Category Archives: News

Sorry to say but we are not available to contact this week
we do have regular work at Butlins in Skegness twice a year
and November is six american pool table renovation time
we will be back late Friday as we also have a full size snooker table to re-cover in chapel St leonards and an 8ft snooker table to install in Newark on the way back to Nottingham
we cannot be reached by phone due to the metal buildings we are working in , we have no phone signal .
same again for emails , we have no on line service available as it is shut down week at Butlins and we are off line .

Last years cloth design at Bultins hot shots was purple Budweiser

we visit Butlins twice a year in November for the american pool tables and then again around February time for the snooker tables in the Green Baize club

I have been over to a very local club to me about half a mile down the road .
A return booking to this club who have two tables
Re-cover of TABLE ONE  plus fit new set of nets , and re-stretch  bed cloth of TABLE TWO

Table ONE being prepared for a Game after the Re-cover

We have had an email that suggests that a firm is about to start trading in china useing gclbilliards.cn domain .
I tend just to ignore replying to these firms that are only trying to sell me the trade name domain .
GCL billiards do not trade in China or with any importing of Chinese goods Direct therefore we have no use for a CN domain name
But a firm could register in China and fool people World wide into thinking they are part of GCL billiards.com or .co.uk which I hold both domains to .
I suspect to start selling low cost cues and other billiard or snooker equipment or even tables with GCL Billiards brand name on them .
so if you do any trading with gclbilliards.cn it is not part of the UK firm GCL billiards .
which is Run by Geoff & Carol Large .
any other firm other than the proper gclbilliards.com useing GCL billiards as a trade name is a Scam so be warned .
GCL Billiards do not have their own brand or range of cues so if you see any they are not from us and where not supplied by GCL billiards UK .
but we may in the future bring out a range of cues , this is something I have been thinking about over the years but we are just too busy at the moment with maintaining our clients table’s which is the core of our business to bother with retailing cues and accessories .
as a UK firm we try and use as many UK made products as possible supplied by the UK registered firms of  Strachan branded cloth / Peradon  / and Hainsworth and Zuzo Happ .
there is some cross over in Chinese supplied parts but we try and look for other options before going down that route .
We are fully committed into supplying UK manufactured products and services made by UK workers putting money back into our own economy .
no cheap labour and no cheap goods .

This week I have been over to the Cotswold’s to dismantle a 9ft billiard table .
my instructions was to dismantle and store on site for an up and coming party celebration in that room , and at a later date to reinstall and maybe renovate the table with new rubber cloth and ball runner nets and rails .

this is a john Stevens table circa 1910
it has had  a modern set of Italian slates fitted at some time in the past and has a sage green cloth .
with bag nets .

from this end you may see that the half moon shape in the cushion has the original gold transfer of Stevens .
it has had a polished woodwork renovation at some time and they masked that area off to retain the transfer makers name .
Not a bad table but it has had some modifications , and the holes in the cushions are a bit hit and miss in alignment  to the new 1980’s slates , also the pockets are very tight and the rubber looks past its best , the limited edition sage green cloth is a cloth produced to look like it is aged from new .

I have been over to Bunny in Nottingham today to recover a full size E J Riley snooker table
I last visited this table around 1981 so it has been a long time since my return .
Bunny Mens Institute formed in 1909  is a small house like building built in the 18th century and is right on the entrance to the main church yard along side the almshouses .
outside or inside this is a very interesting old building the History you can read here

http://www.bunnyvillage.org.uk/almshouses.htm

My van parked outside this very old 18th century building which is on the main road A60 between Nottingham and Loughborough
I was told today it used to be a school of some sort , a very small school at that !

Very interesting Brick and stone work

the made in their thousands E J Riley turned leg club table .
with slide in panels where manufactured from around 1905 to 1960’s , this table was purchased in 1909 and is in very good order considering it’s age .

Who would like some character like these old Oak beams in their home
This is what makes this room so special .

the finished table with members ready to start play .
I did have a go at trying to level the table but I found that the slates had dished slightly
this can only be rectified by adjustable centre beams being fitted or the slate re-floating true.
I have suggested the fitting of adjustable centre beams which they are considering .
But I did even out the roll in from both sides of the table to just a couple of inches at it’s worst point /
A lot of people do not understand that you cannot level bowed or dished slates , you can only level true slates to a true level
if the slates are warped or dished there is no way a jacking up of frame  and toe pieces placed under the legs for normal leveling will get this table level .

