Category Archives: News

I have to travel to Wales on Monday morning and will be staying over for a night so will not be able to look at the PC to answer any Emails until Wednesday the 20th of August  .
I am setting up a nice Burroughs and watts full size snooker table and also re-covering it in the best Strachan 6811 gold tournament 30 oz cloth , we always show our clients the stamp of the cloth on every fitting.
thus you can be confident that GCL Billiards do not fit lower quality cloths.
Unlike some re-covers we have come across in the past we value our Reputation more than a few extra £s profit from fitting lower quality cloths and charging for the high quality .
did you know there is only around £18 difference between the Gold  tournament and the Silver club cloth ! you can tell the difference

Today we have been collecting a Full size snooker table from Litchfield from a town house in the ground’s of Litchfield Cathedral .
I have worked on this table before when we first installed it in a house in the village of Somersal Herbert near Uttoxeter in 1987 for Mr smith who owned a very large Country timber framed Elizabethan  house that was built in 1564  . and we have moved the table a couple of time’s since then to other properties for Mr & Mrs Smith.
I was contacted by Mrs Lesley Smith to try and sell the table for her as Mr Smith had sadly passed away some years back .
After a Free advert was placed on GCL Billiards web site , we had one enquiry about the table , we passed on the details to Lesley,  and I am pleased to say the Buying client ( Adrian ) agreed to buy the table and may I say he got a very good deal and got the table at a ridicules  low price , which is all down to the current market for full size snooker tables of supply and demand , demand is low , and supply is flooded with second hand tables  .
The high prices for tables in the boom years of snooker which where the 1980’s are now a thing of the past , if time is on your side you may get a reasonable price if you require the table out quicker then expect any offers you can take.
and time was more important than price on this particular sale.
When we started to dismantle the table we found it had the 2.5 inch thick slates on which I forgot about , this table was modelled on a table used in a billiards championship in 1903 and is called the Roberts Table .
A name of the famous Billiard player of the Day .
Take a look at the following photo’s to see the quality of this fine billiard table made by Burroughs and watts around the turn of the Century circa 1903/1910

You may be mistaken that the second slate has a crack running through it , but this is just a marble grain running through the slate and is normal to see this on many tables we take apart
the upper photo’s are the table in the room at Litchfield and being dismantled . as you can see it has the upgraded Steel Block cushions , a new type of solid cushion invented in 1896 and patented by Burroughs and watts .
the slate is extremely thick and heavy , we had to trolley the five sections of slate to the 5 steps outside and slide them down on cardboard and plywood to the pavement as they where too thick for our custom made slate slide .

The van looking rather low on it’s suspension due to the extremely heavy slates , I can honestly say this is the thickest slate I have ever handled in nearly 40 years as a Billiards fitter.
the slates came from the door opening on the left of the first photo and down those steps , there where only two of us to manhandle these monster slates out of the building and onto the van , lucky for us the offer of an  extra pair of hands at the storage unloading part was most gratefully taken later on in the day .

One out one in , we unloaded the table at our storage partner’s premises , Jonhills Removals of Nottingham have nice Dry warm storage which is ideal for storing wooden items that may absorb moisture if not stored correctly
In fact next to the slates there is a Grand Piano in storage that has been here for around 4 years  , Jonills Removals are experts at dry storage of your prized possessions and that’s why we use them .
No damp low price premises for storing our clients tables . when we can just refer them to Jonhills Removals !
we do not aim to make any money from storage, the price you pay for storage is direct to jonhills with no middle men fees added.
We can also refer Jonills to any customer as good reliable household removers.
We had another table in storage for a client that is being delivered to south of London on Friday so took the opportunity of unloading this heavy monster of a table and then loading a more lightweight 2 inch Italian slated modern table on the van ready for Friday .
So a very productive Day for us a table brought into storage for a couple of months and one we have had in storage for 11 weeks being re-loaded onto the van ready for installation this Friday .
but I know my back is now going to suffer from lifting this heavy table , I have informed the new owner of just how heavy these slates are for just two men to handle , and I am happy to say he says he will provide a little extra help at the installing process in around 2 months time .

