Category Archives: News

TABLES ARE NOW SOLD SOLD SOLD !
Selling Client sold through another source .
We always have clients looking for K Steel tables so if you have one please contact Geoff at GCL Billiards
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We have a Private selling client who is wishing to sell on 4 X Sam K steel pool tables already dismantled .
These will be priced to sell at just £350 each no discount for quantity  here they have already been discounted and priced to sell .
if you want all 4 tables it is £1400 if you want one or two only it is still £350 each table , first come first served a Bargain .
all 4 have been dismantled and will require new cloths , maybe new rubber , we have not inspected them they are in storage ready for collection .
In Ravenshead NG15 area of Nottinghamshire .
here is a photo of what they would look like once recovered and cleaned up .
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A LIBARY PHOTO OF FINISHED TABLES ONLY

THE ACTUAL TABLES FOR SALE AT £350 each ARE BELOW
and this is the current state before dismantle


top cushions surround still complete all 4 stacked on side
the finish is Brown / Black lacaluca finish .

legs and feet

slates 3 to each table .

side skirts that go between each leg and some of the under steel frame construction beams
yes these K steel tables have an under frame work as sturdy as a land rover chassis .
and are regards as the best American pool table to buy here in the UK ,
any spares can also be bought from SAM billiards based in Coventry so you are not buying discontinued tables .

more side and end frame parts with rest rack on .
if you would like  a quote for a table to be fitted or re-covered then I am happy to quote you for this service also re-rubber if you wish to bring them right up to date
these Sam k steels where over £4000 when new .
so at just £350 ready to collect they are a Bargain buy , if you are a club looking for a few of these table then £1400 for all 4 is the best you will find on price for 4 of these Sam k steel tables .
here are a few that GCL Billiards have renovated in the past

a nice Black cloth on this light wood colour table .

we also did a  re-rubber on that one too , a photo showing aged cracked rubber and new rubber side by side .




a sequence of photo’s showing install of a K steel , you can see the frame to finished table here .

one I did many years ago




and Six tables  I set up and re-covered in another local club .

Hunters Bar in Grantham have four SAM k steels  too that I still do recovering on .
as you can see the Sam k steel table is a proper tournament 9ft American pool table , all work on these table would be extra to the actual cost of £350 per table and quotes can be obtained from GCL billiards

Tables are ready for collection from NG15 area , if you require more information contact Geoff by email if possible to

c.large@btinternet.com

and I will arrange a viewing for you with the Private seller .

Heywood Supreme have just implemented a further price increase .
The reason is increased prices for raw materials such as wood, aluminium, laminate , cloth and slate to name but a few .
add the sundries of chroming of parts and shipping of some parts into the UK , plus nuts bolts and screws balls cues chalk .
and of course the ever fluctuating increase in Diesel for pick up from Manchester and  delivery .
BUT WE HAVE NOT INCREASED OUR MONTHLY RENTAL CHARGE AT GCL BILLIARDS .

We collect our tables in batches of two or three .
there is normally a 6 to 8 week waiting from order to our tables being available for collection , so we try and keep a couple in stock ready to go .

the Supreme winner is in great demand .
and to make matters a little worse for some people who only have room for a 6ft table  , the 6 foot versions are no longer £50 less money than a 7ft , they are priced the same due to exactly the same amount of work to put them together and minimal difference in materials as there is more waste from cutting out the laminate  panels for 6fts , the sundries like pocket plates alloy trims and coin mech side are the same as a 7ft .
We do not rent 6ft tables so that part does not effect us , all our winners are 7 ft versions and all coin operation mechanical straight six type ,
although we do free play for sites which demand a no coin operation , we are doing this to two tables  next Saturday for a site in Nuneaton that is increasing their rental tables from two to four !
This conversion still keeps the ball separator intact for the cue ball to return to balk end .
Remember our rental tables get two £185 re-covers a year plus balls and cues every year , half of your rental fee you get back in this service for the re-covers and accessories upkeep per year .
The actual rental side is not a lot of money and when put aside against tax it makes it not worth buying your own table , but rent a table fully maintained from GCL billiards .
We have two clubs with multi tables in one room that have worked this out .
They do not have to worry about recovers or maintenance as it is all in , and we put these visits in our yearly calendar and turn up on or around those dates to carry out the work .
Your Club or Pub league players will not get onto you about bad cloth condition , as it is taken care of on a regular basis .

our rental  tables are in Black pearl finish

they all sport the latest die cast metal chrome corners and not the early plastic type .

latest green badge

and anti bounce up full slotted Allen bolt down ball rails .

we call every 6 months to re-cover in our rental price
this covers winter and summer leagues and makes sure your table stands out from many in your league that does not have their tables recovered as often .
Players within the league want to play on your rented looked after tables rather than a shoddy one .

