Category Archives: News

Today we traveled to a place near Peterborough to dismantle a full size Karnehm and Hillman Buckingham full size tulip leg modern table .
this was not an easy job , the 5 section 2 inch thick slate   was located upstairs and had to be brought down three steps from one room.
then each slate put into a slate slide shoe and slid down the main stairs on a protective carpet run to avoid damage to original stair carpet .
the following photo’s show the table in it’s original room and also loaded onto the van wrapped in blankets ready for our drive back to our nottingham storage agent jonills Removal.

this is the table during dismantle stage , cloth and cushions removed and slates slid apart ready to slide onto trolley , you may notice the wood slate shoe slide
on the floor to the left of the table , this is placed on one edge and ratchet strapped to the slate , this is my /mk 3 version that is home made for the job and works to make the job of sliding the slate downstairs a three man job, rather than using 4 to 6 men.
you cannot go out and buy a slate slide , you have to improvise and make one , this information of how to make one passed down from fitter to fitter .
my version has been modified from the original mk1 and mk2  by adding two ratchet straps to fully fasten the slate into the slide.

some steep stairs where involved to cover over with blankets and a strip of old carpet  so that the slide could be slid without damage to owners carpet and stairs.

the whole Full sized snooker table neatly stored and loaded onto the van , every leg wrapped in removals blankets and also polished ends and cushions .

The house was very large with huge entrance hall staircase , some valuable antique tables and ornaments had to be carefully put out of harms way tyo clear a path from upstairs room to van .

The house is used for Weddings and  Business Conference meetings and has 28 Bedrooms
We arrived at 9.30 am and the table was fully loaded by 1 pm . so 3.5 hours in total for a van and three men .
I set out at 6 .30 am picking the extra men up en-route one from nottingham and another from Lincoln  , and arrived back home after putting the table into storage at 4.30pm , a 10 hour day and no time for a lunch break , we only got 15 minute coffee break once slate was loaded , then cracked on to get the work done and then back to nottingham via Lincoln .

the K&H table was bought by our buying client at very low money , this has enabled him to spend a little in having the cushions re-polished , new nets and leather and new re-cloth .
the table is being stored for around 7 weeks , by that time we will have completed our backlog of work to do , and the customer will have finished his Garage conversion , and I will be back from my two week break in Tenerife. an holiday I am looking forward to after an hectic work schedule .

It has been none stop since my last break in Tenerife about  this time last year , but I am not moaning , you have to do the work when it is in .

GCL billiard are again expanding our rental stock by another three tables into one venue . the Midlands based venue is upgrading and have worked out the Tax benefits of Renting tables over buying and also the two recovers a year that is included in the rental price . It is a a win win situation , GCL wins by expanding its rental stock and guarantees extra revenue , and the venue win by not having any major maintenance costs going forward and the tax benefits of rentals over buying . I have been informed that the three Brand new supreme Winner tables will kick start off this club to become a major player in finals and competitions in the area . now normally we would not venture out of our comfort area zone , but this venue is only just outside that area by around 10 mile  , and we are trying to reach a target of X amount of pool tables out there , this provides valuable guaranteed work and income for GCL billiards thats 6 recovers a year . Below various Black Supreme winner tables , some we have out on rental and others are what we maintain for other clients . We prefer to buy the latest Black Pearl Edition of the winner with it’s improved solid die cast chrome corners with raised lettering much more sturdy than the old plastic chrome corner plates add to this the alloy cushion trim which is much better than the old plastic black trim that breaks up . the latest Green background badge with UK pool tour logo , you can actually date a table from various designs , the Badge is one way and trims are another , also discontinued wood finish is another . We do have other colour finishes of table out there on rental such as White and Woodgrain mahogany and oak . but we would prefer to have all black if possible as they are the one’s that most like to play on , the new Black pearl finish is much better than the old Black ash as it will not reflect light off the cushion surround , a problem with the black Ash especially when they get a little older as Mr sheen or pledge  is used to clean the table the top surround gets more shinier and starts to dazzle the player when taking a shot.

Today I visited the English and Wales Cricket Boards Academy and National Cricket performance Centre located in the grounds of Loughborough University .
I was asked around a month ago to do this work so i knew to take a set of brand new cushions from super League with me as the old ones where way past their sell by date .
The cloth chosen was the Strachan Super Pro speed cloth which has a high content of wool mix within the cloth , when you compare this speed cloth with the many man made fibre cloths you can see why this is rated No 1 choice.