Above cartoon of how my arms felt today after lifting these heavy slates.

back pain is a common problem with billiards fitters , so it baffles me why snooker players sometimes suffer from it by just laying or bending over on the table , They should try lifting one then they will know what back pain is .
here is a link to snooker players who have stopped playing or even retired due to back pain http://www.worldsnooker.com/page/NewsArticles/0,,13165~3825629,00.html

 

 

 

 

Today I was at a club Re-covering two 7×4 supreme winner tables , in the same club there was a 9ft American Sam K steel pool table that was also being dismantled by another Firm From Birmingham by the sound of their accents .
the fitters arrived to take this table out just as I was gluing the slate beds of the two UK supreme pool tables .
One of the fitters started laughing and pointing at me saying I should be using spray on Glue , little did they know that the owner who was stood next to them  was not amused by this , as I had shown him the pitfalls of Gluing pool cloth on with spray on Glue many years ago and that’s why he use’s me to do his work  , he quickly shut the fitter up when he told them he did not like his tables being re-covered by fitters using spray on glue and also informed them that the fitter they where laughing at for using a comb to spread a contact adhesive glue on had nearly 40 year experience in  the trade as a fully time served Billiards fitter.
And here are my reason’s that I do not use spray on Glue for all you so called billiard fitters and pool table Re-covers out there .

Photo 1 , a typical spray on glue , note the build up of overspray , this overspray prevents a ball rolling true down the side cushions , in my opinion spray on Glue should not be used for re-covering , it is used in the factory when the table is new , but after this any re-covering should have combed on Contact adhesive .
Even from new , you can see a problem of overspray from this Factory first re-cover of Brand new slate when using spray on glue , unless you cover all the area’s you will get overspray .
Note the thick line around 6 inch down the slate going  across the slate , the ball was rolling off this , so we where asked to strip the table to find out what was under the cloth .take a look at how clean the table is inside on the ball rails , this table was less than a week on site from new .

Below , Here is a slate that I have started to clean the overspray off  , note the date 12 dec 2012 , again the ball was stopping on a slow shot into this pocket due to the bad over spraying of thick spray on glue that the fitter has no control over , by using a spreader the fitter puts the glue exactly where he wants it to go on the edge and on the upper part that is under the cushion and not in the play area of the table , no build up of glue to make the ball wander off , and no complaints about the table rolling off .

Now I could have made a scene and had a go back at these fitters , but I thought no , they are only saying this because they have not thought it out , and was most probably taught to re-cover pool tables with spray on Glue which is ok for Car Carpets or sound deadening but should not be used anywhere near the playing surface of a Cue sports table .
I used to buy cloth in a kit that came with a set of balls , a 7×4 bed and cushion kit , a triangle , 12 chalks  , a brush , a tin of cloth cleaner spray on type , and a tin of that spray on Glue .
I now have around 50 tins of spray on glue never used and in one box , if any of these fitters wants to buy these off me they can have at £2 a tin , Because it has no use for anything I do in the billiards / Snooker and pool trade. I only bought these kit because of the other items I could use like balls and brush , the cloth cleaner too . the spray on glue  was never used .
It is messy to use , it will not grab well and has been known for the cloth to become unstuck as the fitter is walking out the door . and I have seen some very nasty recover work by fitters who have got overspray not only on the slates playing surface but in the ball runners and inside the table , also all over the coin mech and tipping ball mechanisms .

this is how I do all my Pool table re-covers , Note no glue overspray !
glue is applied to edge of slate 1/2 inch on top and side edge but not on top of pocket opening .
it is also applied by hand comb spreader around pocket falls and under pocket falls .
Old cloth is put over the new cloth to protect it as we have to glue the underside of the cloth


and another example progress of work when gluing and finished table

we also clean out the tables we are working on , cleaning all grease and sweat muck wax off all moving parts and ball runs and side tray

cleaning a Super league tables ball runs , using a dish wash brush and plenty of washing up liquid and hot water .