And the league often use our tables as finals table’s in the leagues as they know they are in good order and recently recovered .

and the cloth we use to re-cover , in our opinion and many players the best choice  , Strachan 6811 quality cloth .
we have had a few that try the Hainsworth cloths , but I can honestly say they always come back to the all wool Strachan cloth .
as the ball does not respond as good on a mixed fiber of wool, and man made product .
We are always looking to increase our rental portfolio within our local area , and some just outside it .
If you are in the market for a new table think about Renting from GCL billiards with two re-covers a year it makes sense .
GCL billiards are solely a cue sport operation , we do not get sidetracked in maintaining video game machines or fruit gambling machines ,
we are 42 years in the business of maintaining  Cue sports tables .
From Pool tables to Full size tournament match play Snooker tables 42 years of personal Experience of working on cue sports tables .

I placed an advert on here a few weeks back for a BCE Westbury steel cushioned table for a client .
well that advert was successful in unearthing a very nice mint condition BCE Westbury for my client .
and he was highly delighted with the table and condition  and the price .

We also have inquiries for the Riley Aristocrat  table too with steel cushions and without steel cushions .
so if you have these type of tables for sale then get in touch a simple insert on our web site will see it sold .
they are the most sought after for the modern game .
and if sensibly priced taking into account condition and removal and delivery costs to our buying clients then it will sell .

Riley Aristocrat

Steel cushions

steel cushion stripped down

BCE westbury steel cushions

Today we have been over to a village near Grantham to dismantle a Orme and sons Zulu model table .
The table was coming in for store for the German based owner .
Our instructions from our client where to dismantle bubble wrap and box parts of the table only and bring into Nottingham to be dry stored by jonills removals .
We use jonills as they are experts in the dry warm storage of furniture .
there is nothing worse than a cold damp billiards firms storage warehouse , all sorts of damp problems could occur and problems setting up if the table warps
Jonills are experienced Furniture and house hold goods removals and storage .
We find by using their experience of dry warm storage, this  is the best thing for our clients table .

Cloth off and we take note of any filler and damage already on this table .
also any bolts missing , ( one frame bolt centre leg ) and three buttons broken due to owner wood glueing them in .

some damage that we found that had been filled in by previous fitting team .

slates are carefully slid to one end and lifted / pivoted onto soft rail piano trolley , ready to load onto the van .

as you can see neatly loaded onto the van , 5 slates , three double cushions wrapped , end and middle cross members wrapped ,
6 slate support muntin’s wrapped , long sides wrapped , slate lings wrapped , and a box for all balls screws pockets and bed cloth which was a Thick Special Strachan cloth
and also 4 x bubble wrapped of double packed legs .
I did notice that the previous fitter had covered the cushions nap the wrong direction from top to bottom rather than sideways to follow nap direction on bed cloth as is the normal way to do this .
so will also give a full condition report to my client so he is upto date with improvements he may wish to carry out when he has the table re-erected .

and with tools and shade loaded .

Table in dry warm storage at Jonills removals yard and warehouse in nottingham
the shade is stored just a round the corner of the photo.
My client in Germany is now paying Jonills to store the table for him , and he will inform when he is ready to have it delivered to Germany .
all accessories where kept by my Clients Father for safe storage , we only brought in the main table and rest hooks as it stood with the  balls / cover / scoreboard / rest’s and cues / and rules , kept back by my clients father for safe keeping .

And if you are in the market for a competitive house move quote I can recommend Dave at jonills removals phone 01159 602092
he also has smaller team vans or van and a driver on some work too .
Piano’s is his specialty too .

Last year I re-covered Manu Tuilagi’s DPT Pool table for him in Leicestershire

Manu also played just around the corner from his house on a friends fulls size snooker table .

it was through playing on this  pre 1895 full size billiard  table pictured above , that Manu decided he must upgrade from his 7ft pool table to a full size snooker table .
so he contacted me to bring in a full size table for him , I also was on the look out for him and came across an exceptional  condition table for a Bargain Price from a house sale .
and the table had to be out of the house so that buyers could appreciate another room that  was not meant to be for a full size snooker table .
and it was not far from where Manu lives so an added bonus that we could pick it up and install it all in one day .

The reason it was a Bargain was because the seller was selling his house and the table had been put up in a room that made playing impossible .
the cue distance from cushion to wall being around 20 inch at one end ! as you can see from above photo .
so Myself and Steve  dismantled this table today and loaded it onto our van .
and then took it over to Manu’s House for install .

The install at Manu’s was very good access with the van parked right up the Drive , to the sliding bi-fold doors to his Garden Games room
this made for an easy unload and install .
Nothing worse than having to unload and go all around a property and sometimes to the bottom of a Garden to install a full size snooker table .
carrying all the tools every part of the woodwork and wheeling those heavy slates , which can add a couple of hours to a working day .
so it was a delight to install this one with no hassle at all .
And he does make excellent coffee .

