Category Archives: News

Last week I spent a few days at skegness Butlins . I was called in because they had three torn bed cloths on various tables plus some straps and nets where also worn out and three ball rails broken.

The first table is a Burroughs and watts Steel block cushioned table one of two of these tables that are located in the green baize Skegness.
This one had a L shape rip and was badly worn so required a re-cover .

this table although still had around 6 month wear left in the cloth the L shape rip was too large , so again we decided to re-cover this table too.

The badly torn cloth has been replaced and this table is now looking much better.
a complete re-cover , bed and cushions in Best Strachan 6811 Tournament gold cloth .

the burroughes and watts after a complete re-cover in 6811 Tournament gold .
again also bed and cushions replaced

This old riley imperial had a torn bed cloth so we decided as it was one of the side table to just fit a good condition second hand bed cloth , this will be due a re-cover in around 12 months time .
I would like to Thank Albert and Rob for giving GCL Billiards the repeat work , I apreciate it is hard to stay with one Billiards firm when they get many emails and phone calls from other firms asking to be considered for the work .
by staying loyal to GCL billiards they know That we will make sure we do not falter in the workmanship and pricing of the work completed.
We value Butlins custom and we would like to think we will be considered first for any cue sports work at Skegness Butlins , we know this is not guaranteed so we will stay competitive and keep our standards high as we would with any of our clients to maintain repeat work.

Have you ever experienced dead rock hard or spongy cushion’s on a pool table .
your game is spoilt by not being able to get the ball to bounce off and travel .

take a look at this set of rubber that I took off a table recently in Derby

it was that bad that it was stuck to the cloth that I was taking off the cushion , these perished rubbers are sticky to the touch and give off a foul smelling odour when you take the cloth off .

The set of cushions with no rubber on being glued and back edge of new rubber is also being glued with contact adhesive .
The table was an old lyme grove made around 1980 . and these looked like the original cushion rubber .
The table was purchased off Ebay 2 years ago , so beware of old tables on ebay and some not so old one’s that have rubber that is turning to soft gunge like this , or going rock hard.
it can be costly from £70 to £140 plus postage  for a new set of cushion rubber or replacement set of cushions .
this table was also recovered in strachan 777 Pool cloth in Burgundy Red.

I could have done without this messy job today but could not resist the challenge of getting it put right for our client  we are really busy at the moment the phone is none stop .
the next three days I am in Skegness at Butlins , they have had some vandals rip some of the cloths in the green baize Club so have called me in to repair them at short notice so had to juggle a few job’s around to fit them in .
but they are good clients and like anyone who has had work done for them by GCL billiards we do appreciate return custom , it also lets us know we are doing the work right as Butlins soon drop any Tradesmen who do not come up to to spec on work done.
other work in are 2 full size recovers in staffordshire , stretch and pool recover in Nottingham , two recover pool tables in Derbyshire, another recover in Nottingham for full size , recover pool table for Cricket board in loughborough , 2 set up full size snooker tables , 7 full size snooker recovers in Northamptonshire and two pool tables and one american pool , insurance job for dismantle and bring into store full size snooker , and around 4 stretch bed cloths plus our own rental pool tables maintenance and recovers etc .

I am away on holiday first week of July and it looks like we are going to fill most days in before I go away

I have been working in an old Mill the last couple of days , the work involved stripping off the old white low quality standard rubber and replacing it with best quality Northern rubber Uk made and as used by the world governing body and World Snooker on TV tournament tables.
I forgot to take my Camera with me the first day so sorry no photo’s of the actual re-rubber .
So here are a few Photo’s of the table just as I was finishing off .

the old Rubber that I took off , age is around 1980 and these still had some life left in them , but my client was having this table renovated for her Husbands Birthday .
and wanted it to be spot on for her Husband who was away for the week when I was told to come over and she actually booked me 6 weeks ago , he will get a nice surprise when he returns this Saturday .
The New cushion Rubber will last around 30 years in Home use , maybe more .
The cloth used was Best quality Strachan 6811 tournament 30 oz , a good speed and medium thickness makes this cloth long lasting and fast if Brushed and ironed regular.
a nice close shorn nap , makes this cloth ideal for someone who requires accuracy in their snooker play .

