Category Archives: News

This past two days I have spent at the Ivanhoe social club in Ashby de la zouch .
I was asked to come back and re-stretch the 5 snooker tables that I re-covered last year .
and to attend to a set of leathers and use a few older leathers that where good on other tables and replace some nets .

cushions off then take out tacks to re-stretch the bed cloths

during the stretching , I use a line to guide me to keep the spots in center of table .
this keeps an even re-stretch and also helps with marking out for new Baulk line and D plus spots .

one thing I like to point out to anyone asking for these metal type ball rails .
when balls fall down on the ring they split the nets easy , this net was replaced only 12 months ago yet it has split open
there is a solution to stop this happening .

Plastic rails are much better for the nets , a ball falling down is not trapping and hitting the net against a hard metal edge so the nets last much longer .
and a reason why most Snooker clubs have these plastic rails fitted rather than the metal ones .
it costs around £55 to change a set of nets , if they wear out every year then that is an extra £55 per table .
3 of these 5 tables have these plastic rails it is not often that I need to change a net on these three tables yet the other two do have problems with the metal rails splitting nets .
I will be advising a new set of rails for the other two tables on the next re-cover .

Leathers though do take some hammer , and require more attention than nets .
this table above with new leathers  is the most used and I am always changing the leathers on this table more so than any of the other 4 tables in the club .
I have been putting some tape padding on the brass pocket plate under the leather to try and make them last a bit longer before splitting but it is just more use on this table than any other that wears them out quicker .
once a leather has split and the brass edge is showing they damage the balls , and with good balls starting at around £120 per set you do not want to have to have the extra cost of replacement of Balls every year .
Ivan who now looks after the tables and took over from Alan , is doing a very good job of keeping the tables clean , and reports of any leather or net wear so that it is taken care of at re-cover or re-stretch time and not left to damage balls .
In fact the Ivanhoe club has always looked after their tables , and is one of the top clubs that I visit that the tables are not covered in dust and the nap fluff balling up through lack of maintenance .
out of the hundreds of Clubs that I visit , and I rate the Ivanhoe in the top ten for looking after their tables , and the snooker players of Ashby and surrounding district would be troubled to find a better club or venue to play snooker .

all 5 tables re-stretched bed cloths and ready to play
Where would you find a social club with 5 tables like these to play on .
all Riley Imperial tables and  2 inch thick welsh slated tables with modern Aristocrat wood cushions .
and high comfy padded seating around the room ,and modern High frequency white lighting .
anyone interested in joining this club call 01530 412438 . it is based just behind the car wash on Wilfreds Place LE65 2GW
it is Ashby de la zouch’s best kept secret !

Just got back from a two day job leaving Nottingham to High Wycombe to dismantle a full size Karnehm and Hillman snooker table .
at the same time as dismantle to save time on the install , we stripped and re-covered the cushion cloth .

the table was advertised on our website by Keya , who required the room for other purpose  .
as you can see the cloth was faded and the table did require a re-cover in Strachan 6811 tournament 30 oz cloth .
also the leathers where loose and Ben who had bought the table decided to also have new nets and leathers fitted .
Steve set off from Lincoln at 5 am to come over to me at Nottingham , We left Long Eaton near Nottingham at 6.30 am and arrived in High Wycombe around 9am .
we stripped the table down and re-covered the cushions at this stage as we find this saves valuable time on the install .
then we loaded the dismantled full size snooker table onto our van . we left High Wycombe at 12 o’clock midday .

As you can see a stripped down table fits nicely into our van and is well within the weight limits of this van loaded with two people and tools .

when we arrived in Littlehampton on the south coast around 2.15 pm in the afternoon , Ben was going to supply 4 men to help lift each slate upstairs at around 3 to 3.30pm .
but he mentioned as we arrived that he had a disabled lift installed but it had a weight limit of 250kg , now these modern slates made in italy are not the normal 2 inch thick Welsh type weighing 200kg each , but only Italian  1.3/4 inch thick and weigh in at 170kg , I worked out that because Ben was the lightest person there at around 65 to 70kg  if he could hold the slate off the sides , and keep his hand on the up lift button then we could use the lift , and myself and Steve would load and unload them off the lift .
as you can see the lift worked out the best way to get all 5 slates upstairs without the need for the extra 4 men to come over .

as you can see 4 slates on the frame and one to go . Steve posing in this shot .

all five slates on the table is level and we attend to slate joints all by 4.30 pm .

