Category Archives: News

I have just dismantled this very nice oak ornate table in Dorsett.
the table is stored in it’s own lock up trailer in dry conditions so could be picked up by a van and two strong men who know how to handle snooker slates .
the woodwork is bubble wrapped .

as you can see this a very desirable looking table , the cloth is almost as new and hardly played on
there is a couple of marks and chips on the legs , cussed by x rest falling on them or maybe a vacuum cleaner rubbing against them ?
But nothing to worry about and could be touched up with a bit of stain .

the table comes with Iron and Brush balls cues rests , cue rack and triangle , plus shade , on packing the lead was not there to the iron though so a new iron lead will be required .

the Smith and Nelson plate , this was the firm who renovated the table , I think this table is a Burroughs and watts table .
beveled slide in panels would have prevented a name plate being put on the cushion.

good thick 2 inch Slates coming off Frame

Scoreboard is also included , this table is ready to be picked up from backing up to storage container and loading .
I recommend a trolley though and a ramp to get the slates to a parked up van about 10 feet away .

Please be aware the collection and delivery plus erection of this table is not included in the price , please contact Geoff for costing of this by email to GCL billiards
Email and telephone number details in our contact section details .

Today I have been over to two tables one was a pool table based in roller world in Derby ,
and the other was fitting a set of upgraded second hand cushions to the cue ball club which just happened to be underneath roller world.

The supreme  winner at roller world had  a few problems with level
This was down to the last cloth being fitted underneath the slate on the edge and packing with beer mats
the main problem with these type of tables is people sitting on them , this results in sagging cabinet
We have a simple solution to fix this

If you look closely you will see that I have stapled two strips of cloth on the inner slate support , this was done both sides ( Click on photo to enlarge)
this lifts and supports the center of the slate and helps to eliminate the sagging slate and out of level effect this can have
we also clean out the entire inner of the table and wash down the ball runs of grease and sweat and dust build up , close attention is also given to the ball release system and workings to make sure they are working correct and clean .
a clean inner workings helps to keep the balls running freely , GCL billiards do a thorough job of getting your table playing correct and level using best quality cloth

the finished table checked and adjusted for level , recovered in Strachan branded 6811 pool cloth .

My second job of the day was to go around the corner and visit Cue Ball club which is just underneath roller world where I re-covered the pool table .
Cue ball has been running under different names for many years and the tables where bought in the 1980s
I gave some advice when the recent management took over about three years ago , and that was to change the cushions over to better standard ones made much more stiffer and out of good Mahogany .
The chance came to replace the cushions when another snooker club closed down and around 11 sets of Riley mahogany cushions and pocket plates came up for low money .
The photo above is the removal of the old cushions

The same table with those newer Riley cushions fitted , we also re-covered the cushions before we fitted them in Hainsworth Match cloth
the table had a recent re-cover just a couple of months ago so the bed cloth is as new .
We have around 10 more tables to upgrade , this will improve the tables vastly . and I am sure the members will notice this
Cue ball Derby has an on going improvement policy to improve the club in decor and equipment and this will put it above the average club who lets there premises stagnate
I am sure with this attitude , The Cue ball club Derby will be a very busy club for many years to come

We have come to the time of our 6 monthly re-covers of the three tables we have sited in Coventry
This venue is very unusual in that the pool tables are put to one side sometimes up to three days a week .
This is because the room they are sited in also doubles up as a  Rock Band venue from Friday to Sunday and sometime even Thursday evening.
But that does not stop the pool tables being used after each event as they are wheeled back out and re-leveled .

The three  tables before strip down , I have bought three sets of Brand new spare cushions for these tables only , this means we can swop over already re-covered cushions in around 45 minutes for all three tables
We then strip down the cushions when we are slack and get them ready for this venue in 6 months time when they will be ready for another re-cover in 6811 Strachan pool cloth .

all three tables getting the bed cloths ready to be glued to the edge of the slate

We use the top Branded Strachan 6811 pool cloth for our own rental contract pool tables unless the client wishes to use Strachan super pro speed cloth which we can offer as an alternative.

The three tables are ready for use and two people where on them in a flash , we fitted skirts or Ball racking cloths as some know them as , these protect the cloth from excess wear when racking the balls in the triangle

We installed these tables in this venue in Coventry 12 months ago , since then they have had two recovers every 6 months , this second re-cover they also had the New Aramith Premier ball sets too .
We always renew the balls at the 12 month rental renewal .
The tables also where vacuumed out and also all the ball tray and runners where washed down and de-greased.

