Category Archives: News

NOW SOLD

We have a table for sale from a client , now this table has steel cushions on it , and it is a Riley Table , but it has one small slate chip underneath on one joint , I have been informed this does not go right through the thickness and the top is not damaged , but it may mean one bolt fastener may not be available to use , making 5 bolts on that cushion rather than 6 .
also the slate muntin’s ( Slate bearers ) are not adjustable , which I would recommend on r the next set up that they have adjustable brackets fitted , this makes for a much more stable table leveling .
So the asking price has been drastically dropped from £3000 to £1600 .
The steel cushions alone are worth the asking price .

here are a few photos , for someone not bothered about one bolt missing and that may not be the case yet , who ever is used to dismantle and set up can make that assessment at that time , it could be a BARGAIN BUY , LOOK UP WHAT A RILEY STEEL CUSHION ARISTOCRAT IS BRAND NEW TODAY ?
I could source another set of slates from another table but these are not owned by the seller .
Price is for the table as it stands on site with all accessories , it does not include any dismantle loading transporting and setting back up , or the extra work of fitting 6 adjustable muntin brackets .
or the repair or replacement exchange of slates if required .

Now look at this chip of slate , it could be that the fitters dropped it on the corner edge as they placed it on the frame , it could be from overtightening of a slate cushion bolt , this could be cemented back together and the slate repaired on this underside piece , and it will not effect the top playing surface if it has not travelled the full thickness of the almost 2 inch thick slate slab .
It could be an easy fix and all 6 bolts be ok , at worse it could be only 5 bolts on that side cushion , if you are fussy then the cost of a second hand set of Italian slates ardessio biggio type is required .
But seen much worse than this on a table , mainly due to rough handling of a fitters not fit to do the work.
You can only look at any slate defect once the cloth is off .
You cannot go from this photo
But look at the price , I have seen these tables go for £5000 on the second hand market and none less than £3500 , my client is honorable seller and because he spotted this , has decided to take a lower offer because of the slate chipped out like this .
In my opinion , nothing a bit of Car body filler will rectify , seen much far worse repaired than this .

There are some manufactured slate bed pool tables that require a bit more equipment to do and with BAD DESIGN can cause a lot of extra time wasted out of my day working on them .
And require an extra set of hands on the job too …… resulting in two fitters on site to do one table .

I am at the age that I do not wish to have the headache of putting extra time in on a BAD DESIGN table when I can re-cloth two good design ones in the same amount of time .
or even a full size snooker table in the same time .

Some imported tables especially , not only from China but mainland Europe and Eastern Europe , and sold as designer tables , at some crazy prices .
Some having weird Z frame design , some are made from inferior materials and nailed on leather pockets .
I am not going to single out these types of tables , but if you want good advice on buying a pool table that you will not have any problem getting them re-clothed or maintained and are sold at reasonable prices .
and parts are ready at hands if you require them .
Then please ask my Advice .

I have been in this industry of maintaining and repairing re-clothing , re-rubbering logistics of tables for over 50 years , I have worked on early 1960’s ring pocket Reni Pierre’s and Rutigliani pool tables through the 70 /80s Super leagues and their copies and later 90s designs , I have worked from these small tables through to full size snooker tables , Bar Billiards / Bagatelle table re-cloths …and served a full Billiards fitters Apprenticeship at Elston & Hopkin Billiards ltd and Mick Robb at Belvoir billiards of Nottingham .

I look at some designs and think …they are going backwards in designs….. and I feel , I have because of my experience the right to speak out about what I will take on or will not .
I am not having them forced onto me to do .
I am about to contact one distributer in Bristol area to stop referring me for these types of tables to re-cloth .
I never asked them to do that and do not need any of that type of work .

And it is because of this I have decided at my age to not bother taking them on .
I have a few in my local area that I will do , but I am not going to do any more for other people .
So please do not be offended when I say send a photo of your table and I refuse to do it .

BUT I WILL refer other fitters that do do them .

Below just a few designer tables that I do not wish to get involved fitting or working on , but there are others , some even more often asked for .