There are a few grades of cloth in 6811 strachan this one being the top one and 6811 club being next quality down  , and there is is only £20 difference in price between these two grades of cloth .
A reputable firm will always fit and recommend the 6811 Tournament over the silver which is very slow and long napped , and not so reputable firms always fit substandard or lower quality cloth , and even chinese copy cloths so buyer beware get it in writing that they are using 6811 tournament 30 oz cloth and inspect the cloth before fitting as it is branded down one side edge .

The finished table , I must say I like the minstrel’s gallery around the upper floor , in fact I like the old mill as a building , just through the doors is a Brook with ducks and open fields
The Mill still has it’s large chimney and looks to have been a steam engine house outside too .
the owner was delighted with the work that was carried out , and i explained every step i took in the refurbishment of the table , explaining about the modern cut to the pocket opening , which where left exactly as before 4 inch to the fall , these are rather large pockets , but they like that size and would have struggled with their play on smaller pocket openings .
If you look closely just above the shade you may see a magnum of champagne , it is on a shelf just below the steel safety rail , this is for the first person to score 50 break or over , and it’s been there for 14 years unopened . Click on the photo to enlarge .

The owner also took my advise and had a new Peradon fitted dust cover and a high quality Peradon Pure Bristle brush to keep the cloth in good order , they are also going to buy a Dowsing Iron , having owned the table for 14 years they have never had a Table iron .
A new set of balls and 6 new cue’s have also been purchased .

we have had our fair share of Hazel Grove MHG super league’s this month already .
this table is at the estates club that also has a 9ft snooker table upstairs  .
the last person to recover it should have cleaned the inside of the table out , it was shocking !

The table above before I started to clean it out and re-cover it in 6811 Strachan pool cloth.

just look at the dirt and wax build up on the ball rails , I am sure the balls where sticking inside the table
If you allow a table to get in this state then the players will start picking the table up and slamming it back down to release a stuck ball , this will damage the feet and may even crack the slate.
This is why it is a must when re-covering to take slate out and clean the inside of the table out , wash down all ball runs and side eject tray .

It is easy to clean the rails , a bucket of warm soapy water and a washing up Brush is what I used on this table , but a wet cloth will also do the same job .

The side Eject tray will also collect dust and sweat wax and build up just like in this photo above .

the cleaned up ball eject tray , I also cleaned the swivel tray and side glass and the cue ball separator  device .
a clean ball tray and ball rails will result in NO BALLS sticking which makes for a much better game of pool without the frustration of a ball or balls sticking inside the table on the dirt wax build up.

I also noticed that the return spring had broken on the coin mech , i just snipped the brioken part off , prised a new loop on the existing spring and put it on the slide lug like below photo

A simple fix that took a couple of minutes

Finished table , cleaned out repairs done , and leveled ready for play and new ball skirt fitted.
I also noticed that the cloth before this recover had been spray glued on and was falling off the slate , he also got spray glue over the inside ball rails and centre ball run .
I asked who had done the last re-cover , and the owners said it was the slot machine people , they exchanged the cushions with a set that had already been done and re-covered the slate in 20 minutes with the spray on glue , GCL billiards took a full 2 and a half to  3 hours to complete the job properly , and that is the difference between a skilled billiards fitter and a speed fitter.
if you want a good job doing correct ,then get a cue sports table specialist who takes his time and carries out the work to a professional standard .

The superleagues have been making an appearance for me these last couple of weeks .
they where the top table to buy in the 1970s/80s , but with stiff competition from Supreme they have lost their top spot .
Superleague still make tables but they are much different to the old bench legged 1970s model , they are traditional style with turned legs and they also make a model with sloping plastic legs like the Supreme winner called the Magnum.
their other models being named Imperial and Winchester . these are the turned legged versions
So here we have the older superleague bench legged table , this one had a few problems in that the cushions where all mssing the centre fixings , lucky for our customer i had salvaged some second hand fixings from  the Derby job i did last Friday.

the table being glued for the bed cloth fixing.

the logo of the cloth we where using today , the standard Strachan 777 Pool cloth , this cloth requires a lot of Brushing and ironing to make fast .

the missing tumbler bolt , and replaced with some spare ones I salvaged from another second hand table in Derby .
These type of fixings are the fitters curse , they were never a good design , and were replaced with allen key bolts later on when the imperials where first introduced , but if you think these fixings are bad the mk1 one tables of the very early 70s had a cam fixing which used to unturn when balls hit the cushion , the tumbler has 4 prongs for a screw driver to slip into and turn to tighten , these snap off after a few re-covers..

the finished table in Royal Blue cloth , Our client also purchased from us a new set of spots and stripe balls .

