grades and different manufacturers , Hainsworth and Strachan which is our two normal top two manufacturers , we avoid fitting low cost Chinese badly made or grade of cloths or the Euro cloths .
We try to use mostly UK made products .
But we must now state that the best rubber UK made Northern rubber is sourced from Indonesia and now manufactured in Indonesia using the same recipe as used in the UK .

Posted in News

9ft Snooker table pristine almost unused condition in Wales .

Here we have a privately owned 9ft snooker table in what can only be described as pristine condition
The cloth looks unworn , it has all accessories included .
And priced at £1500 Buyer arranges collection , or collects themselves
All inquiries to c.large@btinternet.com
Please note GCL billiards are away for two weeks of January back open on the 17th January
any emails will be answered after this date .
just advertising it now as 9ft’s are pretty rare to come across in this condition at this price range .

As you can see cloth looks unused , polish in good condition and nets and leathers are good too
Posted in News

REMOVING UNWANTED FULL SIZE SNOOKER TABLES

FREE Riley table

Most inquiries are because the table is holding up a house sale , or the other way around the previous owner left it and the new owner wants it removed to use the room for another purpose .

We are getting a lot of inquiries to remove full size snooker tables and just getting rid of them , TAKE THEM AWAY FREE people say , this is not a FREE SERVICE I’m afraid , two fitters wages van use Fuel insurances all have to be paid for .
We offer a recycling service at a cost of removing , but we have to take the table all apart and remove all none recycling waste from it, cloth rubber metal tacks screws and bolts all have to be removed for our recycler to take the wood away , the slate is also recycled into fire places , but these have to be polished cut to size to make into a fireplace .
the cost to remove a table and recycle is down to distance , BUT please note we do not now take tables up or down stairs , we only remove Ground floor tables with no more than a couple of steps involved which we can ramp .
We used to do the stair work but as you get older this has become too much for us .
We are both in our 60’s now .

Even this carved one is now being recycled because no body wants it .
Posted in News

Recently Dismantle transport deliver and erect plus Re-cloth of Rare BCE OAK Westbury snooker table .

The last two days we have been down to Havant near Portsmouth , to our selling client who wanted us to advertise the Family’s Rare Oak BCE Westbury snooker table with steel cushions , rumoured but no receipt or provenance of being used at a final in the 80’s involving Steve Davies .
Not many Oak ones where produced and I seem to remember a couple of finals of various snooker competitions on TV in the 1980’s / early 90’s that did use an Oak BCE table in the Final .
Just to show how rare it is to find one in oak , I have only worked on one and that is this one , yet I have worked on hundreds of Mahogany ones in the past .

this is the BCE Oak Westbury before Dismantle in Havant near Portsmouth .
We dismantled and at the same time re-clothed the cushions to save time on our delivery day the next day .

Our delivery address was near Diss in Norfolk and required an overnight hotel on the way as we had been up since 6am on the road from Nottingham and got to the Hotel at Thetford Norfolk at 6pm , here you see the frame being installed and levelled
before the slates where placed on top .
Note the straight edge 6ft Stabila digital level and on top an Engineers level .
this table was an early BCE type and had no Adjustable muntin’s ( slate bearers ) but has a thicker slate bed , that had been hand floated , a sign that it could have been used in a final as most BCE tables used slates out of the crate unfinished and not hand floated and would have been around 1/8th thinner slate .
The 5 section Exact 2 inch thick Slate’s placed on the frame ready to be centralised and pinned together
The Strachan 6811 tournament Cloth Fitted
The finished table
The cloth of choice by my client after informing him of the different grades makes and weight and wear factor .
Some may have chosen a match cloth , but would not have got the years wear out of the cloth .
this one sits between Match and thick Club cloth .
A new set of thicker Peradon Extra Extra Broad bow leathers and high quality Peradon nets where fitted as the thin BCE ones never last long , and being out in the country of Norfolk , not an easy place to get to if they required re-placing and more to the point expensive to be called out to just do pocket leathers and nets replacement from Nottingham to Diss , it was decided to go for longer lasting materials over genuine thin BCE leathers .
Not that most people would know the difference , it is well known that BCE thin leathers can last only weeks , before showing signs of splitting where the ball hits .
The old set had two pocket plates that had leather’s split and discoloured pocket nets .
Cloth fitted perfectly around the middle slate fall , a sign that the fitter knows how to fit cloth
have a look at the tables in your own club to see if there are any deep V cut, or ballooning of the cloth or even wrinkles .
It takes years to train a Billiard fitter to do this , it is not learnt overnight .
The very nice matching BCE scoreboard , that came with the table .
the name plate badge on the end cushion panel stating Westbury , BCE Bristol and made in England my Client was delighted with his Purchase , he had contacted me some time before with the request of a steel block Match type table and had initially stated he wanted a Riley aristocrat , until I showed him this one .