As you can see this table had not been played on at the previous owners address , ( the cloth was as new unplayed on )
also the polish was as new too , no belt buckle scratches at all , as can be seen in above photo .
The Excellent condition was mainly down to the handicap of no cue room at each end , and the fact that the previous owner was not at home very much ,
and if he did have spare time it was spent on his main hobby which was not snooker .
The owner had many other interests and hobbies that meant this table was mainly a room filler and not a players table .
In fact by the as new cloth condition , I would say no one ever played on it , as can be seen from the photo’s of the cloth .
Manu had seen another table near Mansfield but after I had shown him photo’s of this table which had just come in for sale,  he was delighted and amazed at the condition of it .
and gave me the go ahead to purchase it .

Manu taking his first shot on the table , he is so excited and cannot wait for his mates to come around for a boy’s night in playing snooker  .
this table did not get the play it deserved in the previous owners home in fact none at all going by the Excellent condition ,
but I am sure Manu and his mates will get plenty of practice in on it now .
Manu was informing me he is about to return to the Leicester tigers team in a couple of weeks time against Newcastle from a recent injury recovery .
Leicester have two very important games coming up which they must win to have a chance of making the play offs.
losing against Northampton was a bit of set back last weekend .
and now put’s pressure on the Tigers to win their two remaining games .
We wish Manu many hours of snooker on his table and Leicester Tigers good luck in the end of season 2 games battle to gain a play off spot .

Manu Tuilagi playing for Leicester tigers

and for England .

We have two more pool 7ft tables available for rental contracts

I collected these two today from Heywood where supreme have their Factory ,
one of these tables may be reserved as we speak for a site in Ilkeston .

GCL billiards rental contracts are very competitive rate which includes two re-covers a year .
we think we are the best contract rental firm in the East Midlands .
That good that we even have a couple of sites in the Coventry and Nuneaton area’s  of the West Midlands coming over to us ,
as they cannot find anyone local that comes close to our contract and what is included in the terms .
and it makes sense as the rental is fully tax deductible and includes those two expensive re-covers per year one every 6 months for winter and summer leagues .

above Heywood supreme pool tables ready for dispatch from Heywood Lancashire.
Supreme Pool tables are considered the best to play on and many leagues have these tables .
spares are always available , but there is a 6 to 8 week waiting time to get new tables , so we try and keep two in at any one time to accommodate new rental clients .
as soon as these two are out on site we will then place another order for two more tables , which will be ready for us to collect in May .
I may change this to 4 tables next time and re-order for two when I get down to 2 in stock , such is the demand for these pool tables these days , we do sell the odd new one too .
We are slowly building our rental sites up , as the word gets out there that GCL billiards is the best firm to offer pool table rental contracts .
we are 100% cue sports maintenance people and we do not get side tracked with having to service fruit machines and other amusement machines .
you want the best firm to maintain your rental table then get a 100% billiards snooker and Pool table fitter in to do that , and not a fruit machine technician .
who is out of their depth with quality re-covering and servicing of cue sports tables .
Geoff Large at GCL billiards has over 41 years as a fully time served billiard table fitter , it would be Hard to find another firm that Rents pool tables Maintenance contracts out with that much personal experience .
And unlike other firms this is not 4 men with 10 years experience tagged together but a genuine 41 years a a billiards fitter .

We have delivered and set up Snooker tables all over Europe , but we are now stopping all the traveling and concentrating on more local work ,
and especially concentrating on building up our pool table rental operation .
We will still offer to relocate full size snooker tables throughout the UK if it is cost effective though .
Below a few Photos of what we do when servicing tables and the type of table we supply is the BRAND NEW supreme winner in Black Pearl cabinet finish .

a typical rental site , this one having two of our 7ft table’s installed .

latest fully slotted and screw down runners , these are less likely to offer ball bounce up

Die cast corners the latest design from supreme with alloy strip at back of cushions to black pearl top .

slate stripped and ready to attach new bed cloth

set up ready for play

latest green badge on our Brand new supplied tables .

Strachan 6811 pure new wool match pool cloth is the preferred cloth we use .
other firms use the thick 777 option we use the best option and best choice of cloth .

Electronic level is 0.1 out of level with a  £20 note under it .

Electronic level showing 0.0 level

cushions re-covered

we take every staple out on a re-cover , Cowboys leave them in and staple over the top

Today I have been over to Cambridge to our client Eoin ( Owen )  who bought a 8ft Karnehm and hillman billiard table via our for sale pages direct from the seller .
this table was in very good order but required new nets and leathers and a re-cover .
the table is a three section slate bed , and required adjustable slate supports to be fitted as an extra and an advisable thing to do when installing .
this cut’s out the possibility of future slate sagging .

a photo of the table before dismantle and collection from our selling client , collected from the Aylesbury area .
in an upstairs location and was bought for just a few hundred pounds .