this is what I was removing , idle Fitters who leave this to build up , all tables should be cleaned inside making sure all the balls are running smooth over the ball runs and side trays , when a ball rolls over this it picks up dirt and grease off these dirty ball rails , it then deposits the grease on cushion facings and other balls  and all over that nice new cloth you have just had fitted at great expense !

this is another bad example of spray on Glue !

and this is how I get rid of it , Acetone and elbow grease .

A clean set of ball runners under the slate , it appears that many fitters rely on the What the Eye cannot see
At GCL Billiards we do not leave anything to chance , we protect our reputation as a Firm that can carry out Re-covering on any Cue sports table in a proper manner , making sure the table performs to it’s best , next time you see a pool table fitter using spray on Glue point him to this Write up on my web site , I would like all fitters to see this .
and the moral of this story is ,

and Why do Fitter’s use this spray on Glue …..SPEED !…….. They want to do as many re-covers in a day and they are not too fussed in how they go about this .

so What is best for Gluing a cue sports table slate bed , Spray on Glue or Spread on contact adhesive ?

 

Last week we visited an Higher learning institution that has two snooker tables that had the old tin metal lighting canopy .
these had years of nicotine on the underside and very poor low quality low wattage lighting bulbs , it was like playing in a cave under candlelight !
I recovered these tables last year and was due to go back and re-stretch the bed cloths , so took the opportunity to also fit two new sets of lighting for them

. 
Before they had these 1980s alloy shades with nicotine stains on the underside .

using the original hanging wires that where on the old shades we had these new high frequency units up very quick , they where prewired in the workshop and mounted onto metal U channelling to make one 10ft twin unit .

The lighting is now a lot brighter to play under , the costing for these two tables came to £600 for two table’s fitted , so £300 per table for each complete double unit table light delivered and fitted .
I also repaired one small cut around 1 inch in one bed cloth . and then checked the levels .

 

We are re-visiting clients who 12 months ago had a re-cover from GCL billiards
We are now re-stretching the bed cloths and then checking the level of the table , last week we visited two private houses with different Snooker rooms .
The first was a Log Cabin in the garden  of one house .

An internal measurement of 29ft by 17ft makes this log cabin not just a games room or man cave but also a place to relax in .
It stretches from around 12ft to spare at the bottom of the Garden to just 1 metre from the house at the other end , they do have a bit more Garden to the left side of this photo above.

A huge log cabin which I was informed cost around £6000 flat packed including base , by the owner.

The middle internal side strengthened walls  do encroach into the side of the table and a short cue is used at that point if it is an obstacle for cueing , a small price to pay to get a full size snooker table in . so we advised that the Baulk ( D end ) was placed at that end , and the business end black red etc kept free from obstruction .

the log cabin could not have the old coffin shade installed due to low roof level , but the new office type high frequency lighting is much better for it .
Our client was away in Germany when we did the re-stretch but his Partner let me in to do the work .
Our second job that day was a different type of table and room , also note the same type of High Frequency lighting above this table too !

After the log cabin with temperatures of 30C , it was nice to work in an Air conditioned room especially built for this Antique table.

I had a little problem with the level being out on this table due to settlement of the building , surprising the log cabin table had not moved out of level as much as this one
I spent over 1 hour levelling this table , and eventual got the result that I was after , the electronic level I used as well as the engineers metal level shows the spot on figure I was after , the table is 0.0 , place a £20 note under one end and it read 0.1 , this table is within the thickness of a £20 all over it’s slate bed , mostly 0.0 and only the odd place where it is 0.1 .
Now that’s being picky !