BCE tables where used as TV tournament final table by the WPBSA from 1982 to 1992 , to find if this table was used in a final I think a certain amount of looking at photos of finals and videos to see if an oak one can be found being used .
The deceased father in law of the seller bought the table from Hargreaves in the early to mid 1980’s and it was understood it was a table used in a final that Steve Davies was one of the participants in that final , without the lost receipt , and any certificate of provenance , so the selling client can only say Rumoured to be used in .

My clients room is very large and has an annex room plus office space and a toilet , this building is in the garden of his house in Norfolk .
BCE tables are not the easiest tables to fit , most have bolts missing around the pockets as they do not align easy and lazy fitters leave them out or the manufacture of them meant the bolt hole did not align , this one had every pocket bolt in place .
but they take some aligning up to fit .
we arrived around 10 am , and the table was finished by 4.00 pm
We did not rush the job took the occasional tea and lunch breaks , and made sure the table was fitted correctly .
BCE Westbury and Riley Aristocrat tables with steel match play cushions sell for good money , they are two of the most wanted tables requested by buying clients , but to get those higher prices they must have the steel cushions , I do get a few selling clients claiming to have steel cushions only to find they have the normal club wood cushions .
A quick photo of the table by email of the pocket and cushion area , and I can inform them if it has steel cushions or not .
Condition is also crucial to getting decent prices for these sort of tables and Rarity , such as Oak finished tables rather than the common Mahogany ones .

At GCL billiards , Our Movano 35cwt van can carry around 1600kg including driver passenger tools and load , and just comes within the legal load limit of a modern full size table taking care to load correctly , some older thicker welsh slate and heavy wood and cushion tables are too much to carry for this 35cwt van , and may require a larger removals van to keep within the law.
99% of modern table’s are within the legal limit for this vehicle .

GCL billiards like to keep within the law for load weights , and will not transport a table if too heavy .
We also do not do stairs anymore , having been in the Billiard fitting trade since 1976 , my back is now too fragile to carry slates up and down stairs , and a couple of years ago decided no more stairs and only , Ground floor Dismantle and load , to ground floor unload and install , only a couple of steps is our rule now .
we can ramp that and wheel the slates up or down 2 steps .
I have done my fair share of lifting slates up and down stairs , let the younger fitters do it now , but do not be surprised if you find even young fitters will not take on this work .
I now turn all stair work down , with the rule of no more than two steps .
Posted in For sale • News

Another full size snooker table has become available for sale at just £500 the cloth is as new

The table has just been re-clothed then unused
price is for the table as is on site NOT SET UP

if you want a price for dismantle ,load delivery and set up on ground floor , ask Geoff at GCL billiards for a quote please give him full address to deliver to to work out the miles involved .

the table is in between Northampton and Bedford . MK43 area . and is on the ground floor .
be quick if you want this one relocating before Christmas as we are getting booked up fast .
just remember we do not do stairs anymore any set up will have to be on ground floor and no more than two outside steps .

As you can see , the cloth looks unused , and new nets and leathers plus the wood work looks re-polished too
Turned legs , table will come complete with scoreboard and accessories
BUT please note the price of £500 is for the table on site , any dismantle and delivery and set up costs will be extra
Please get a quote off Geoff Large at GCL billiards to arrange this .
the table is just £500 as it stands buyer to arrange removal .