We have a pub client looking to start a pool team up , and need a supreme winner or Prince mechanical coin operated pool table , Price paid will depend on model and year of manufacture ( AGE ) , and if cushions are good or bad , and cloth is in good or bad condition .
We are looking for tables around the £500 to £1000 price range , and tables from 2004 onwards .
Some features will inform me the age of the table , but looking at late twin red stripe badge / Green badge and black badge tables .
Top hinges need to be in good order and no warped top or dished slates .
Client prefers Winner shape over the Prince .
Cloth condition is not a problem , but I need to know if cushion bounce is past its best .
The players are pretty fussy about playing on really bad tables in this league .

We have a selling client who wishes to sell their very nice latest Rasson Strong II model , full size snooker table
which comes complete with accessories shown .
The table has the Rasson leveling system of steel rail and bolt pad adjustment .
Also the cushions are steel block type for that full match tournament table experience .
The table also has under pad heating system , which is thermostatic controlled and digital display on the end frame .
so you can keep the table playing up to Speed , PLAY JUST LIKE A PRO , with full professional table experience .
And at less than Half the price of Brand new ….AND THIS ONE LOOKS AS NEW .
Yes this table is prices as is on site ready to dismantle at just £5000 with all that you see in the photos .
They are £10950 new Discounted from £13k .
I would say from a round £1000 plus 50p per mile for a ground floor to ground floor install , some Billiards firms may charge more , it depends if vat registered or not . and if any overnight stop over is required due to distance .
GCL Billiards would be happy to quote for this work .
But you are free to choose any Billiards firm you wish to use , we do have a list of good fitters based around the country , so it may be more cost effective to have those do it .
GCL Billiards will be happy to work and discuss this with you the Buyer .
contact Geoff at GCL Billiards for more information .

Thermostat digital display for heater pads

Cues a plenty , plus rests and extenders for them , triangle brush and standard Aramith premier balls set .
+ cue rack

Black silk matt/ finish , with silver embellishments , Rasson black ball rails , and chrome hooks to match trims
A sleek contemporary modern look .
and form the photos in extremely good condition .
The only thing ,missing is a scoreboard . which can be an easy to get item anyway .

The fine tune levelling system is a strong steel girder beam and bolt pad fixing at points to level .

You can visit Rasson site for more information on the Rasson Strong Snooker table
they do have a RRP of just under £13000 , but can be bought for around £11000 new .
Rasson site and link tot he strong here

https://www.rasson.cn/strong2-snooker

We have had a very grateful donation of a billiard table from Nottingham , and the Charity Centre is delighted that we have found one for them .

We often get offered free full size tables , if we have someone who is willing to pay for collection and to deliver and set up we do go down that route first …if we have no one we then go to plan 2 which is recycle and there is a cost to that .

So I am pleased to say we do have one client who is a Charity adventure site based just below Birmingham , and they would be most grateful for a Donated FREE to collect full size snooker table with all its accessories , to put to good use .
They are willing to pay GCL Billiards for dismantle loading , delivery and unload and set up .
If you are in a situation where a loved one has passed and left a house with a full size table in , or about to move or sell a house and the table has to be out quick .
Then this is your chance to make that happen at no cost to yourself .

ALL WE ASK IS THE TABLE BE ON GROUND FLOOR , FOR COLLECTION AND IN GOOD CONDITION .
NO MULTI STEPS OR STAIRS PLEASE , one maybe two steps would be ok .

we have had them in the past , but no free tables at the moment to pass on to a good cause

https://gclbilliards.com/another-free-full-size-table-near-grantham-lincolnshire/

https://gclbilliards.com/offers-for-sale-square-leg-riley-square-leg-modern-cushions-and-pockets-wakefield-location/

https://gclbilliards.com/free-full-size-riley-snooker-table-in-leicester-upstairs-location-though-but-nice-table/

https://gclbilliards.com/urgent-free-full-size-snooker-table-in-derby-nottingham-border-close-to-m1-junction-25-must-go-by-end-of-june-or-middle-of-july-at-latest/

https://gclbilliards.com/free-full-size-riley-regis-snooker-table-house-sale-forces-a-give-away-and-there-is-more-givaways-too/

Above just a few that have been given away free
If you have anything like the above , please contact us , it is very hard to give tables away due to the cost of having one relocated , so to get someone ready to have one is a bonus .
and very rare to find someone to pay the removal and set up costs .

Contact Geoff Large on

c.large@btinternet.com

with photos and confirmation it is on Ground floor .