If you have a table that is playing slow , cloth can be moved by fingers bridging onto ball and is also out of level , then maybe you require a re–stretch of bed cloth service visit from GCL billiards

 

 

 

GCL Billiards have built up a good reputation in our local Surrounding counties that is the heart of the EAST Midlands .
We do many Private Houses as well as Pub’s club’s and institutions .
Please take a few minutes to look at the following photo’s to see the vast type of clients and tables we work on and for .

Most of these clients do come back to us because they where impressed with our work ethics , for further maintenance of re-covers , re-stretching 0r even relocating the table over hundreds of miles or just around the corner . GCL billiards is the Firm to contact in the EAST Midlands for any cue sport maintenance , GCL billiards is Geoff Large so you are working direct with the fitter , a time served fitter at that,  who has the knowledge to advise on the best action of work to be carried out , some firms employ telephone answering people or maybe a secretary when making enquiries about a problem or simply good advice , these secretaries  have not got Cue sport knowledge of over 40 years hands on experience of both billiards Snooker and Pool tables of various makes and designs .

Geoff can give you instant advice 99% of the time , he may require a photo , but you are assured at GCL billiards  that the person you are dealing with has the experience to give good advice and also carry out any work on your prized Cue sports table .

Geoff worked in the Billiards snooker & pool Industry for many years working for his Uncle and later for John Hopkin  a well known figure in the billiards industry who sat on the B&STA committee with Norman Clare of Thurston Clare and Padmore’s later to revert back to Thurston , before he formed GCL billiards with his wife Carol , was he right to go it alone , YES he only wishes he did it many years ago , he had become disillusioned with the way the industry was being absorbed by Coin operating people who where only interested in speed work and volume of cash influx rather than taking their time as he was trained to do a good job by the time served billiards fitter before him , in fact three time served Billiards fitters.

Geoff is also sought after by the local pool players and pubs and clubs to maintain their table’s using Strachan quality cloth . We not only work on full size snooker tables but any size and make of cue sports table is it has pockets or rings and cushions and a ball rolls on it , GCL billiards is the firm to contact
We also Rent pool table’s on longer term contracts , using the excellent Supreme Winner in all our site’s , We only offer this as a local network based in a 25 mile radius of NG10 4JU . if you are just outside this area then get in touch we may take you on board for rental table’s .

Contact Geoff Large direct on 07753466064 or home answer phone 01159725355 also by  email c.large@btinternet.com

 

 

GCL Billiards strive to do the best work possible using the best materials , We always recommend Strachan as our main cloth to be used either for Snooker or Pool or american pool  .

We can supply hainsworth and even Euro pool cloth , but we point out to our clients the many years of tradition of Strachan cloths and why it is used by the main tour for both snooker and Pool world wide.

Strachan produce a cloth for both the Professional and the home user or youth club where wear longevity is required over high quality of finish .
So a price to suit pocket with the same Brand Name you can trust Strachan fitted by a firm you can trust GCL billiards.
You do not have to live in the East midlands to qualify for a visit from GCL billiards to carry out your recover work  , we do venture out further . please ask .

Just a few photo’s a client has kindly sent me of a table I set up for him in his Garage workshop office as he like’s to call it
Photo 1 the frame assembled and level ready for slates

The slates being put on the levelling pads that are then adjusted by spanner .

Next photo , the slates have been levelled and the joint filled with car body filler to make as one bed then all bed lightly sanded to remove any unwanted grit

The finished table with original Red cloth re-fitted , some firms will try and get you to have a re-cover , it just depends if the cloth has been fitted correct and still enough to pull tight and refit , plus the old cloth has to be taken off very carefully .

Many thanks to Steve for supplying the photo’s .

Sam K steels take expert trained fitters to set up , they are very complicated pieces of cue sports equipment , having hundreds of bolts and screws and all are vital to make the table spot on .
if you start to miss screws and bolts out of these type of tables , then they will never play right .
when buying one please make sure it is all complete .