Bed cloth is laid onto table and is ready to tack on by 5 pm , the cloth of choice the highly used in the billiard industry is the UK made Strachan 6811 Tournament 30 oz cloth .

Bed cloth on and we retire for the day to our overnight Hotel just 3 mile up the road .
we did well to get this far on day one , I was aiming just to get the slates on , the table level and slate joints filled and sanded ready for fitting of the bed cloth the next morning .
We managed to get the bed cloth fitted and three of the pocket nets and leathers changed , to put us a head of the game for the next days work .
the finished table , and all by 11am the next Day , with new nets leathers and rail straps fitted .
we left at 11am and was back in Nottingham by 2.35pm , which enabled Steve to be back in Lincoln by 4pm .
Ben had also purchased some long extending rests and cues , 2 cross rests and a spider bridge rest , a new set of Tournament Champion balls .
new lighting two wall cue racks , and he is buying a Dowsing UK made table  iron and a good quality pure bristle  Peradon table brush , plus a
Peradon fitted black table cover .

as you can see the table came out well and suits this modern room  , from a badly faded cloth to a brand new re-cover and new leathers and nets

I like these Karnehm and Hillman tables , they are what I call a no nonsense table easy to work on , and they have been manufactured using good quality wood and hand floated slates .
I am moving a 10 foot version of this on the 28th of this month from Maidstone in Kent to Worcestershire for another client  , in fact I move a lot of these types of tables .
they made them in their thousands during the 1980’s to 1990’s before closing down , a shame really as they where very good at manufacturing tables .
all though  this one was a Square legged version they also made them in turned leg and carved tulip design called the Buckingham model .
some people prefer the clean lines of the square legged version and they do not collect dust like a turned leg one could .

just for comparison

A Buckingham tulip design carved leg with side scrolls and the plain turned leg without scrolls
As you can see they had the same design cushions with buttons and Italian slate , so when people say they have a better table just because it has turned legs amuses me .
they all play the same as the upper half is the same .
the only difference is the lower half of the leg and the scrolls added each side of the leg .
in fact straight square legs are more sturdy made tables having no dowels to turn leg and upper leg block to become loose .
we are Extremely grateful to our client Ben , who looked after us well as booking the Hotel with meals and providing us with drinks all day , and the use of his newly installed lift which made life a bit more easier for us not having to carry the slate upstairs .

It amazes me that only a few years ago the Billiard and snooker  industry looked like it was going pear shaped and work was hard to come by .
in fact I was put on a three day week in my last employers charge around 7 years ago .
And was often reminded by this employer that work was hard to come by and that I would find it very hard to establish a successful business in the billiard snooker and pool table maintenance industry .

I would have agreed with him at that time as we where experiencing a down turn in work , but something inside me kept telling me to carry on and try it  for myself , I was not going to waste nearly 36 years of Time served Billiard fitters Experience .
I started GCL billiards 6 years ago now and with each year the bookings have increased , Pool is very popular and snooker is now fighting back in popularity .

many Qualified Billiard fitters have retired or left he industry in the down fall of work without training new blood up , it is hard to keep young people interested in work when all they want to do is play on their i phones all day   , this makes finding a billiard fitter with free time almost an impossible task .