On the way back up to Nottingham we also had a call out to re-cover a pool table in a Garden shed

the owner supplied his own cloth in the colours of his football team ( Birmingham city ) , he was also in the process of painting the cabinet of this super league White to match his Bar in the back ground .

Today I have been over to West Bridgeford Conservative club to re-cover table three .
I have a long standing relationship with this club and have been doing the re-covering of these tables for many years.
One thing that really stands out about these tables and that is , they are maintained to a high standard

There are three table’s that the club Brushes and irons several times a week to keep the speed of the table up .

Today table 3 had it’s every two year  re-cover done , all the tables now get re-covered every two years and stretched at 8 months
so each visit from now on will be one re-cover and one re-stretch and service the other table.

Many years ago with the old No 6 Strachan 360z  cloth the tables lasted many years , but in today’s thinner thickness of 6811 tournament cloth we advise every two years for a re-cover.
with many club’s local to this club closing down or reducing the tables numbers , the Conservative club is Nottingham East’s best kept secret .

Where have all the tables gone ?

The Embankment Club has just come down from 4 tables to just 1 table , and the local Rushcliffe arena are taking two tables out into storage for a new Arena to be built but that will take 2 years to build !
the local British legion closed down with two tables too , so the West Bridgeford Conservative club is the place to play Snooker , unless you want to walk into the center of Nottingham and play at the larger snooker club’s
Now I see many snooker venue’s around Nottingham and I must say this club really take care of their tables and it’s only £2 an hour to play ! But you have to join the club membership to play .

I am really busy again , it’s seems like it’s none stop , we have 2 tables to dismantle Bubble wrap and store , pool tables we have out on rental to re-cover , a large club in Derby has a substantial amount of work for me and so has another in Northampton
I also have to get a table ready for an exhibition for a visit by a professional  snooker player Ken Doherty at another local 5 table club .
add to this a large amount of small table work such as private houses with small snooker and pool tables to re-cover , a new client in the west midlands with two tables to re-cover out of three on site.
I also may have a Scotland visit just over the border in Kelso coming up in August ,
Yes we are really busy at the moment and long may this continue , years ago we used to get a lull in trade around summer time , but it has been constant for the last three years .
We are almost booked out to Mid August , we have dates available from mid August onward and all of September , But I am taking an holiday in October from 3rd to 12th .

We have been contacted to supply a pool table on free play for two weeks during the wheel chair open tennis championship.

http://www3.lta.org.uk/fans-major-events/British-Open-Wheelchair-Tennis-Championships/Home/

and also the following week for the Disabled and hard of hearing Tennis Championship also at Nottingham Tennis Center

http://www3.lta.org.uk/Tennis-Foundation/Tennis-for-Disabled-People/Hearing-Impaired-Tennis/World-Deaf-Tennis-Championships-2015/

We have supplied  a table we where taking out of one of our rental pub’s that was local , this table went straight into the The Nottingham Tennis Center direct from site and will be left there until the 26th of July when the second tournament finishes.
We put the coin op onto FREE play for these two weeks.

The table’s we hire out are Supreme Winner latest edition as used by leading pool tournaments.
If you require a pool table for long term hire and you are a Pub Landlord local to Nottingham and Derby where we operate our pool table hire , then please get in touch for our hire rates.
if you require a table local for a short period this can be a little expensive and as we have to pay for delivery and set up , and Dismantle removal and bring back into storage after the short term hire .
Long term hire starts from just £15 per week .
we only hire out short term if we have a table available from site ,sometimes they are all booked out , but please ask .

We have just dismantled two full size snooker tables at the embankment , one had been sold by the management , and the other was to be relocated in the basement sports room .
This was not an easy task as the stairs had a 180% bend half way down , we took two trolleys and 3 lifting straps for 6 men to lift the slate from the top of the stairs to the bottom .
The management supplied 4 strong builders who where already on site and who had themselves dismantled two of the 4 tables and scrapped them .
10 slates being out on the car park as we arrived .

Table no 2 Ready for dismantle with parts from other tables underneath that the builders took down .

Part dismantled , with the parts to the two scrapped 3 & 4 tables underneath , these where Nottingham made John Gent tables from circa 1900

Table fully dismantled and now taken away by Buyer , the table went for very little money . and what is left of the two other tables is scrap .

this was No 1 table it is now set back up in the Basement room , by GCL billiards . the table was made by E.J Riley and is a very common design made in their thousands over the years .

