Category Archives: News

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

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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/

TABLE HAS NOW BEEN RESERVED

This table has now been reserved for installation in a Pub in Derby this week on our excellent rental terms  , thank you to Della .
If you would like an identical table if we have not got one in stock we have to order from Supreme , this can take upto 3 weeks if they have no tables ready for collection or delivery.
I will be ordering two more this month to have in stock ready to install .

We have one Supreme winner in Black pearl ready to install , the new latest edition with genuine metal chrome corners .
We can install this table in a pub in the nottingham and Derby Area from £15 per week contract .
the table is coin operated and can be set on 50p or £1 to suit you .
Private landlords or Owners or managers not under fruit machine contracts are our normal clients .
we differ from the Fruit machine contract in that we only deal in Cue sports tables , so 100% of our time is spent maintaining pool and snooker tables , we do not get side tracked with gaming machines  .
and offer full professional service for the hire of your pool table .

is your pool team always moaning about the pool table , then get GCL billiards to rent you a Pool Table .
Our contracts are £15 per week one recover year
or £18.50p per week Two recovers per year .
A separate set of Match balls are provided for the pool team .




If you want the best Local Hire company for Pool tables then , contact Geoff at GCL Billiards on 07753466064

or email c.large@btinternet.com

We have had an influx of work coming in from Leicestershire . this shows our recent push for work in this county is paying off , most of the work has come from recommendations which is the best way of getting noticed .
Two pool tables last week and now another one to do in Wigston a repeat customer from 1 year ago .
they may be older type tables and some have cushion problems , but we can refurbish both cloth and cushions .
the first we did last week was a Traditional Super League with old type cushion barrel screw fixings .
not a good way of fixing cushions on and they will have to be replaced next time with allen key bolt fixings .

The table when stripped down showed the usual thing of spray on glue all over the face side of the slate from a speed fitter who recovered it last time .
This table was really bad in that several layers of glue had been applied over and over again as each re-cover had been done , acetone would not remove it , so i used goo old fashioned elbow grease and some coarse sand paper to make sure the pocket opening where free of glue under the cloth .

A close look of the spray on glue , what a mess !

Having cleaned the slate and stripped the cushions of every staple , we used best quality Strachan 6811 grade pool cloth to recover , the club has Pool team and they wanted the best quality cloth than the standard Strachan 777 .

the Table almost finished , we also cleaned all the ball rails and the side door tipping mech also cleaned up springs re-attached and sprayed coin mech with WD40

The next table was in an old out building being used as a garage in a Victorian house , there where some very large spiders in this table and the cloth was all moth eaten , I hate spiders !

The Pool table struipped down , it may be an old bench leg table but it plays well when it was finished .

The owner of this table wanted the budget cloth with longer nap ,although we call it our budget cloth it still has the Strachan name to it , but is the 777 grade .
This is slower than the Strachan 6811 and has a longer nap and is better for children as it will stand up to a bit more wear  , but do not expect a fast table when this is used.

The finished table , both customers where highly delighted with work GCL Billiards had carried out

I have not been adding the work schedule to the Blog recently , March was a busy month and this has carried on into April and looks like May is going to be just as busy , due to a little illness

this has resulted in me playing catch up and a few saturdays had to be worked to pull the work back on schedule .
We have had enquiries for table relocations not only for ourselves but for other cue sports firms that use us for the Full size snooker table relocations .
It is Easter this weekend and I have promised myself a 4 day break .
We have full size snooker table  recover work to do in Nottinghamshire / Leicestershire/ Lincolnshire /Derbyshire  and Staffordshire.
Pool table work to do all around the East and west midlands. Table relocations from sheffield to Oxford , and Nottingham to Derbyshire , we have two large snooker clubs requiring us to carry out renovations of many cue sports tables in the next 6 weeks in Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire.

Above one table we relocated this week
I am not saying we have no spare days , we always do , but these tend to get work scheduled for them as the month passes , they get filled up .
so if you require work doing on your cue sports table from re-cover / re-rubber , or any maintenance  or table move .
Contact Geoff or Carol on email ……….. c.large@btinternet.com  or phone 07753466064 ,
we also have a home number 01159725355 , but as we are in the field working most days the mobile is the best option to contact Geoff direct .

