Category Archives: News

We had a job on the other week where a table had been set up and the slates banged on top of the frame by removal men
My task was to go over and level the table and fit the original bed cloth and put back together ready for play by my clients children
they did not require a re-cover due to the fact that children where going to be the main players of the 9ft table.

this was how I found the table , so I started to try and level it .

on the baulk end of the table the end slate had a diagonal crack that had been badly repaired , there was a high ridge in the slate on this crack .

the repair that the last firm did from the side of the slate , not very good

we also found that the slates where odd slates , one was thicker than the other , I had to pack under one slate to bring it upto the same level as the next slate then filled the joint in .
they had taken out the brass connecting dowels that are set inside each slate joint , and they had just tried to blend them in , but not to a good standard with another ridge in the slate at the joint .

the table has been levelled , the crack filled and blended in and also the slate joints .

if you thought the slate was bad look at the state of the bed cloth

the table now finished with the cushions back on , and I must say I surprised myself that it went back together not only ok , but pretty good for level too .
the room is a children’s play area , and although the adults will play the odd game this table was for children’s use , so they did not want to go to the expense of a new cloth at this stage

 

 

here are just a few we have up for sale or sometimes for Free

 

Please visit the Dyfi Osprey Project web site for more information
link is through my Face book page to GCL billiards click here https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1527780690860923&id=1460828534222806

Today I have been over to Chilwell in Nottingham to one of our pool table rental sites
The Chequers at Chilwell High Road have one of our brand new Supreme winner 7×4 pool tables in for 6 months and is now on a two re-cover per year contract.

The manager ( Daz ) used to have us supply two tables in his old pub in Stapleford so when he took over the Chequers Inn at Chilwell he of course asked for us to supply him a brand new Supreme winner pool table

The pool room at the Chequers Inn is used for the many finals for the Beeston and west notts area pool league .
They regard this table as one of the best in the league and many ask for finals to be played on it .
Darren or Daz as I know him does keep this table in very good playing condition with regular brushing and Ironing .
this is one of the main reasons they like this table for finals , and also the professional re-covering of GCL billiards in quality Strachan cloth .

Like all my pool tbale recovers this pool table gets the full works of cleaned off slate bed before glueing up
full vacuum out of cabinet and rails plus washing down all ball runs and side tray .

every staple is taken out of the cushions , most pool tables I have worked on have just had the cushions re-covered over old staples or even swapped over for old cushions by speed fitters ,
at GCL billiards we do the job correct and take our time to get it playing correct .
you will not find us swapping over new cushions that have only been on this table with old cushions that could be upto 12 years old . or leaving old staples in and just covering over to save time.
by re-covering the original set and refitting the players will appreciate that the good bounce is still retained , this is what they are used to
many tables having swapped over cushions , have problems with cushion bounce and pool teams complaining , this will not happen if GCL billiards re-cover your table .

The finished table , re-covered in best West of England Strachan 6811 30 oz Tournament cloth .
checked and adjusted for level ready for a final being played on it tonight .
it takes approximately 2 to 3 hours to re-cover  a pool table properly , speed fitters do it in half the time by cutting corners .
if you own your own table and require Quality recovering work then contact Geoff at GCL billiards .
Or you may be interested in Renting a pool table on contract hire , these can be on an initial 12 month contract then renewable every 6 months if you take out the 2 re-covers per year option .
We only rent pool tables local to Nottingham and Derby , but we do have a few just outside our area .
We find we can offer  a better service if we keep local , and we are very confident  you will not find any Pool table rental operator offering such quality workmanship and values as GCL billiards does.

we clean the ball runs of all dust and grime , note on this table ( Not Chequers Inn table ) there is a stapled strip of cloth under the slate on top of the wood edge , this is how I adjust the slate if bowed .

and we level the table to a high degree of accuracy .
most pool tables level very well by just turning the leg feet to adjust the height
but some can require packing between slate and carcase if they have been sat on , we try to minimize this to very few points , if you pack too much under the slate you will distort the top frame and the cushions will rattle .

we do not like to see packing like this under the slate it is not good for any table
Sitting on a table can cause damage to the carcase so please avoid sitting on the pool tables .

