Category Archives: News

We are that booked up for the Christmas rush that we are working weekends to fit all the work in , Last Saturday we had arranged to re-rubber a full size snooker table for an old school friend of mine , who just happens to be related as he is my cousins cousin if you can get the meaning from that .
Mick used to be in the same year and same school as myself we both left school in 1969 , Mick bought Anthony Hamilton’s Full size snooker table that he had at home when Anthony lived with his parents in Carlton in Nottingham , I moved the table for Mick around 20 years ago to a stable block at his home in Ockbrook which is about 4 miles from where I live in Long Eaton.
The Table is an old Riley square leg in oak , Mick has stripped the table down to bare wood and just sealed it for a more natural rustic look of natural light oak , he and his brother also replace the lower moulding with rebate slot for the slide in cushion panels , with good English oak reclaimed from another source.
Mick is very enthusiastic about showing the woods natural grain , he has made furniture around his house like a roll top desk and head boards for the beds all in oak .

As can be seen the wood has some very good natural oak Grain swirls, and for what was Rileys entry model in the 1920’s the quality of the oak is very good. there is even some 1/4 sawn oak striping on the cushions.
Mick has just completed an extension onto his house and built into this a very large basement games room , he has put up the modern high frequency lighting , and there are also mood lighting concealed in upward light reflection lighting system around the outside edge of the room which changes colour .
You may have read a few months ago on this GCL billiards  blog site about the job of lowering by crane  some snooker slates into a basement . well this is the table and the finished basement, you can read that posting here https://gclbilliards.com/crane-in-snooker-slate-into-building-basement-near-derby/


This is the table before the re-cover , the new rubber has been fixed onto the cushions and the corner and middle pocket openings have been cut to size using a template , the set of templates we use are just a shade too large for these standard cushions at the back edge of the template in the inner pocket it overlaps the oak woodwork  and are really meant to be used on steel block cushions , so we used the templates to get the size at the fall and then adjusted the angle to suit the wood work of the table .
Now before you think i am saying the templates on steel block cushions are larger then these , they are not , I know it is confusing , but what I am describing is the back edge of the template so here is a couple of photo’s showing the template in and what I cut them at , taking the first part of the template as it meets the fall then free hand the cut to the rear.



the corner pockets cut to size  , the black ball to show the size of opening which without cloth is 3.3/4 of an inch at the fall and with cloth 3. 5/8ths at the fall .
As with most of these old tables especially the Riley’s , the rubber narrows at the back end of the angle , this makes for ball rattle , I am afraid the rubber has to be there and you cannot just have bare wood with the cloth just in front of it as the cloth will wear out very quick , some players and some Match officials still cannot understand why these old tables have narrowing pockets from the 3.5/8ths to just 3 1/4 inch as in this case , it is because of the way the cushions have been manufactured , trying to cut woodwork off it to rectify the opening would not work you would end up with other problems of trying to fit the pocket plates onto a wider opening  , the only option to get modern pocket openings is to fit modern cushions or steel block cushions , I have seen tables like these that Billiard fitters have butchered trying to get the modern opening , they always look a mess .
So I am afraid you have to learn to live with the opening , after all Joe Davies was making 120 to 147 breaks on these types of tables in the 1930’s / 40’s with tighter pocket openings than these.
Joe had the Mahogany turned leg version of this table with the same cushion profiles as this table at as his own table at home  , the last time I worked on that table was at the Metal box company in Mansfield in the 1990’s where his Nephew had the table installed. He of course had other tables in his lifetime but the first one he owned was given to his Nephew who worked for the metal box company in Mansfield. and because he had no where to put it , he asked his work if he could put it above his workshop and then the workforce could use it , I do not know if it is still there ?

Mick’s Brother has re-blocked the cushions for the new rubber to be fitted , I found he had by mistake reproduced the corner angle to the centre pocket angles so , I  spliced new bits of wood to the centre angle and belt sanded them to form a proper angle for the centre pocket undercut of the rubber , this allowed for a much better job when re-covering the cushions .
apart from this minor mishap the woodwork renovations  carried out by Mick and his Brother was spot on and the Rustic oak look is what they where after and I think they achieved it .
Mick is also about to strip the very nice original vintage double bevel mirrored oak scoreboard that came with the table which is worth around £350 on it’s own , he will of course strip value off the scoreboard as well as the old polish , but he does want things to match up woodwork wise within the room .