Trip over from Long Eaton to my Home raised and schooled Town of Beeston Nottingham .
To re-cloth in Strachan 6811 Tournament Cloth …Not as popular a club for Snooker these days .
More of an Entertainment club for weekend shows now .
But they do still wish to provide the facilities of Snooker & Pool and even Bar Billiards in this Social club
Re-clothed 5 years ago , now well due , we start to transform them over the coming year one at a time.
First up Table 1 , an old Billiard top plate table circa pre 1895 .
We will be visiting again around April / May time for the far table to be done .
And then at the end of the year for the middle table .
We may also be changing table one cushions to a more modern cushion and pockets .
As I do have a nice set of cushions taken from another table which will be a nice upgrade for them and cost effective once plugged and drilled to fit this table .

In Beeston we have seen closures of a few Clubs and places with Full Size snooker Tables since Mid 1970s , for instance these are the places that do not have Tables anymore or reduced them within the Beeston borough boundary , due to cost cutting or closed down and demolished

Beeston Billiard hall villa Street 10 full size tables gone . = Demolished for Flats
Plessey Club 4 Full size tables gone , Demolished for Houses
Fire Station one full size gone .. now a very large high rise STUDENT FLATS for Nottingham Uni . Nick named Little china due to how many Chinese students are at Nottingham and living in Beeston .
Beeston Fields Golf Club 2 full size gone , more of a Golf and Wedding Venue now
I think British legion has gone down to one table so one full size gone from there , still going JUST .
Ambulance station closed 10ft gone from here
Lenton Abbey Essoldo Beeston demolished 16 full size Tables gone
Conservative club three full size , down to two so one gone
Manchester unity club one full size gone .
Chilwell high road not in Beeston but just outside , but village hall has one full size gone too .

I may have missed some out as we had Beeston Boilers and other large firms in the area that may have had tables .

That’s 38 Full size snooker tables gone from Beeston in my time as a Billiards fitter .
( Not Counting all the private houses that had a full size snooker table like Beeston Fields Drive )

on the plus side , one of the Plessey Tables survived to Chilwell Golf Club
the 3rd table that came from Conservative club to a Private House in Beeston .

so I am happy that a club like the Victory Club in Beeston is doing something to maintain Snooker as a viable
sport in Beeston , even if on a budget …as they say Use it or Lose it .

A few photos of a table we set up for a client ( Gary ) and the work that we carried out on it .
We dismantled and collected this table for our client which he stored at his old house shed /Garage lock up , while his new build snooker room at his new house was being built .
We returned and Gary had polished up the table which was already in good condition having been restored by Burroughs and watts in 1959 .
We estimate that the table is circa 1920s , give or take 10 years each way .
We set the table back up , leveled the frame , and place the slates on and filled the joints , we then re-rubbered the steel cushions in best yellow dot Northern rubber .
We cut the pockets opening using the old B&SCC templates as a guide .
We then re-clothed the cushions in Hainsworth thicker smart cloth , thicker because they would wear out quick if we put match cloth on the cushions . Cushions take a lot of hammer for the balls so for longer life we and other billiard fitting firms always use the thicker alternative cloth on the cushions .
We put Hainsworth match cloth on the slate bed for speed .
and replaced the nets and leathers with Peradon UK quality nets and leathers , we put the nylon plastic rails on because metal rails rings wear out nets very quick , the plastic ring rails the nets last three times as long .
Have a look at the photos , for stage by stage install and fitting .

We left an end badge GCL Billiards for our client to fit if he wishes to the end cushion that does not have the Burroughs and watts plate on it . We would never fit a badge on without permission .

The Burroughs and watts plate fitted in 1959 we think , which is not the original steel vacuum plate badge .
as you can see was larger and has been filled in with a bit of oak insert .
The steel cushions had B59 stencilled on them which I have been informed was the last time it was re-rubbered and new blocks fitted .
Also the old rubber we took off was manufactured in 1958 as that had a date code of 58 FSM
Which means 1958 Full size moulded rubber .

Not sure what the 1123 stands for , but to the left is B&W = Burroughs & Watts
I – 58 we think January 1958 when the rubber was manufactured … FSM = full size Moulded .
And on the back of the steels was B59 = last refurbed 1959 in B&Watts workshops .

The table before Gary purchased it , in its own billiards Garden Room in a very large country house
installed here in 1959 . note old Burroughs and Watts Lighting .