We where instructed to dismantle and remove an old billiard table for recycle and then transport a full size Riley Aristocrat from Stoke on Trent over to RAF Waddington for install .
this work was organised over a matter of a couple of months , as anyone who has dealings with any of our armed services would expect , these things have to be discussed by committees and get the stamp of approval .
I have worked on the old table in the RAF Waddington’s Officers Mess for many years and yes it had seen better days .
David contacted me and asked if I knew of any Riley Aristocrats that where for sale , and just by coincidence I had just put a private sale one up for sale on my web site .
John from stoke had contacted me , he had moved into a split level bungalow and inherited a snooker table with the sale and they had no use for it .
I put buyer and seller together to thrash out a price for the table , this is how I work at GCL Billiards we do not carry our own stock but prefer to sell direct from sellers house to buyers house and the buyer uses GCL Billiards we hope to move and install the table , of which we quote for before they arrange to buy .
I have been in the Billiards and snooker maintenance business for over 40 years and believe me gone are the days of large firms stocking tables and selling them , this is the way most table sales are now conducted .
Priced sensibly and taking into account the removal and deliver install costs they do sell this way far better than on Ebay where they can go months without any one buying .
We know that anyone seeing a table on our web site will more than likely choose GCL billiards to move it , it is like buying and not having to search around for transport or a qualified firm to install it .
and it means GCL Billiards do not have large stocks of hard to sell full size snooker tables taking up space in a costly rented warehouse with rates and electricity , all our stocks are direct from seller to buyer , no middleman fees to pay .
So what’s in it of us ?
where do we make our money ?
on the basis that most buyers use GCL billiards to collect the table and deliver and install . We charge for that experienced workmanship .
Geoff Large A qualified time served billiards fitter with over 40 years personal served experience and a right hand man in my mate Steve who has worked with me for around 14 years now to help the move .
As you could see the table was in very good order in the basement room of our sellers split level Bungalow , but with good access from the rear Driveway at ground level to load up .
on dismantle I noticed that the table did not have any of the new adjustable brackets that support the center section of the slate and the bearers where not touching or supporting the slate bed .
so I reported this to David at RAF Waddington who sanctioned for the fitting of these brackets at an extra cost to improve the table .
And I did find when I assembled the table that it did actually have a slight dip in the center of the slate and these brackets adjusted the support upwards and rectified this problem with just a few turns of 6 bolts .
Photo of one of the brackets fitted , the adjustment bolt and a few turns lift the beam upwards to deflect any warp or sagging that may be present in the slates .
we have been modifying most table that we fit with these brackets as it does help maintain a true level and most importantly prevents table slate sagging .
A common occurrence of the many table manufactured in the 1970’s 80’s onward .
most tables these days do have the adjustable brackets on them , but this has only been in the last 10 years that we have seen this .
so when buying a table just look under the table for these brackets on the center slate supports .
as you can see the cloth was in extremely good condition , hardly played on and I was told it had had a recent re-cover from the previous owners who John bought the Bungalow from .
the polish capping’s surround where also in very good condition hardly a scratch on them which you do get from belt buckles .
This table was sold for just £500 , A trader from Sheffield was after it for resale , but John sold it to the RAF and was very happy that the Officers Mess had the table , Johns relative was also in the RAF and he was more than happy to inform the other Snooker Trader buyers it was sold and held onto it for a couple of months while payment was sorted out by David , what with holidays and people being away from the base this took a few weeks , but the day finally came together this week for GCL Billiards to collect and install .
all that is required now is new lighting , we have recommended two 1200 x 600 LED light panels with hanging kits available on line for around £60 per panel .
some tables even have three of these side ways on . hung around 6 ft from the bed .