This week I have been working local in chilwell Nottingham
my work involved setting up and re-cover of one Riley Tournament quality  match table Aristocrat
my client having bought this table from an advert on our web site .
The new cost of one of these tables from Riley today is whopping £14499.00p !

see here http://www.riley-snooker-international.com/site/view-table.php?category=1&table=4&section=overiew

my client paid considerably less for this table which apart from a few belt buckle scratches is in mint condition and as new and may i say a much better table than  a Star Chinese manufactured one .

the table has been leveled and is having it’s cushions re-covered in strachan 6811 tournament cloth
the slates have been filled and is setting hard ready for sanding in as one bed .

the slates have been lightly sanded and the table bed cloth is the next job on the list

the Strahcan Tournament 6811 30 oz grade ready to fit .

Bed cloth now fitted , Baulk line and D marked out and spotted then ironed , cushions are now the next job to fit .

all steel cushions are now on and ready to be aligned from the middle pockets outwards
These cushions are the type as used in all World Championships from the 1980’s onward’s .

The pocket openings  had been factory cut and measure 3.3/8ths at the fall , a very tight championship pocket as used by professionals .

once the steels have been set to correct pocket openings then the Wood frieze or capping as I call them can be fitted with the pocket plates nets and leathers

the corner pocket with capping fitted ready for play .

the table is now finished .

a set up of the balls and my client is ready for his first game , his son is turning up in 10 minutes time

this end cushions has a few scratches from belt buckle rash from previous owner , this will happen to a brand new table too , my client saved over £10.000 buying second hand but as you can see this table looks almost new .
you may notice that this room is a factory unit , the table is actually above my clients Work unit and will be his entertainment games room for the firms employees and Entertaining visiting clients .
plus his personal Man cave and family entertainment area,  as he lives just down the road .
along with this table there will be proper full size arcade Video game machines , a table tennis table , and a  brand new Supreme Prince 7×4 pool table that GCL billiards supplied and installed  .

The new Supreme prince 7×4 pool table along side it’s bigger brother the Riley Aristocrat Full size Snooker table .
I am on the look out for a Bar billiards table for my client too , this has to be one of the best equipped Games room / Man caves around it also has gym equipment and  it is double the size you are seeing as it is really two rooms in the roof space of this double factory unit .
the unit is fully Gas central heated and was very warm and thick insulated new roof also replacing old very thin insulated roof .
My client is plastering the far walls and putting a few barrier walls in the lower sections to separate the room a bit , a few pictures of sports themes are to go up yet and it will be a home from home .

Today I have been over to RAF Digby in Lincolnshire
the work today was to dismantle and relocate to an adjoining room one full size snooker table .
The RAF to supply two extra men to help slide the slates on and off .

the frame having been dismantled and moved to it’s new area going through the rough leveling
this table was moved upstairs about 3 years ago by another firm who had made a right bodge job of it , the inner fame work was fouling the slates
and this resulted in the slate rocking on the center frame cross members
I slid the centre legs down and inserted a bit of packing to higher the side edges to take the fouling problem away
and now the slates rest on the side frames without interference from the inner frame cross members .
a simple fix that an experienced fitter would have worked out just on the frame set up .
all sorts of wood packing came out of the frame when the slates where slid off in an attempt to make the table level they had bodged it .

the slates back on the frame and the fine level finished , the slate joints are then given two coats of car body filler and sanded flush .

the cloth laid back on ready for tacking and stretching , this cloth is a none branded low quality cloth that the previous firm had fitted , today it was just a table move with no re-cover so it had to go back on .

the table in it’s new room level and ready for play

We have just completed 5 pool table recover’s at coopers in Wellingborough .
they have 10 tables here and have decided to have 5 of them recovered in Strachan 6811 cloth

The cushions are stripped of EVERY staple and recovered

slate bed also stripped cleaned and recovered .

all 10 tables viewed from top end of room

the tables are finished and clients are now playing on them .