On my way back from Northamptonshire today , I called in to fit a cloth to a Home play pool diner table
I started this  5 weeks ago but the cloth supplier who supplied the cloth direct to my client sent the wrong sized cloth so I could only re-cover the cushions and not fit the too short bed cloth that they sent the first time round .
this bed cloth was custom made with a Jack Daniels logo imprinted into it .
it took 5 weeks to get them to send the correct sized cloth , this is one reason I do not like fitting certain brands of cloth with custom logo’s
My prefered make is Strachan superpro speed cloth with screen print logo and background pattern cloth , like what we fit at Butlins on their American 9ft nine ball pool tables .
This is the table that I completed today

The cloth was Hainsworth Smart cloth in Black , the printed design felt a little raised to me but the balls seem to roll ok on it .
my client wanted to replace the speed cloth to a more slower paced cloth and he is very happy with the result .
With superpro strachan speed cloth you can get a much more vibrant design like these Budweiser logos with background  water droplet pattern

We have been over to a large snooker club in Wellingborough in Northamptonshire
our work load for this particular club is three full size snooker table recovers and 5 Supreme pool table recovers all in Strachan 6811 tournament Cloth 30 oz .

my first photo shows a very loose cloth that had been stapled on by the previous firm , note the balloon of loose cloth on this centre slate fall

Loose cloth is a high risk for torn cloths by the cloth rucking up in front of the cue stab movement when following through on a shot
This cloth and other tables int his Establishment has seen a few of these Sewn up L shape torn cloths sewn up by the manager to keep them in play until I arrived to Re-cover them .
this is what you get when you go for low prices on Billiard fitters , low quality cloth and Cowboy fitting .

This cowboy stapled on the bed cloth loose , he just laid it on loose!
My price structure for fitting better cloth and fitting it correct was not much more so is it really cost effective to have these cost cutting fitters in ?

On one of the tables the Lazy fitter even stapled on the rubber that was coming unstuck no re-glue for him he was in a hurry .

I took the rubber completely off the block and re-glued it with contact adhesive , then set it back onto the block .
This cushions will now bounce to it’s full capacity . You get what you pay for with a  cowboy speed fitter he staples the rubber on and covers over quick so you cannot see what he has done !

this first table no 7 was in a very bad state from the cowboy fitters work it now looks and plays 100% better from it’s re-cover in Strachan 6811 tournament 30 oz cloth .
This is a big step forward for the club to retain the Custom , and have the tables fitted by a time served billiards fitter who cares about his reputation and also quality tournament Strachan cloth .

Tables 7 & 12 completed , I did table 12 two years ago and I stripped this down in double quick time it took twice as long to strip table 7 down from the cowboy fitters stapled on cloth .
and hanging off rubber , I also fitted two nets and two cushion retaining slips replaced .

and table 10 makes the third table completed in this room , this table also was in a sorry state from bad workmanship
it now plays 100% better .

I then moved up to the Pool table area .
this room is for Northampton county team members as well as Members  , it has 10 supreme winner 7×4 tables
These two where the first to get the re-covers again in Strachan 6811 tournament 30 oz cloth

The two blue embroidered lines with gold writing confirms this is good quality Strachan cloth

Strachan always put a white string tag on the edge of the cloth to show that a fault has been found on inspection , there are not many rolls without at least one or two faults in, and  this roll had two in .
this damage  is normally a white thread or speck that can be seen or a small cut or damaged area from the machine
when I am approaching this tag I will use that part of the cloth as cushion strips therefore minimising waste
I make sure that the bed cloths are free from faults , as should any fitter who has been trained properly .

Five of these 10 pool tables have been re-clothed and I have been asked to do another five around May time .
This is to keep the tables in tip top condition as fit for county pool .
next week I will be visiting the sister club in Northampton to re-cover two full size snooker tables .

We have an enquiry to day from a person in London who wishes to sell their almost new 6ft supreme winner pool table
the table is the very latest design and edition in Black pearl cabinet and Blue Strachan Club cloth . with genuine solid metal chrome corners with raised Supreme lettering .

This latest edition has the metal chrome corners and not the early chrome plastic type

this is the type of metal corner close up photo , be aware that early tables had plastic chrome corners and the chrome comes off these

the table also has the latest Green badge , I am informed it is an almost new table and they require £500 for it collected from London .
the table is in a basement so two strong people will be required to get the table loaded to your van or large estate car / people carrier .

this is what happens to the older type pocket plate , the table that is for sale is much better quality than the older tables .
also note it has black plastic cushion trim the latest version which is the type for sale has alloy trim a much better product .

We have today been over to Stapleford cue club
our task for the day was to replace one of newly installed  table’s cloth and upgrade it to a faster match cloth
and also re-cover another match tables cloth which was ready for a re-cover .

Stapleford Cue club have 4 pool tables and have recently purchased a brand new Supreme winner 7 x 4  in oak which had Strachan thick club cloth on it and was slow

our work today was to re-cover two pool tables in Strachan 6811 tournament cloth

it gets very dusty when you take off the bed cloths

The bed cloths glued and outer edge of the slate also glued with contact adhesive , we do not use low quality spray on glue
we put the glue where it is supposed to be , not all over the place like some fitters do .

the finished tables

Close up of the No 1 table

Both tables re-covered and level and also inside of cabinets cleaned out ,
the lads are looking forward to playing their pool match on monday evening .