Not for the first time have I been asked to re-cover a pool table that is sited outside , but under a fixed roof gazebo. in Derby.
The pool table being a 7×4 Hazel Grove super league , the client required new cushions and new allen key fixings for the cushions , and he also requested best 6811 Strachan pool cloth here  are a few photo’s of that work

.
The table stripped down , I removed the top surround and converted the old fixing slot to accept the new allen key bolt fittings , the old fixers went into my tool box for spares on these tables as I often find some missing or broken . which was the case on the very next table I did at Newark a few days later.

The new cushions bought direct from Eric at Superleague

The finished table , new cushions , new cloth , all my client needs to do now if finish the paving and make sure the frost and damp is kept away from the cushions and cloth

Today I have been over to a housing estate which has its own Estates club.  I used to work on this table many years ago, but had not visited this club for at least 12 years.

The club had used another firm to recover it last time and they used inferior grade cloth.  Here are a few photo’s of the table.

The table on strip down, the cloth had been on for about 5 to 6 years.

The old cloth which was supposed to be Strachan 6811, but we found no makers mark on this cloth, all Strachan cloth has weaved letters on on edge but this had none.  We think it was some sort of seconds cloth. It may have been Strachan seconds but because it was rejected it never had the Strachan branding put on the cloth, unlike the new cloth going on which has the branding.

The new cloth with its stand out gold lettering stating proudly that it is BEST QUALITY STRACHAN TOURNAMENT CLOTH .

The West of England transfer stating the 6811 and 30 oz, and also the serial number of the roll printed in Black ink.  At GCL Billiards we always show our client what cloth we are fitting, there are no seconds fitted when we do the work.

The finished table ready for play.  Note the screw to back of cushion bolt buttons.  These gave me the identity of the table as a Cox and Yeman.  Click on any photo to enlarge.

We return tomorrow to re-cover the pool table, another Hazel Grove Super League.

You may remember me posting about a  Riley viceroy Full size snooker table in oak being sold on our Web site for sale section direct from the Seller to the buyer
well here is a report on the second part of the work .
We arrived at the buyers house to remove a full size Victorian table from the basement Games Room .
we then Started to erect the replacement table , an oak riley viceroy that we had recommended to our Buyer as his fittings in the basement where all light oak , the old Victorian Mahogany snooker table with  turned leg looked out of place .

the first photo of the frame assembled and in position , we roughly level the table for the slates to then be slid on one at a time , we use the long level as a straight edge only , we put our old Engineers level on top of this to get a much more accurate level . We never rely on the 6ft builders level vial .

the first two slates are slid on from one end off the piano trolley wheels , we rub candle wax the top of the frame to make sure the slate slides on to the other end with ease

all slates are now on , and they require centreing up from the centre slate and pinning the brass dowels into each slate to make one long bed of slate .

After fixing all the slate together fine leveling up  and putting the wood tack linings around the outside edge , we filled the joints with soft sand car body filler , then lightly sanded them in to form one continuous bed of slate , we cleaned off all dust and fitted the bed cloth , this was the original bed cloth from the sellers house , the table cloth was in very good condition , although I did notice it was silver 6811 Strachan and not the Gold 6811 Tournament which is what I recommend , but I did advise my buying client to get his moneys worth out of the silver cloth first , before he spent on another  re-cover .

the finished table from the black spot end .

the finished table from the D end

the finished table from another angle  giving the true colour of the light oak , you may notice this table has the Billiard riley Brass single ball pocket ball catchers , these are very rare to find and worth around £200 the set . I am not sure what our client is doing when the table is ready for it’s next re-cover he may have the modern ball rails fitted .

Our client is very happy with the work and also that we recommended we look for a light oak table for him , this saved him spending money doing the other mahogany table up that he had . it just goes to show that you can trust Geoff at GCL Billiards to give the best option going forward , our client could have wasted a few Hundred pounds , and for a little more than what he would have spent on the old table , he has a piece that truly blends in with his rooms furnishings .

If any one is interested in a Quality light to medium oak refurbished table then check out our for sale section we have a client with a very nice Orme And sons table at an all inclusive fitted price.
https://gclbilliards.com/surprised-no-body-has-snapped-this-beauty-up-full-size-oak-orme-snooker-table-for-sale-all-in-price-including-fitting/