And at GCL billiards we are currently looking at November the 13th as our next free time to take in work , I have the first week and the last week of November already booked out .
with the rest of September and all of October booked out there is no free time to fit anything in now .
I am sorry for any inconvenience to future clients wishing to use GCL Billiards as their choice to carry out work on their cue sports table .
Some people seem to think I just do not want the work and one lady left me a bad feedback on google because I could not fit her in which I found most unfair , but it is a case of I simply cannot let people down who have booked me to do work to let someone in early or jump the waiting list so to speak .
I do work the occasional weekend Saturday , but I also have commitments on some of these Saturdays .
Please by all means continue to inquire about my availability , but be prepared to have to wait a few weeks to get a free slot , unless I have a cancellation which is very rare .
below a few photo’s of what we actually do .

sometimes we find ways of making lifting slates that much easier .

the other alternative is by hard graft

we get some people asking for other coloured cloth such as this upstairs install .

or printed designs on cloth , this is butlins skegness .

now and again we get asked to open up pocket openings and if possible do it without recovering the cushions .

or to template size such as this opening on a set of Burroughs and watts steel cushions .
carried out at the same time as a re-cover .

We are also a specialist in table removal transport and re-erect ,do not trust this type of work to a man and a van

from fitting new rubber to cushions and shaping curve and undercut

setting table up in the correct position .

Even american pool tables are no bother to our experience of  a vast range of table designs

to exquisite Billiard rooms

to large snooker clubs

and UK pool tables .

I have just completed a return to St Johns snooker club in Bloxwich in the west midlands .
I first did this clubs tables in August 2015 and they asked me for a better cloth to play on , at the time Strachan had brought out a lightweight 29 oz version of it’s popular Tournament cloth
which they do in three weights , 32 oz thick and slow but lasts longer , 30 oz the normal grade that is a happy medium of faster cloth but yet still retaining good wear qualities , and 29oz , shaved nap a little closer for speed , and OK for use in clubs that get moderate wear such as St Johns .
I do have problems getting hold of this 29 oz cloth , Strachan had problems with the weaving and shaving machine in Stroud where they manufacture the cloth .
Lucky for us most choose the 30 oz for more use .
but at St Johns they where delighted with the speed of the tables using this 29 oz version and asked for it again .
it took me around 8 weeks to source it through Peradon’s but I finally got hold of a few bed cloths .
I use 30 oz on the cushions with this 29 oz as so not to disturb the Cloth retaining thickness and give the cushions some extra wear nap .

St johns first table though the door with cloth off showing the 1 inch thick slates .
these tables are upstairs and all three tables have thin slates , I guess they did not wish to carry full thickness slates upstairs .
when the firm who supplied the table sold them to St johns Church snooker club .

checking level on the tables .

Far table completed and someone is polishing their balls in the back ground !

three tables at St johns the center table does not get much use so this was left this time .
The two outside  tables where the only ones getting a full recover in Strachan tournament 29 oz on bed and 30 oz on cushions .

After one of the clubs committee queried the cloth used as they looked on the Strachan web site and could not find Tournament 29oz , I have visited the Strachan web site and it states they do a 29 oz club cloth but no 29 oz tournament , I can assure the club and the two people who where their the two blue lines running through the side of the cloth and the embroidered Tournament stitched into the cloth , proved they do make tournament in 29 oz .
I do not supply club cloth and never will as there is very little cost to be saved on a full size recover if you use Club cloth maybe around £20 per table .
I value my reputation and my clients trust me to use the best so I order only tournament cloth and never use Club cloth on Snooker tables .
UNLESS a client asks for it , then I have to order it in as I never keep it in stock .
I will be contacting Strachan to see if they have made a mistake in their listing of the 29 oz and they should have stated tournament and not club .
Peradon list it as lightweight tournament and not 29oz .

2nd Table ready for play .

I got myself into some trouble the other month , when I was asked to quote for a small dining billiard table .
the lady in question was asking my availability and cost quote in renovating the playing area of a 6ft Riley dining billiard table .
I went into great detail of informing the future client that cost was the same labour rate as  a full size snooker table .
only the materials used which would be around 1/3rd  of the price was the only saving on price .
I also pointed out I was not available for another 8 weeks !
this promted my future client to leave me an unnecessary bad feedback on my yell saying I was rude to her ? ( yellow pages ) which I had removed as it was totally untrue in what she was making out that I had stated to her , I still have the emails sent and received to prove this .
I gave her a full break down of what it would cost and stated many fitters would not work on these table and avoid them , I take them on now and again but not in great numbers , but I did admit that I would rather work on 9ft to full size tables and had stated this on my web site in the past and was there for all to read ,  these small tables where very fiddly to work on and can cause problems . But I could still do the work but not for another 8 weeks .
Just to show what sort of problems these small tables throw at you , here is an example that I am working on at the moment .