The old Snooker room , 4 tables that have been there for years , now top half of room is to be a cellar for beer and with new toilets,  and the area near the bar as a new Dining area .

The old Boots social club renamed the embankment has been frequented by many Billiard and Snooker players over the years , and I have personally been looking after the tables there for near on 35 years .
mainly for the firm I used to work for ,and for the last three years as GCL billiards .

I have been out to a Private house near Melton Mowbray today to dismantle a 9ft Titan snooker table
Our client bought the table Brand new 7 years ago and it has not been moved at all in that time.
The only reason it is being dismantled is because of a new Carpet going down and some plaster work to one wall .
Now I have seen some speed fitting cowboys in my time but lets just look at the photo’s to see what this fitter did wrong and what he missed out of the build .

All looks well from above during dismantle , this is a 5 section slate bed 9ft table by Titan of Liverpool and branded as a Titan table
I have worked on this design of table many times in 9ft and 10ft to full size table. I have seen identical tables from Riley and also imported chinese tables that look identical

Not long into the dismantle and I have found the first cowboy speed fitting attempt of stapled on cloth , Bed cloths on snooker tables should always be tacked on with 5/8th sized cloth tacks
note the screws sticking through the tack lining wood !

the reason those screws are showing through the wood of the tack lining  is because of the  very thin 3/8th inch thick board cladding wood used as a wood tack lining . tack linings are normally 5/8th by two inch .

cloth off and two slates removed and we find the most shocking part of this speed fitters work , NO CROSS MEMBER and NO center slate muntin’s

Looks like this fitter left the center cross member back at the warehouse , and just put the bolts in so the customer would not know the difference without looking upwards underneath he would never know.

All the slates off and you can now see the frame has no inner woodwork , this is very shoddy workmanship .

As an example this is a 8ft table with what should be in the center of the frame , a bolted in cross member and adjustable muntin’s
these support the slate and keep the frame solid and not rocking .
I would like to say I have never come across such shoddy work before , but I am afraid I have witnessed another table set up without these cross member’s or adjustable Muntin’s .
here is photo’s of that table that was set up without muntins but has the cross members  , also note it is the same type of table with those reeded legs

we are due to go back in a few weeks time to set the 9ft table back up. I will make a new center cross member and make new muntins plus fit 4 adjustable brackets .
Photo’s will follow when we carry this work out .
If you require quality workmanship when having a table set up without the risk parts deliberately missed out like this one or badly fitted slate tack linings and stapled on cloth,
as I say to all my clients and to the fitters who complete such shoddy work the Camera never lies.
and if I see this shoddy work I will expose it .
I would also like to say one of the cushions was very loose and the customer was complaining of a dead cushion rebound . we will of course always hand torque up bolts after using drill driver .

Today I returned a set of cushions that I had spliced a bit of wood on one cushion end to repair a large piece that had come out from a previous re-cover by another firm and a large tack that forced it out .
This was a table that had seen some serious play over the years in an Army Officers mess .
The Oak orme and sons table had splintery wood that was really bad .
So after splicing in the new bit of oak , I decided to help them out by giving the cushion capping three coats of varnish FREE of charge while I had them in my workshop  , I would have had to touch up the new spliced bit of oak so decided to give all the cushions three coats to seal in the flaking oak wood work and stop splinters getting into trousers when rubbed on the side of the table.
Now the Finnish is not top class because if they required a total re-polish of the cushions it would have cost them around £300 extra so free is free and I am sure they appreciated the gesture of three coats of ronseal satin-coat varnish
I just Dark oak stained and used wire wool to fine sand the varnish between coats , the grain was very coarse and it did the trick and sealed in the woodwork.

the square spliced bit of oak inlaid into the top capping of the end cushion, the previous fitter had used a large tack to tack the cloth to the end of this capping and had split the wood , I use very fine staples which do not damage the woodwork

this officers mess has two tables , the second one also requires a re-cover which I hope to get the work for later on if they like the work that I did to this table.

although I was working to a tight budget for this table , I managed to squeeze into the work a new set of leathers
The varnished wood is not my usual top quality re-polish but I only did this to seal the wood in and help them out , I had other work on so three quick coats of ronseal satin coat was all the time I could give to this job for FREE.

all set up level and ready for play