The table before any work was done

The badly worn cloth , you can see where the ball has burnt the cloth , each white mark is a skid burn mark as the ball is suddenly accelerated forward , this occurs mainly on 100% to high content of man made fibre speed cloths .
the Strachan Super pro worsted cloth has around 70% of merino wool content and 30% of man made fibre, this cloth maintains it’s characteristics longer than any other Premium cloths , is durable and LESS PRONE to ball marks such as the above , more resistant to tears holes and bruises , and as a bonus is treated with spill guard to protect against spills and stains , but remember spill guard is just a spray on treatment and quickly wears off , you can buy a can of spill guard and retreat your cloth at anytime on a regular basis .

The sign of quality cloths the Strachan branding , at GCL Billiards we specialise in using Strachan cloths in all of our cuesports re-covering , whether it be on pool tables with this worsted cloth or full size snooker tables with Strachan tournament cloth , you can be sure we use the best .
We can also supply the Hainsworth cloths but we tend to recommend the Strachan cloth over this , and at the end of the day it is the customer’s choice.

Bed cloth going on

The old cushions with hard 5/8th rubber and the Brand new cushions , supplied from the manufacturer of the table Super League at Master billiards .

The finished table , we supplied two new door locks and replaced one pocket liner .
Again our client was delighted with the result , the new cushions and the new speed cloth made for a very fast table , with the ball bouncing off 8 cushions when hit around the table and almost made the 9th  cushion .

A new client of ours asked us to look at his DPT ascot Pool table in a conservatory .
The cloth had faded pretty bad , this is the case with most pool or snooker tables sited in a conservatory with glass or plastic roofing.
on strip down we found the red rubber ( low quality taiwan) that the UK manufacturer used was just turning hard especially on no 2 and 3 cushions .
So it was decided to have the cushions re-rubbered in best northern rubber as used on full size snooker tables on TV tournaments .
below a photo of the table before we started work


First thing we check when re-covering a pool table with taiwan rubber is to check the rubber for bounce , this table was just turning from soft rubber to hard no bounce on some parts of the rubber .
this is caused by the red dye in the rubber being more inclined to be affected by ozone , which decomposes the rubber in two ways , one to send it like sponge and sticky and the other like this , to turn hard from the outside edge inwards .

Cushions taken off and stripped down , the wood is in excellent condition not having had any re-covers from new , so it was decided to have much better quality UK made black rubber fitted which is long life and not effected by ozone

Two photo’s showing the high quality northern rubber used , the end buffers where taken off the old cushion rubber and reused onto the new rubber .
with all good northern rubber , it carries a date transfer , and this set was manufactured in September 2013 .
it can be around £45 higher costing to have this make of rubber put onto your cushions rather than the standard black rubber , but you then have peace of mind for around 20 to 30 years of the cushions being good .

cloth being glued on , slate has been cleaned and old spray on glue removed . We also clean the ball rails of all sweat grease and dust , this builds up like a black wax on the ball runs and the result is sticking balls , if every table had this work done on a regular basis or every re-cover then balls would not stick .

Finished table with the original cloth photo next to it , this really shows it was due a re-cover , with the new cushion rubber this table is now better than when it was new , better cloth and better cushion rubber is proof of that .
A peradon black dust cover was also purchased to keep the sun off the table cloth when not in use .
The Owner was delighted with the result !

We are pleased to say we are very busy at the moment
even working weekends and Bank holidays to get through the workload.
I have worked booked out solid from now until end of June , then I am away for two weeks on a well deserved break in Tenerife.
for those wishing to book GCL billiards for work , please book us in advance of any work , GCL Billiards are getting really busy now
and we put this down not only to our hard work to get out there and seek the work , but also to all our clients who repeat work with us
And also recommend us to other new clients , they say word of mouth recommendations are the best way to get your firm noticed , and this has been the case from day one of GCL Billiards being set up .
I received around 6 phone calls on sunday and again on Bank holiday Monday for work , and have arranged some weekend work to get this extra load done .

This is a new client for us , a club in a very neat and tidy village setting near Burton on trent that have two snooker tables in separate rooms ,
one being a Riley which have had some top plates fitted at some point in it’s life ,the cushion wood at the end of these cushion is crumbling bad , hence why they had changed to top plates which are bolted to the cushion .
Most players do not like top plate tables as they have to cue over each finger of brass if a ball is close to the cushion at that point .

Table one getting to work on the cushion re-covering , you can just see the 2nd table through the doorway located in another room

It is hard to staple the cloth to fresh air !