rock hard crumbling rubber on this 7ft version , old 5/8th flat laminated rubber circa 1910 to 1920 .
I would have to remove the rubber and rebate the block to take 5/8th by 5/8th L shape rubber which would give a much better bounce .

as you can see it does not fall off , it was stuck on with animal glue and took me 4 hours to get all 6 cushions stripped of the old rubber alone .

my method of removing the old rock hard crumbling laminated rubber , and inch at a time taking care not to damage the rebate of the wood block .
I did try steaming them to try and soften the glue this made it worse so gave up and went back to  levering them off 1 inch at a time .

the rebate cleaned up , this is OK for the depth of the 5/8th by 1/4 inch  rubber but not the height of the rebate , so I had to hand plane each cushion .
I had to take off another 1/4 of an inch from the shelf of this rebate to fit the new L shape rubber .
also some nails where in the way and had to be removed otherwise it would ruin my rebate plane .

with the rebate taken down a bit more , this made sure the new 5/8th L shape rubber had a good shelf to sit on before glueing into place .

and because I had to remove some nails in the block , I made sure the block was secured back against the main body of the cushion by screwing them on .
if you have loose blocks then the slip that secures the cushion cloth will be loose and the cloth will come out .

the new rubber fitted and the corner angle shaped and undercut .

the middle angle shaped and undercut , the cushion is now ready for recovering .
this whole process with me going up to chesterfield to strip  the table down and bring the cushions in , stripping the old rubber of the blocks repairing preparing the rebate , and fitting the new rubber has taken two days so far .
in that time I  could have re-rubber and re-covered plus fit nets and leathers to a full size table .
I still have another days work fitting bag nets and leathers , fitting the bed cloth with traveling back up to chesterfield , and fitting the very poor condition raise and fall lifters , which had to be welded to repair them . I will post more photo’s when I finish the table .
this is the second riley diner that I have renovated for this client , his first was a 5ft version which he was sold as a 6ft from an Ebay seller , he went out and bought the 7ft because of that mistake , but if anyone wants a nice 5ft version then get in touch and I will pass on your details to the Chesterfield client .
This was what I was trying to explain why fitters do not like working on such small tables , they can take a lot of valuable time away from our main work on 9ft to full size snooker tables .
we actually  lose a whole day on these small tables if the condition is like this .
so you can see why I only do one now and again . unless of course it is in excellent condition and just requires a re-cover , then no problem , but get one like this 7ft crumbling hard rubber type and your in for a long hard job to rectify it .

Today I have been over to Burton on Trent to re-cover a full size snooker table .
I have worked on this table a few times in the past , the last time in 2010 I re-rubbered the table .

the table when I arrived was in very good order , many working men’s clubs would have got at least another 2 years out of the cloth that was coming off .
but this club likes to keep the standards up to as new for it’s members  .
the table only really gets played on one night a week !
The table is circa 1910 having rigidus frame leg spacing’s , where the centre legs are closer together , this is because the ridgidus design relies on cross members along each slate joint rather than the normal munting slate supports found on other manufacturers tables.

photo of cushions freeze removed sometimes we call these capping’s , to reveal steel plates , that many call Steel block cushions .

A close up of the steel plate with the name Burroughs and watts Soho Square London .

cushion covered showing middle angle

Bed cloth going on , the cloth of choice being Strachan 6811 tournament 30 oz .
some people call this 6811 gold tournament  .

the printed transfer every 10ft off the roll .

two blue lines and woven gold lettering of 6811 tournament down the length of one side of the cloth
ask the fitter  to see this and the transfer if you have been promised 6811 gold tournament 30 oz .
6811 30 oz tournament is the most used cloth in the industry .