Selling a snooker table? please use our free advertisement page on our website.
https://gclbilliards.com/category/for-sale/

***But Please take note of the following advice.
One piece of advice for anyone who is selling a house , if the table has to be sold , do not leave it until the last few weeks to try and sell it , if you require money for it , then advertise as soon as you know you are putting your house on the market .
Last week we got a phone call from a person who had advertised their table right at the last moment , only two weeks before contracts where signed , they advertised the table on our web site free of charge , as the last day came and no sale , they emailed me expecting me to buy it but we do not buy tables we only move them , then they emailed saying I could collect for free , this was at 3pm , they said the table had to be out by that night or they where leaving it for the new home owner ! and the table was over 2 hours traveling away . to organise a van and two men and to get up there load and back then unload we would have been well into the early hours of the morning in getting back
I suspect the table had to be out because the new owner did not require it and they knew it would cost money to get rid of it quick , the old home owner tried to pull one over on me by saying I could have it for free as they wanted to get rid of the table without paying for that days wages for two fitters and a van plus miles .
We did not take them up on their offer as it really does cost us money to take a table away ! we are not Bandits trying to make a quick buck , we charge what it costs us to remove a table in wages and van use, we do not resell a table we scrap them if we cannot store them, Slates are delivered to a reclaim yard , if the wood is of good use this also is put to recycling , if low quality wood it ends up in a log burner . But there are exceptions if we find that the table is a really nice one and too good to scrap we try and make an effort to store it , and I use a third party investor with storage space for this , who would split the sale of any table in the future for use of the storage . but the table has to be exceptional for us to do this
I must point out that the table mentioned above would have been no use to GCL Billiards , you need time to sell a table and space to store it , and it cost’s us around £275 + miles charge to collect a table in wages and van use .
We actually charge £275 to take a table away  , we then scrap it as we have no use for it and we do not wish to incur storage charges for it .
£275 is such a low charge if it ends up contracts will not be signed for a house worth £000s , and the only obstacle is that snooker table has to be removed from the house before signing of contracts  , then £275 is not such a bad option to make sure contracts are exchanged .

Looks like April May and june are going to be Busy

We have had two enquiries for work to do in two large snooker clubs and I have just had confirmation to go ahead and do this . one of the club’s having another sister club not too far way too .
We have mainly UK pool tables to do in one club and a couple of snooker and a few American pool tables. this is in east Midland area .

The other club requires 7 Full size snooker table recovers and a couple of uk pool and also american pool .
It’s sister club will require work later in the year as i have already carried out three recovers at this club within the last 9 months . Both these clubs in the south midlands area .

We have had an influx of work recently which involves re-rubbering the cushions on full size tables , and these are all separate job’s we have taken in
one set of full size for a job we have coming up in clitheroe  , another in Ashbourne , another in Cambridgeshire, another in Derbyshire .
Re-rubbering is one area that I really have to use my knowledge and skill of time served Billiards fitting , many DIY people think they can take this job on , and I have seen some awful attempts trying to replicate the skilled work of a Time served billiards fitter.
To the point that the rubber is scrap after the DIY attempt , and the person then phone’s me up to do the work as they just have not had the training to do this skilled work  , I was taught by three Fitters to re-rubber , I used a bit of all their methods and skills  and added my own part into that learning too .
I allow a full day to re-rubber a set of cushions , I may get time if  I have more than one set in the workshop to glue another set on to give me a head start the next day if I have two sets in to do , but I like to re-rubber one day , leave overnight and re-cover the cushions the following day .

If I am doing the re-rubber work on the table then I can get better results in accuracy as working in the workshop away from the slate you have to rely on measurements and not visual accuracy as seen in the above photo.

The undercut is just as important as the radius

a set of Northern rubber  being glued on the glueing board before attaching to cushion block

A set of cushions that have just been re-rubbered and the angles shaped to size , they are now ready for the skilled part of hand rasping and sanding to final accuracy of pocket opening and undercut.

all northern rubber will carry a date of manufacture on , in the form of a white printed stamp mark , there is also moulded raised lettering on the under L shape the words Northern rubber
 Avoid low quality chinese rubber in red or black , this has a canvas backing and no Northern rubber lettering on it .

Above a  right way and a wrong way to undercut the rubber , which would you choose ? both done by billiards fitters , one who just rushed it . Click on the photo’s to enlarge to get a better view.

From first cut , to undercut , to hand finishing by rasp and sanding , and the type of quality of rubber used
If you require your snooker table cushions re-rubbering , then contact Geoff at GCL Billiards for the skilled work that it takes to carry this out . 07753466064 or email c.large@btinternet.com