Top quality strachan 6811 tournament gold 30 oz used on these tables

the cushions may be falling apart on this old riley , but the slates are perfect for joint and level , in the future this table will require a new set of cushions or a decent second hand set sourcing , it will then be a very good table once those top plates have gone .

Finished table , note the lighting , the club has had this lighting now for a couple of years , it is very good and much better than any coffin shade.

Another photo of the finished table , the cloth hides all the end rot of the cushions , and it turned out better than I thought it would , I could probably re-cover this table another 6 times , but sooner or later it will require new cushions.
Tomorrow I will re-cover the 2nd table a burroughes and watts steel block cushioned table with large tulip legs.

and here we have the photo’s of the Burroughes and Watts tulip leg steel block cushioned table at the club also having a re-cover in 6811 T cloth

Table being striped down and cushione re-covered.

From above photo’s we like to show all our Clients that we use the Best Branded and best grade for their use , in this case West of England Strachan 6811 tournament 30 oz grade cloth .
this is the best cloth to use for serious use in club’s , you can get lower quality like what was used before in a wool man made fibre mix , but the 6811 tournament is fully 100% PURE NEW WOOL

Table finished and ready for play , cover also purchased to keep in good condition and to stop dust and colour fading , the new Peradon dust cover are lightweight and the best type to buy .
they do not fall apart like the old silver plastic one’s .
The club is highly delighted with the work that GCL billiards carried out

Another repeat work order from a local nottingham club . we booked this date in on my last visit 6 months ago , and have made arrangements to also call again to re-stretch one of the other full size tables they have in the billiard room , they three full size and a 7×4 pool table .

The Table before the re-stretch of Bed cloth

When I stripped the table down for the re-stretch , I noted that the last fitter had left too much cloth on the underside of the cushions , this would have packed the cushions out by the thickness of the cloth and also affected full bounce , so I trimmed this off as in the photo , the fitter who did this re-cover should have trimmed it off , but I guess he was in too much of a hurry and a few seconds here and there meant he was out the door and on his way , something that GCL billiards would not do is speed fit.

When I had restretched the cloth the old baulk line has moved back around 1/2 an inch , i erased this back with Acetone so as to make it not so much noticeable
The new Baulk line is marked out at 31 inch from end of slate .

The finished table , bed cloth restretched and marked out cushions refitted without the excess of cloth that the previous fspeed fitter had left , checked and adjusted for level and ready for play , we serviced the other two tables in the club tightening hooks and replacing missing rail nuts and marking out and Brushing and ironing .
We then moved onto the Pool table

the pool table was an old Super league , we have had a run on these tables just recently , the cushions on this table had rubber falling off the block from people sitting on the table .
I re-glued all the loose rubber and taped the cushions to prevent this happening in the future .

Mainly snooker played at this club , the pool table takes very little so they opted for the budget cloth , it is strill Strachan branded but is the thicker 777 quality.

Finished pool table , vacuumed out and cleaned ball rails , ready for use

On the way back from Butlins in Skegness we were asked to call in at Doddington Hall
The Owners wished to have a snooker table reinstated back into the main hall  .
this table was donated for use by the owners Grandmother  to the workman’s club which was located on  the Estate.
the club wanted to use the snooker room for other purpose so the table had been in store for around 2 to 3 years

A very early thurston slate bed table circa 1870

Frame roughly leveled and first three slates on

All slates on and wood tack linings fitted , table is fully level and ready to have bed cloth re-fitted , Note how thin the slates are this dated the table to 1870
1 inch slate on these threepenny bit style legs , i have worked on two or three of these type of tables , you may note from first photo of frame that it has nine slate supports ( inner muntins) , modern tables have 3 or 6 . and the latest have just 3 adjustable muntins supports.

Bed cloth re-fitted and marked out and ironed, and now refitting the cushions

on this table there are number discs on all of the upper polished parts of the cushions , these are for a skittle game , where you place skittles around the edge of the table one ball width plus clearance from the nose of the cushion at these disc locations , i have not played the game ,but can recall on my apprentice days nearly 40 years ago some people playing this at a club and the fitter I was working with looking at some instructions on marking the spots on the cloth for the skittles.

On this photo you can clearly see all the number discs on the cushion cappings.

the finished table , if you are visiting any where near Lincoln then Doddington hall is worth a visit , they have a farm shop and I think an hotel too .

http://www.doddingtonhall.com/