the finished table , if you are wondering who the two Gentlemen in the large paintings are the one on the left is Micheal  Arthur Bass ( 1st lord of Burton ) 1837 to 1909 , and the one on the right is his father Thomas Bass 1799 to 1884 as you may have worked out the owners of Bass Brewery the main employers in Burton on Trent .
there are not many of these Professional Gentleman’s clubs around anymore , not sure on the rules of membership , but in the old days you would have had to be a man of outstanding position and standing to even be considered for membership .
it is still a Men only membership club !
I thought people would be interested in some of my more unusual places of work , this is one such place that is for sure,  heaped in history and tradition .
Many a game of billiards and Life pool would have been played in this club in Victorian and early Edwardian times, over a cigar and a glass of port while discussing business .
they still serve luncheons and the dining table was set when I arrived just in case someone called in for business lunch with cook on standby , but today the place was not used .

We have a another new local site we are supplying  a Brand New 7ft  coin operated Supreme winner installed this Saturday .

I was called out to try and rectify a warped slate on a table which was heavily packed underneath the slate with Beer mats by the previous fitter in an attempt to level it ., and after explaining the cost of S/H and new tables my client became interested in Renting a Brand New table as their current table was over 10 years old and showing it’s age .

a typical bodge is to pack under slate with beer mats , I have a much better way of rectifying dipped slates .
We went through what a second hand one would cost or a Brand New one , then I explained about our Rental offers which include two re-covers a year at Winter and summer league starts  and new set of balls and cues and chalk every year .
They will now pay  a rental of £18.50p or £80 per month and every bit of maintenance is included including a re-cover every 6 months in better quality Strachan 6811 cloth .
They where paying £400 a year for two re-covers from the other firm and still playing on table that was showing it’s age at over 10 years old .
the pool team had started to moan about the table .
The Rental Supreme Winner in Black pearl table would be brand new latest edition  , I also explained that after taking into account what he was paying another firm for his table to be recovered twice a year in Club cloth , We would re-cover in a better quality Strachan 6811 tournament cloth  and a new set of balls and full maintenance of coin operation , nothing to pay extra after taking into account putting it against their tax bill as an expense to the business and the tax relief it was easy to see the deal suited them .
I suggested they advertise their table which had only just been re-covered , Which I believe they sold very quickly , and have now arranged for the New table to be installed this Saturday .

Two of our Rental supreme winners in Black pearl  tables that where installed at a local Stapleford pub .

there are a few differences from an old table that have been improved upon on the latest models , for example the slotted new ball rails means less of jump back out of pocket falls that you used to get with the old ball rails .

an older type ball rail of the Supreme winner , it is possible to have new rails fitted to old tables though .

also the latest editions have solid cast metal chrome corners , you can tell the difference from the older plastic chrome corners this metal one has raised lettering .
and thinner slimmer alloy trim behind the cushions .

The older plastic ones eventually lose the chrome plating and you can see the Supreme writing is sunken into the plastic and has no raised letters .
you may notice that the old ones can sometimes have black plastic trims just behind the cushions which break easy and the table always looks a mess , the later ones have alloy trims .
My client was very lucky that I had a spare Brand new one in stock , there is a 6 to 8 week waiting time for new tables to come out of the Factory , my next batch are due in on 31st of August .
I buy my Supreme winner 7ft coin op tables in pairs and they normally get installed within a few weeks of coming into stock as rental tables .
we are expanding our local sites as we go along steady and slowly increasing our superb two re-cover rental solution to pub landlords .
the word is getting out around the local pubs and clubs and we have new clients monthly inquiring about our pool table rental terms .
At GCL billiards we are a Maintenance company for Full size snooker table / American Pool tables / and UK pool tables .
I am aiming to set a limit on the amount of Rental tables we can operate along side our Cue sports table repair business .

We are slowly getting towards just over half way to our target of 40 local tables out on rental contracts .
May I point point out we are fully cue sports maintenance only table fitters , and do not operate gaming machines or football tables , therefore you have our 100% concentration on maintaining your Pool table and not sidelined to repair other types of amusement machines .
You have to ask yourself when looking for a pool table rental company , Would you want a one arm bandit mechanic to work on your pool or snooker table or a fully qualified time served Billiards fitter with over 40 years experience maintain it ?

our standards are that much better than the one arm Bandit fitter .