Today we have been over to Edwalton in Nottingham
our work to day was to strip down the Sam K Steel table for re-rubber and -recover

as you can see the cloth was not in bad condition , but the rubbers where going hard and no rebound value in them at all ,
it was impossible to play the game with no rebound in the cushions .
To get at the rubbers the cushion cloth would have to come off so our client chose a full re-cover and re-rubber .
The table was purchased S/H but is one of the better conditioned ones probably private owned from new rather than one from say a bowling or working men’s club ,  apart from the rubber that should have been replaced the table was in extremely good condition .
the table was purchased for a firm in Leeds area some years ago .
When buying any second hand table always check the rebound value of the cushions .

top surround shroud off and cushions fully separated we take the cloth and rubber off the cushions .

As you can see the original rubber from new was still on the table and was deteriorating fast .

As you can see the old rubber that I am holding , and the new rubber just below hand attached and glued to the cushion alloy block .
the new rubber was supplied by the UK firm of Peradon .

to re-cover we used Strachan Super pro speed cloth a 70/30 mix of wool to man made fibers .
it is in my opinion the best speed cloth available .
Easy to form around difficult angles and pocket falls .

the finished table , new rubber , new cloth and slate joints re skimmed and sanded and check of level ready for play .

these solid steel framed American pool tables are manufactured in Spain , and are considered to be the best type to buy here in the UK .
they are over £4000 new today , but you can pick good second hand ones up from £800 on site as they are to £2000 renovated .
but if buying renovated always ask for new rubber .
the makers name plate , Sam Billiards , manufactured in Spain , but all spares available from UK stockist in Coventry .
so I do recommend these tables over any american Brunswick in the UK , which you may find hard to get hold of spares for .
I have had problems in the past getting hold of spares for the american Gold crown Brunswick , but find that a phone call to SAM in Coventry and they have the spares for Sam tables .

Please note ,  it is a two man job to even re-cover an american pool table as the heavy surround and skirting have to be taken off in one piece ,
and is too heavy and awkward for one man to do this  .
where a full size snooker table is only a one man job to re-cover .
therefore pricing to do any work on these type of tables always incur a two man day rate .

Just waiting for prices from supreme to confirm if it is worthwhile keeping these in stock , they look good in the Dark grey finish .

We had a job come in this past month , a client of mine was a bit worried about a 10ft table that he had bought from a Midlands firm which appeared to be badly fitted and important slate bearing parts missing …. yes there where no inner slate supports or muntin’s as we call them in the trade .
the table was suffering from out of level and bad slate joints , the slates where badly leveled using thick card between slate and frame .
My advice to him was to at least make sure that who ever sold him the table the chance to put the table right , they did send someone out to try and rectify the joint problem , but was fobbed off that this table did not require slate bearers , the firm in question made an offer to my client for his money back in full , which my client gratefully accepted .
He then asked me a recommendation of what make and type of table would be best for him , my advice was a Karnehm and Hillman 10ft .
my client found one reasonably priced on Ebay second hand but in very good order apart from cloth fade and dirty leathers and nets .
I was instructed to pick this table up for him from a village not far from Dover , and transport it over to my clients home near the Malvern hills .

the frame is up ,we had to do one important improvement to the table frame  .

The improvement was to cut out the fixed muntin slate supports that did not touch the slate,
and fit adjustable brackets so that they could be adjusted upwards to touch and support the slate bed , a very simple procedure that took just 20 to 30 minutes 
the leveling done and the slate is slid on , 5 sections in this 10ft the same as a full size
the fine leveling is now done next and slate linings fitted to tack the cloth to .
then we fill the slate joints and blend in , no slate joints to show through cloth .

cloth laid on ready to fit

cloth fitted , now ready to mark out and iron , before the cushions are bolted back on .

New nets and leathers fitted to bring back to as new condition .

finished table showing new nets and leathers fitted

Cleaning up , you may have noticed we protected our clients cream carpet with Blanket wraps as we worked around the table .

balls set up ready for a game , my client was very happy with his table and the installation , I went through the set up with him step by step showing what we had done ,
also those adjustable slate bearer muntins and how to adjust if he gets a problem going forward with slate sagging .
I do not think he will ,but at least he can sleep in the knowledge that this table can be adjusted if this happens .
and I am only a phone call away to instruct him to do this himself or have me do it at a later date when the cloth is do a re-stretch .
I had some previous experience with the Midlands  firm that supplied the first table to our client and they did make  a habit of fitting tables without the adjustable bearers even though the table supplied came with them .
like this example of a table they also supplied yet I went over and retro fitted these to make the full size table better as the balls where rolling in from each side of the table .
adjustment upwards of this centre slate support  could rectify a problem of sagging slates and should be fitted either as a fixed support or adjustable like these .