The finished table , after working Saturday and Sunday , we could not have fitted the work in otherwise , it was the same last year when I also had to work weekends to get the Christmas work completed , only this year we have had to turn work away .

We have been having complaints about balls being spat out of pockets even when the ball has dropped down onto the pocket rail.  The following conversion will need to be done to rectify this.

Change all 6 ball rails to the latest fully slotted with Allen key bolt fixing type.  If the pocket liners also have a shine finish you can sandpaper the backs of them where the ball strikes or replace with a new set.  People who spray furniture polish or even back to black bumper shine onto the pocket liners and ball runs are not doing the table any good.  These polishes contain silicon and waxes, which gets onto the ball and the ball then skids and also kicks when striking another ball.

The above photo’s show the old smooth type Supreme pocket rail and also the new type with full recess and Allen key bolt fixing.

GCL Billiards would be happy to quote you for changing these ball rails and pocket liners.  Please phone for details, but we do recommend these be done at the same time as the table is due for a re-cover.

We have just completed another re-cover for our client who lives close to Loughborough in Leicestershire.
Last time he had a special speed worsted cloth by Strachan fitted , this time he wanted to slow the table down by having a good quality napped all wool cloth , as he was finding practice at home very different to playing down the pub , his ball travel was all out of control having practised at home on a speed cloth then in the real world of Pub match pool finding 99% of pool tables in pubs have wool napped cloth and not speed cloth.

We fitted the best West of England 6811 grade cloth to our clients pool table in royal blue .
a bit more expensive than the 777 Strachan grade but well worth it .

this table is 10 years old , but because it has only had home use looks only 6 months old , on these early tables there is a fault with the hard smooth internal pocket rails , on hard shots you can get the ball bounce back out onto the table , it is almost as if a rabbit has back kicked the ball back up the pocket fall and back onto the table , we have been getting one or too people complain of this fault , mostly at league play standard where it is sometimes life or death for some players if they lose a game due to this fault .
the following photo shows a new type ball rail , with Allen key screw showing and a recessed slot moulded all the way into the pocket fall , unlike the above rail which has a smooth finish , and if you drop a ball from height onto this smooth pocket rail watch and see how far it rebounds back up , then try it on the modern type rail .
Our client on his next re-cover is having the new ball rails fitted with the Allen bolt key fixing like below.

the following photos show the table stripped down and the glueing of the bed cloth to outside edge of the slate using proper hand spread contact adhesive , we do not speed fit and never use fast to use spray on glue’s which normally go all over the slate and ball rails when spraying on , it also does not grip good and many bed cloths just fall off the slate bed when fitters have used spray on glue .

When we come across a table that has glue over spray on top of the slate we remove the old glue with Acetone

These photo’s are put on to show how GCL billiard re-covers pool tables , we may be a little more expensive than a speed fitter , but we like to think the benefits are there to be seen by choosing a firm that has values to the type of work we do .
If you require a re-cover of your pool table then get a time served Billiards fitter in like Geoff at GCL billiards .

Dennis Taylor will be appearing at the Stapleford cue club on the 14th of December entrance fee of £20 and £30.
GCL Billiards have today just recovered the No 1 table at the club ready for this Audience with Dennis Taylor evening .

Click on flyer to see full details.
Dennis taylor flyer .

No 1 table at the Stapleford Cue Club new Strachan 6811 tournament 30 oz cloth fitted with new Riley match leathers and nets by GCL billiards .
this old Burroughs and watts has the best welsh slate with modern steel block match cushions .

The evening will consist of 6 frames of snooker with trick shots and hilarious stories of the past , an event not to be missed !

Dennis is one of the most approachable sportsman in the world of snooker and at this small event I am sure he will have a personal word with everyone he meets on the night .