The table now installed in Eoin’s ( Owen) , Cambridge home .
Eoin  ( Owen ) has spent a considerable amount having the table collected and delivered plus the re-cover and new nets and leathers , &  adjustable slate supports
these Karnehm and Hillman tables are considered one of the better made tables here in the UK .
8ft one’s are very rare to find , this table will now give years of trouble free play .

Adjustable slate bearers are fitted to prevent slate sagging , many tables made in the 1980’s where not fitted with them .
GCL billiards fit them as precaution and preventative measure .
It also gives the client peace of mind that this slate sagging will be prevented in the future and also gives the option of adjusting it out if it did occur .

We have just had our price list from our cloth supplier for year beginning April 2018
we have seen some increases in cloth prices over the last 4 years and we cannot keep deferring this increase .

over the last three years I have kept our re-cover prices at the same price , but I just cannot do that with the latest price increase.
the largest increase is on the 29 oz version of the Strachan 6811 Tournament , this used to work out at the same price as the 30 oz  recover, but it is now more expensive than the 30 oz .
but I will keep this price for the light weight tournament still at the same price  ( if I can get hold of it )
the 29oz is not always in stock .
I will try and limit the amount of increase , but we simply cannot go on paying more for materials from our supplier and taking the loss ourselves by charging the same price that I have been doing for the past 4 years .
I try to be competitive and stay within £20 of other firms prices .
Do not forget that we do not charge VAT on top of our prices , I have to pay the VAT for the materials and lose that , as I am not vat registered , this I do as 50% of my clients are private people and none vat registered businesses ., just like myself .
I would lose 50% of my clients if I went VAT registered , so I stay below the VAT limit on my turnover , to please my none vat paying clients .

all cloth in the Strachan range has been increased

This badly fitted Strachan  club fitted by another firm , is only £15 less per full size re-cover , than the much better Strachan 6811 tournament 30 oz and 29 oz finer napped cloth .
Some firms undercut us by £20 for a full size table but they then may charge 20% on top for VAT , They sometimes  fit this club cloth , and sometimes it may even have substandard writing on the under side , they get this cloth even lower priced as it is a reject , I have come across this on my travels when taking other firms cloth off as seen in Photo’s .
you will not find this stamp on any cloth GCL billiards supply .

As you can see the cloth is thick club cloth and slow but it was also fitted badly or they supplied substandard tournament with faults all over it or badly cut uneven  nap  , surely the extra cost of £20 is worth getting a qualified time served  billiards fitter in , who will advise you, and help you make an informed choice for your table recover .
So we try not to stock Club Cloth  and we do not offer it as a supplied in stock cloth , it is not rubbish cloth , but it is slow and thick and is used for duration cloth rather than a players cloth .
You can Trust GCL billiards 41 years of experience to guide you to the best cloth for your table for the type of play you require .
there is no such cloth available that is durable and lasts long and plays with speed .
to play with speed = finer thinner lightweight cloths , this reduces life span .
also some manufacturers claims to their cloth being better and lasting longer is not to be taken in .
With over 41 years personal fitting of cloths I can say without taking payment for saying this ,  that Strachan cloths are the best in the world at what they are designed to do .
From the 26 oz 6811 pool version to the very high priced No10 version , there is a cloth suited for your table and Geoff Large at GCL billiards will advise what is best for your cue sports table based on your type of play and expectations of cloth life and speed .
From pool tables to full size tables there is a Strachan cloth suited for your table and we will help you make the right choice .

Strachan also produces their excellent Super Pro Worsted cloth available in a variety of colors
this cloth forms well over the very hard to fit center slate falls of some manufacturers american 9ft pool tables and plays very well .

We can also direct you to a firm that prints designs into the Super Pro speed cloth for pool tables from 6ft to 9ft american ( Extra cost for this service )
but if you are a Pub chain or large establishment , you may wish to have a word with one of the brewery reps to pay for this , and cover advertising cost .
or even pay for the cloth and just pay GCL billiards the labour charge to fit it .
we can work with your brewery or beer rep to provide this service .
here are some we did for Butlins in skegness .
From personal coat of arms to football teams emblems , to beer logo’s , and also club names
the back ground design on this cloth could be stars , rain drops , paint ball splatter and so on .

You may notice that the shade design also follows into the cushions , these cushion strips have to be fitted to correspond with the design , it is like matching wall paper up .

the cloth kit comes with instructions on where to place each cushion cloth strip to align up with the pattern .
each cloth is colour coded .

Artscape Strachan super pro printed cloths come in various designs , and can be custom made using one of their back grounds to your own artwork logo