Been over to a Retirement village in Milton Keynes the other week to re-cover a full size snooker table .
the table was a Titan import type and had the adjustable slate bearers , although these had not been wound up to the slate when erected ?

Cushions off and the strip down is started , plus re-covering of each cushion .

this table having at least 7 years use had become very dusty under the bed cloth .
that is Chalk dust .

cloth off and clean slates and check slate joints .

the cloth quality is the much asked for and used , Strachan 6811 tournament 30 oz pure new wool cloth .

another satisfied client , table also checked and adjusted for level , plus those adjustable slate bearers adjusted right up to the slate to do what they are supposed to do ,
SUPPORT  the slate from sagging in the middle .
Who ever first set this table up from new just forgot to go under the table and wind those bolts up to take the beams up to the slate bed in the center of the table .

this is what I mean by adjustable slate bearers .

and if a table does not have them I can retro fit them .

Last week I visited  a Home near Scunthorpe to re-cover a 7ft snooker table made in the 1980s by a firm from the north east .
these tables lack the cushion retaining slips that you would normally find and instead are screw off blocks .
Not what I like and really should not be done when all it takes is a rebate slot and  cushion slip wood insert to be made on construction  of the table .
If I was doing a re-rubber I would change the blocks to slip blocks , but this work was just a re-cover on site .
to make matters worse they screw the blocks over the cloth then glue and shape the rubber and over the screw heads !
result is  difficult to find screw heads to take the blocks off to re-cover this table , but we managed it .

the table as I found it , original first recover and faded cloth .

blocks off and staple new Grey Strachan 6811 cushion cloth to cushion back wood , this is how these tables are meant to be re-covered .

this is how i would expect to fit a normal cushion cloth , a slip or bead of wood is hammerd into a slot and traps the cloth
this wood is called  a cushion cloth retaining slip , note the word slip it is meant to slip in and slip out thus making re-covering a cushion easy to do .

fitting the bed cloth and trimming the waste off .

the finished table re-covered in Strachan 6811 tournament grey cloth

my client was very happy with the result and I did explain about the screw off blocks and the normal slip method .
and he watched me complete the work .
I have had a few clients ask me for Grey cloth , this is the third I have done this year .
and have an 8ft to do in the same cloth this month too .
but it is not always readily available , and can sometimes be a delay in getting hold of this Strachan cloth .

For the past two weeks I have had a chest pain that came on and it was not going away .
the pain  was upper chest and into left arm and today it got so bad I had to do something about it , after the Client who I was working for today commented I looked in a bad way .
He even offered  to take me to the Hospital in Newark , but I declined .
So it was no surprise that when I finally got home the pain got worse , and advice was sought by my wife , and after contacting 111 and consulted an on line Doctor who just sent the ambulance once  he had heard the symptoms .
Lucky for me it turned out to be a torn muscle or trapped nerve around my chest or neck region which the nerve endings also travels into the arm , hence the arm pain as well as chest pain .
so got the all clear that it is not a big problem and I can go about my work as normal , but to take it more easy .
I do have a high blood pressure reading and few other problems , but all in all not bad for 63 year old .

NOW GONE claimed for FREE ……

YOU MISSED A GOOD DEAL FOLKS , due to owner requiring room for other purpose and quick it was offered for FREE .

Table now claimed for FREE , new owner is arranging for GCL billiards to collect on 7th of November for 9th of November delivery to Dormansland in Surrey .
We do get these FREE tables for disposal now and again , due to room being required , this mainly due to house sales or recently purchased house which is the case with this one ,  and if not claimed for FREE we recycle them as another alternative , so we and the current owner where delighted that someone took a fancy to it as it was clearly too good to recycle .
this table is a very well made Riley Imperial .

ORIGINAL ADVERT .

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Just getting some more details about this Mahogany Riley Imperial full size snooker table , but another one that has to go from a Private seller ….NOW FREE !!!!!!
A Riley square leg looks modern so around circa 1970s onwards .

Table is free ….. all I know is the table has to go space is required .
looks like the cloth has faded and worn a bit so will at least require a re-cover and the expense of removal delivery and set up .
register your interest and i will look into it for you .
This table is Private owned it does not belong to GCL billiards .
if you would like a quote for GCL Billiards to collect and deliver and set please ask Geoff .
This table is near Wakefield …Yorkshire .