A buffet will be provided on the night £20 admission , £30 front row seats , tickets available by phoning Stapleford cue club during opening hours on 0115 9394504 if you are on facebook they also have a page on there .
Stapleford Cue club , a small venue of 6 full size snooker and 4 supreme winner 7ft tables , the club can be found behind Pizza hut at 148 Derby road Stapleford , Nottingham , NG9 7AY

Just back from Butlin’s in Skegness where we have been recovering the six american Brunswick pool tables in hotshots and three supreme Winner UK pool tables dotted around the Camp
This year Rob chose another new Strachan Art-scape design of Grass- Turf with the Butlin’s logo across the centre pockets.
I do find this Art-scape cloth very easy to fit than some of the thicker Euro pool type speed cloths that I normally fit to american pool tables .
Last year rob chose the Red star pattern with butlin’s logo , this design had to have the colour coding of the cushion cloth fitted to the same colour coding of the bed cloth to make sure the pattern ran smooth from bed cloth to cushion cloth .

This Grass pattern was not as difficult as last years pattern but the same applies , each piece of cushion cloth is colour coded from Blue to purple , then black Red yellow and green , each has a certain cushion to be fitted to .

Bed cloth fitted

The centre pocket fall , Art-scape cloth is very easy to fit , and I only needed to add skirts to the centre pocket fall as seen above

the cushions upside down having just been recovered in the grass speed cloth .

All six tables sporting their new Design logo Grass cloth for the coming 2014 Season at Butlins , I wonder what design they will go for next November

GCL Billiards have again been allocated the work at Skegness Butlins Hotshots american Pool Hall for the coming week starting Sunday 24th November 2013 .
We got the contract last year to recover the tables in Butlins own Special designed logo cloth of red stars with the Butlins log across the middle pockets .

the Artscape cloth has matching pattern cushion cloth which have to be placed on the cushion to match up with the pattern on the bed cloth , so it is just like matching pattern wallpaper  .

Artscape can do many designs some standard designs and also custom logo designs , they even do football club logo’s in the cloth , but you have to have the permission of the football club for it’s use of logo rights .

Many thanks to Rob & Wayne at Skegness Butlins for trusting GCL Billiards to carry out the work to a High standard , not rushed and many snags sorted out on the tables too , as you can expect with holiday Camps that are open 11 months of the year , these tables get some heavy traffic , and it is not uncommon to find some damage when we strip down the tables .
Geoff has been maintaining these tables for a few years now both for his  firm GCL Billiards and when he was an employee before he went self employed.
Rob & Wayne can rest assured that Geoff will always find a way of keeping these 1980s American Brunswick’s in playing condition ready for another season at Butlins.

Today we have been installing a Winner supreme pool table into a local pub .
This pub is very particular on the type of table they required .
Not satisfied with low quality of the last pool table mainly on condition of the new rubber cushions they had fitted .
They decided that GCL Billiards was the best choice to rent their pool table from .
This particular table is 6 months old having been in another local pub which is now being knocked down to make way for a new Ice Land store .
the team had played on this table when playing away games in the league , they where very impressed with the bounce in the cushions and the speed of the table due to the best Strachan 6811 cloth used ,  and when they found out I still had it in stock they requested this one for their Pool Team .
The photo below is of the old pub pool area that is being knocked down to make way for Ice Land even though the pub is only 20 years old ?

In fact the old pub used to have two tables rented from GCL Billiards but this one was their main match table .
We decided as it is so close to Christmas to delay re clothing the table with 6811 Strachan tournament cloth until after New year , just in case someone was to spill a drink over it , over the Festive and new year celebrations when these things seem to always occur.
So we have booked a recover on the table for mid January .

Above the photo of the table in it’s new location .

Double eight Pool tables is GCL Billiards Pool table Rental Division , our tables carry the Double Eight logo as well as the Supreme logo .
Double eight Pool and GCL Billiards are now known to offer unrivalled quality and maintenance of Pool table Hire.
If you are local to us then please get in touch if you require a decent Supreme Pool table for your premises. our weekly rental contracts start at just £15 per week , that works out at £65 per calender month which is our preferred method of payment on the 28th of each month , or £60 per every 4 weeks.
Phone Geoff on 07753466064 or email c.large@btinternet.com

We have just completed a re-rubber and a re-cover for a local club in the Nottingham Area
The table is an old Burroughs and watts with modern titan branded cushions , we suspect the cushions where imported by titan from china .
These cushions having been fitted around 1999.

the photo above before we stripped it down for the re-rubber in best Northern Rubber made in Retford Nottinghamshire and as used by the top playing tournaments and tables.
Below photo, the pockets before we started where measured and found to be 3 inch and 9/16ths at the fall on very thin worn cloth , we where asked to replicate the original pocket angles and size on the new rubber .