Posted in News

8 Foot Billiard / snooker dining table immaculate condition for sale …Offers

NOT ONE TO BE MISSED , an 8ft Billiard diner rarely come onto the market in this condition .
just in time for Christmas , for the home , the man cave , or dining room .
Table playing size is 8ft by 4ft .
We have been assured this table is on the ground floor

We have a client based in Broadstairs Kent
who is offering her 8ft diner / snooker table for sale , at this moment in time we are open to offers .
The table as you can see is in immaculate condition and is a copy of an original Riley diner .
It has heat protection padding table cover
a wood sectional table top that removes to then reveal a 8ft by 4ft billiard / snooker table with all accessories that are seen in the photos .
offers to Geoff at GCL billiards , buyer to arrange collection and removal from home .

Table with wood tops on and also protective heat padding
Table with heat protection pads of showing immaculate wooden dining leaf dining top in 4 removable sections
and now you can see the very nice condition cloth and all the accessories that come with the table
Cue Rack
Pool balls
Snooker Balls
5 Cues
2 Triangles
Scoreboard
Brush
Chalk
1 x rest

Make an offer , if I think it is reasonable for all that is on offer , i will then forward it to the selling client for approval .
The table is in Broadstairs Kent , we are a billiards company that could quote for the dismantle delivery and set back up , but we are based in Nottingham and will be charging from that set off point to any round trip , for estimates of work .
*** We only do Ground floor to ground floor installations , and it is up to the buyer to make sure this table will fit in the room and also that it can be passed through doorways on its side on a trolley in its 8ft 8 inch length with cushions on .
but you are free to use any billiard or removal firm in the country .
You do not have to use GCL billiards , but the cost of removal is not in with the selling price please take that into account when offering a price for the table as it stands on site .
any removal costs will be down the Buyer .
Posted in News

The problems trying to re-cloth an outdoor table that is not an outdoor table

I would like to explain without naming anyone why I turned this job down
a local person contacted me to see if i would re-cloth an outside table , I quoted for a speed cloth as this is the best cloth for outdoor use .
But on studying the photos I could see the wood work or shall we say Fibre board is swelling very badly , this means water has got into the construction of the fibre board and is welling it , all though my client insists this table has not got wet as it has a roof over it , but the surrounding damp and condensation is enough to effect the table like this .

As you can see this table has had some serious damp issues , this table is a DPT table I think , an early one that has removable plastic trims on the edge that clip on and off to reveal the bolts heads that you unscrew the cushions off .
very often these plastic trims go hard and break up on removal they lose all pliability and are best warmed with a hair dryer to remove to make them soft .
very often when you get a pool table that has been outside , the bolts rust into the cushion threads making it impossible to get the cushions off in severe cases .
I have had this in the past where once you start the job you are obligated to finish it and that could mean hours of extra work trying to get the cushions off and also having to replace the damaged plastic trims if you break them on removal .
this may mean ordering some ( IF THEY STILL MAKE THEM ) and revisiting using more time up that was not allowed for .
Modern tables do not have the trims anymore , and use a Allen key fixing bolt accessed underneath the top surround .
It is through past experience of re-clothing these tables which are not supposed to be outside even under cover .
that you can come across one that will give you grief if you attempt to re-cloth it .
so this one I’m afraid I have turned down , and you can see from the state of the top surround swelling my reasons for this .
it is very rare for me to turn a job down , especially if it is just down the road form me , but I have made the decision not to to save me any grief .
They may be Lucky and get someone to re-cloth it , but this table will not last long outside it will deteriorate very quickly over the Winter months .
If you need to have a table outdoors this one in my opinion is the best one to get , made from decking timber , it would still require being under cover , but damp will not effect it as much as a fibre board body table .

Any table placed outdoors even if the manufacturer says and markets it as an outdoor table , will suffer from damp issues , and metal bolts will start to rust especially the cushion fixing bolts and slide or claw nuts .
Over 47 years of fitting and re-clothing tables I have seen enough outdoor tables , in my time to know and inform of this problem of condensation damp and rain if no roof over .
When anyone asks me what table I recommend for outdoor , I often say NONE , but the above decking one seems to be one that will offer more protection body and top wood wise , but they will still suffer from bolt rusting through damp ingress .
Most people often retire their outdoor table for the winter put it in the garage or insulate it and put a good waterproof heavy duty weather proof tarpaulin over it .
You will always get condensation outside covered over roof table , in a UK Warm or cold climate though , even if you do take those measures .

I have passed on another local East midlands fitters name for this client to contact ,but stressed they must show them the same photos for their opinion . a 2nd opinion so to speak .