and the pocket when we finished the recover and re-rubber was till the same size . We also renewed the nets and leathers .

the rubber we use on all Snooker tables is Northern Rubber and it comes with a manufacturers month and year it was made stamped onto the top of each piece .
This set being manufactured in July 2013 , which is only a few months ago that it left the Northern rubber Factory in Retford . it was then sold to our Trade stockist Peradon , then sold to GCL billiards ready to fit to our clients table , we try to order rubber that is current year dated and as new as possible .
This rubber has a life span of between 15 to 25 years depending on how it is treated and temperature of the room the table is kept in .
it does not come cut ready to Glue fit , this has to be Glued on then cut and hand rasped and sanded  to a template either cardboard copy of original pocket openings or to official match templates   by the Time served billiards fitter and is one of the most skilled job’s that the fitter has to learn .

On strip down we found it to have the lowest quality in Strachan range cloth fitted , it was their special grade and a quick look at this web page and you can clearly see the grades listed
http://www.wsptextiles.com/strachan-snooker-cloths-product-range

Strachan listing from top grade to bottom grade is as follows.
1/  Number 10 as used by professionals
2/ 6811 tournament 30 oz as used by IBSF tournaments …this is my main recommended cloth for clubs and private house’s.
3/ 6811 Tournament 32 oz longer lasting version of 30 oz but slower .
4/ New club 6811 cloth , faster version of normal club 6811
5/  6811 original club cloth , long lasting long nap , OK for club use but not that much lower priced than 6811 tournament , my advice for the extra few £’s go for the better cloth
6/  STRACHAN SPECIAL Long lasting heavyweight cloth .
7/Sub substandard cloth , this is rejected by Strachan as cloth with a fault in , normally has SUBSTANDARD over the top of the iron on West of England  transfer , we can get this but it only works out at around £40 saved over 6811 tournament using this substandard cloth , my recommendation unless you are a snooker club with around 12 tables the saving is just not worth it .
not always available , but we can get it . I do not like using substandard cloths but have included it because some fitters undercut my first grade price by saying they are fitting 6811 tournament Strachan , they are but they do not tell you it is substandard and that is why they are £40 lower priced than using 6811 tournament 30 0z good grade.

Also from above list you may note that 4 cloth grades carry the same 6811 grade number , I use the best grade 99% of the time  , when getting quotes always ask for the top grade 6811 , the lower priced 6811 cloth may result in you thinking you are being ripped off as you may think you are getting the best grade 6811  , confusing I know , why they just cannot number the cloth from 1 to 6 ? it would make like so much simple to understand the grades and the position they  hold in the listings .

As you can see from this listing special is at the bottom of the list and is only described as heavyweight and long life , not the best cloth to play on and also not used at any major tournaments .

We fitted the Strachan 6811 Tournament 30 oz weight which is Strachan s next to top cloth grade , this cloth is used by many clubs as a good cloth to play on , and is used by the IBSF for exclusive use at the World championships and the Asian and European snooker championships  , we could have fitted Strachan Number 10 as used on TV tables , but this is very thin and would not last the club very long , No 10 is only for around 6 months to a years use , it is very thin and just would not stand up to the rough world of club snooker use. it is also very expensive and costs around £550 /£600 to have a table recovered in No10 so almost double the cost of 6811 tournament . Did you know they recover the tables on TV tournaments every three days , that’s why they play without spots and the cloth can be very fast and thin ?

the next photo is of the cushions all having been fitted and pockets shaped with the new rubber ,

Just to show we also use the 6811 Tournament 30 oz on the cushions , the next photo shows it being fitted to a cushion and the wood retaining slip is inserted , you can clearly see the cloth transfer on this piece.

the next photo is of the finished table , showing all nets and leathers had been replaced , the table had one cushion bolt missing which we also replaced , a broken ball rail replaced .

If you have a table that requires this type of work , then please contact Geoff on 07753466064 or email at c.large@btinternet.com
We will be happy to quote you . our main area is the East Midlands surrounding counties , but we do venture out further just call us and we will let you know if we can do the work .
This run up to Christmas has Snooker and pool table work that involves Ashbourne , Perth in Scotland , North London , Colwyn Bay Wales , Clitheroe , Scunthorpe, Skegness , Newark , Leicester , Derbyshire , Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire .