I got myself into some trouble the other month , when I was asked to quote for a small dining billiard table .
the lady in question was asking my availability and cost quote in renovating the playing area of a 6ft Riley dining billiard table .
I went into great detail of informing the future client that cost was the same labour rate as  a full size snooker table .
only the materials used which would be around 1/3rd  of the price was the only saving on price .
I also pointed out I was not available for another 8 weeks !
this promted my future client to leave me an unnecessary bad feedback on my yell saying I was rude to her ? ( yellow pages ) which I had removed as it was totally untrue in what she was making out that I had stated to her , I still have the emails sent and received to prove this .
I gave her a full break down of what it would cost and stated many fitters would not work on these table and avoid them , I take them on now and again but not in great numbers , but I did admit that I would rather work on 9ft to full size tables and had stated this on my web site in the past and was there for all to read ,  these small tables where very fiddly to work on and can cause problems . But I could still do the work but not for another 8 weeks .
Just to show what sort of problems these small tables throw at you , here is an example that I am working on at the moment .

rock hard crumbling rubber on this 7ft version , old 5/8th flat laminated rubber circa 1910 to 1920 .
I would have to remove the rubber and rebate the block to take 5/8th by 5/8th L shape rubber which would give a much better bounce .

as you can see it does not fall off , it was stuck on with animal glue and took me 4 hours to get all 6 cushions stripped of the old rubber alone .

my method of removing the old rock hard crumbling laminated rubber , and inch at a time taking care not to damage the rebate of the wood block .
I did try steaming them to try and soften the glue this made it worse so gave up and went back to  levering them off 1 inch at a time .

the rebate cleaned up , this is OK for the depth of the 5/8th by 1/4 inch  rubber but not the height of the rebate , so I had to hand plane each cushion .
I had to take off another 1/4 of an inch from the shelf of this rebate to fit the new L shape rubber .
also some nails where in the way and had to be removed otherwise it would ruin my rebate plane .

with the rebate taken down a bit more , this made sure the new 5/8th L shape rubber had a good shelf to sit on before glueing into place .

and because I had to remove some nails in the block , I made sure the block was secured back against the main body of the cushion by screwing them on .
if you have loose blocks then the slip that secures the cushion cloth will be loose and the cloth will come out .

the new rubber fitted and the corner angle shaped and undercut .

the middle angle shaped and undercut , the cushion is now ready for recovering .
this whole process with me going up to chesterfield to strip  the table down and bring the cushions in , stripping the old rubber of the blocks repairing preparing the rebate , and fitting the new rubber has taken two days so far .
in that time I  could have re-rubber and re-covered plus fit nets and leathers to a full size table .
I still have another days work fitting bag nets and leathers , fitting the bed cloth with traveling back up to chesterfield , and fitting the very poor condition raise and fall lifters , which had to be welded to repair them . I will post more photo’s when I finish the table .
this is the second riley diner that I have renovated for this client , his first was a 5ft version which he was sold as a 6ft from an Ebay seller , he went out and bought the 7ft because of that mistake , but if anyone wants a nice 5ft version then get in touch and I will pass on your details to the Chesterfield client .
This was what I was trying to explain why fitters do not like working on such small tables , they can take a lot of valuable time away from our main work on 9ft to full size snooker tables .
we actually  lose a whole day on these small tables if the condition is like this .
so you can see why I only do one now and again . unless of course it is in excellent condition and just requires a re-cover , then no problem , but get one like this 7ft crumbling hard rubber type and your in for a long hard job to rectify it .

Today I have been over to Burton on Trent to re-cover a full size snooker table .
I have worked on this table a few times in the past , the last time in 2010 I re-rubbered the table .

the table when I arrived was in very good order , many working men’s clubs would have got at least another 2 years out of the cloth that was coming off .
but this club likes to keep the standards up to as new for it’s members  .
the table only really gets played on one night a week !
The table is circa 1910 having rigidus frame leg spacing’s , where the centre legs are closer together , this is because the ridgidus design relies on cross members along each slate joint rather than the normal munting slate supports found on other manufacturers tables.

photo of cushions freeze removed sometimes we call these capping’s , to reveal steel plates , that many call Steel block cushions .

A close up of the steel plate with the name Burroughs and watts Soho Square London .

cushion covered showing middle angle

Bed cloth going on , the cloth of choice being Strachan 6811 tournament 30 oz .
some people call this 6811 gold tournament  .

the printed transfer every 10ft off the roll .

two blue lines and woven gold lettering of 6811 tournament down the length of one side of the cloth
ask the fitter  to see this and the transfer if you have been promised 6811 gold tournament 30 oz .
6811 30 oz tournament is the most used cloth in the industry .

the finished table , if you are wondering who the two Gentlemen in the large paintings are the one on the left is Micheal  Arthur Bass ( 1st lord of Burton ) 1837 to 1909 , and the one on the right is his father Thomas Bass 1799 to 1884 as you may have worked out the owners of Bass Brewery the main employers in Burton on Trent .
there are not many of these Professional Gentleman’s clubs around anymore , not sure on the rules of membership , but in the old days you would have had to be a man of outstanding position and standing to even be considered for membership .
it is still a Men only membership club !
I thought people would be interested in some of my more unusual places of work , this is one such place that is for sure,  heaped in history and tradition .
Many a game of billiards and Life pool would have been played in this club in Victorian and early Edwardian times, over a cigar and a glass of port while discussing business .
they still serve luncheons and the dining table was set when I arrived just in case someone called in for business lunch with cook on standby , but today the place was not used .

We have a another new local site we are supplying  a Brand New 7ft  coin operated Supreme winner installed this Saturday .

I was called out to try and rectify a warped slate on a table which was heavily packed underneath the slate with Beer mats by the previous fitter in an attempt to level it ., and after explaining the cost of S/H and new tables my client became interested in Renting a Brand New table as their current table was over 10 years old and showing it’s age .

a typical bodge is to pack under slate with beer mats , I have a much better way of rectifying dipped slates .
We went through what a second hand one would cost or a Brand New one , then I explained about our Rental offers which include two re-covers a year at Winter and summer league starts  and new set of balls and cues and chalk every year .
They will now pay  a rental of £18.50p or £80 per month and every bit of maintenance is included including a re-cover every 6 months in better quality Strachan 6811 cloth .
They where paying £400 a year for two re-covers from the other firm and still playing on table that was showing it’s age at over 10 years old .
the pool team had started to moan about the table .
The Rental Supreme Winner in Black pearl table would be brand new latest edition  , I also explained that after taking into account what he was paying another firm for his table to be recovered twice a year in Club cloth , We would re-cover in a better quality Strachan 6811 tournament cloth  and a new set of balls and full maintenance of coin operation , nothing to pay extra after taking into account putting it against their tax bill as an expense to the business and the tax relief it was easy to see the deal suited them .
I suggested they advertise their table which had only just been re-covered , Which I believe they sold very quickly , and have now arranged for the New table to be installed this Saturday .

Two of our Rental supreme winners in Black pearl  tables that where installed at a local Stapleford pub .

there are a few differences from an old table that have been improved upon on the latest models , for example the slotted new ball rails means less of jump back out of pocket falls that you used to get with the old ball rails .

an older type ball rail of the Supreme winner , it is possible to have new rails fitted to old tables though .

also the latest editions have solid cast metal chrome corners , you can tell the difference from the older plastic chrome corners this metal one has raised lettering .
and thinner slimmer alloy trim behind the cushions .

The older plastic ones eventually lose the chrome plating and you can see the Supreme writing is sunken into the plastic and has no raised letters .
you may notice that the old ones can sometimes have black plastic trims just behind the cushions which break easy and the table always looks a mess , the later ones have alloy trims .
My client was very lucky that I had a spare Brand new one in stock , there is a 6 to 8 week waiting time for new tables to come out of the Factory , my next batch are due in on 31st of August .
I buy my Supreme winner 7ft coin op tables in pairs and they normally get installed within a few weeks of coming into stock as rental tables .
we are expanding our local sites as we go along steady and slowly increasing our superb two re-cover rental solution to pub landlords .
the word is getting out around the local pubs and clubs and we have new clients monthly inquiring about our pool table rental terms .
At GCL billiards we are a Maintenance company for Full size snooker table / American Pool tables / and UK pool tables .
I am aiming to set a limit on the amount of Rental tables we can operate along side our Cue sports table repair business .

We are slowly getting towards just over half way to our target of 40 local tables out on rental contracts .
May I point point out we are fully cue sports maintenance only table fitters , and do not operate gaming machines or football tables , therefore you have our 100% concentration on maintaining your Pool table and not sidelined to repair other types of amusement machines .
You have to ask yourself when looking for a pool table rental company , Would you want a one arm bandit mechanic to work on your pool or snooker table or a fully qualified time served Billiards fitter with over 40 years experience maintain it ?

our standards are that much better than the one arm Bandit fitter .

now and again I get small tables to re-cover , not my favorite type of tables to re-cover
but you take the rough with the smooth and pull one in n ow and again .
I would much prefer to work on sectional slate bed tables above 8ft size than tables of 5ft /6ft and 7ft type and even some 8fts made the same way .
So this table I took on and found a few problems that I have come across before ina  modern Dining table with one piece slate bed .

First of all the strip down , bed cloth off and cushions stripped for re-covering
These small tables are wood screwed on cushions , believe it or not I came a cross a 10ft made the same way the other week !
it is OK for small tables like this to be wood screwed , but table’s above 7ft and maybe some 8ft should all be sectional slate bed and bolted into slate bed bolts for the cushions fixings .you get a much better bounce with proper bolted into slate bed cushion bolts .

on Snooker tables there should be a rebated slot on the rear of the wood block that joins the wood polished surround of the cushion to trap the cushion cloth in
on this table it had screwed on blocks over the cushion cloth which was stapled behind the block for fixing .

a photo of a proper slip fitted cloth , note the thin slip of wood fixing the back edge of the cloth to the cushion .

The slate bed had a few streaks of Marbling , this is natural marble vein going through the slate sediment before it was crushed and formed many millions of years ago .
this slate is Italian and the table was made the 1990s /2000.
it is estimated that welsh slate was formed 400 million years ago . and it is not uncommon to find minute sea creature fossils trapped in the slate when an old billiard table two inch slate is broken

I managed to re-cover the screwed on cushion blocks and cushions because they did not do the trick of putting the rubber on over the screws , I have had a few of these tables to do in the past
it is pot luck if the person screwed the cushions on under the rubber or below it .
if the rubber was over the screws then i would have had to take the whole set of rubbers off and refasten the rubber .

The Original cloth was not in bad condition when comparing it to other tables I have recovered , but my client was not happy with the low quality thick fluffyness of the cloth
and required nice fast short napped Strachan 6811 29 oz cloth , this was the last piece of 29 oz I had in stock .
and only enough for a 6ft bed and cushions .

I will not disclose who I did this work for as it is unfair to start finding faults on their table and saying where it is .
but I like to inform people who may be looking for a dining table and to see the pitfalls of buying one that has not quite been made correct .
My client knows about these faults as I pointed out what could have been better made to him during strip down and re-cover and leveling .
my client actually inherited the table with the House so it cost him nothing but wanted it playing better .
He knows if he wished to upgrade to a proper made Riley Diner table what to now look out for .

a few things that would have made this table much better .

1)….Slip rebates in cushions so it could be re-covered with ease .
2)… Anti Bow beams under the slate bed to stop the slate bowing in the middle
3)… Large penny washers for the cushions screws
4)… higher quality bag nets .

the above table is a copy of the original Riley Dining dual height lifter tables like this one showing the Anti bow beams and lifters which they should have incorporated into their effort of a dining table . .

the modern Riley table is made like this now

I prefer the old type and especially the barley twist leg designed one

A very nice one I renovated in Lincolnshire recently

the same table with it’s solid oak table tops on .
some tables have a differnat type of anti bow mechanism , like this Burroughs and watts anti bow adjustable threaded bar version .
a simple device of wood beam across the middle a bar stretched under and threaded at each end fixed by bracket and adjusted with nuts lifts the center of the table up if it is sagging .

Just been over to a Caravan Park club house in the East Midlands to put back in playing order a very rough and neglected table that has not been touched for years .
the owners did warn me that the table had seen better days , and could not remember when the last re-cover was carried out .
this is what I found when I arrived ,
A club in the throws of renovation Decorators and builders and window fitters all working at the same time .

the club house having new Double glazing Fitted.

Proctors Caravan Park in Barrow on Soar .

the table is a Riley fluted turned leg circa 1910/20’s , but it had Riley Viceroy cushions fitted to it , an upgrade to this type of table .

having windows of three sides of the room you can see that the sun had faded the cloth to almost white !
the fact that it had tacks holding the cushion cloth on and not more modern staples fixings informs me of around the 1960′ early 70’s that the last time this table was re-covered
the cloth was very thick that was coming off , the table must have played very slow , and the rubber was cracking and deforming .

having stripped all the old cloth and cushion slips off the cushions I then cleaned and sanded the blocks ready to take the glue for the new rubber that I was fitting .
the six new Northern rubbers are aligned on my glueing board also ready for glue to be applied .
Take a look at the table at this stage then look at the finished photo further on down my report to see the difference .

I used the template as a guide and then opened them up a little more at the front to allow for the not so serious player to gain confidence and return to play on the table .
Not all clubs demand such tight tournament pockets , and after discussion with the owner it was decided to open them up a little , with these old table it is not possible to open them up to the rear
we have to leave some rubber on to protect the cloth from splitting .

The undercut of the rubber is hand rasped and sanded , and my aim is to keep the flat profile to the end of the rubber , in the old days they used to rasp a undercut to a point , it is now done like this on more modern tables , and looks a lot better for it .

and at 3 and 3/4 inch to the fall the pockets are around 1/4 of an inch more generous than TV match tables at the fall .
but are actually tighter at the rear of the pocket , due to having less of a gap on this period 1910/20’s table at the rear , over a more modern cut cushions as used on TV tables with steel cushions .

cushions finished having fitted new rubber and re clothed in Strachan 6811 30 oz tournament cloth , it was time to move on to the leveling of the table .
This table had ultra thick Welsh slates on it , these are very true slates unlike the more modern softer Italian and Chinese slates as used today .
the table leveled up very well , I only had to shim disc under 6 legs to gain the accuracy I was looking for .
Earlier this week I had to re level two table’s in a snooker club in Lincolnshire that had been leveled useing playing cards and beer mats between slate and frame , that job took some time to put correct .
So a lesson to anyone who assembles their own table , level it only by packing with shims under each leg , do not shim it under the slate bed .

with slate now level and the joints skimmed and sanded with car body filler it was time to lay the cloth on ready for tacking .

The bed cloth fitted and marked out , now ready to refit the cushions .

the finished table , you may also note I also replaced the nets and leathers

and a photo from the other end  , You can now see a vast improvement from when I started from the badly worn and faded cloth with bad deformed rubber .

to a more inviting fully refurbished playing area of the table you now see .
a more faster cloth fitted and with extra bounce from the new profile Northern rubber , from a ploughed field to a proper Billiard table surface .
and with regular Brushing and ironing it will stay that way .
The owners are to replace the old carpet with Carpet tiles and finish the decorating off , and fit the new modern ;lighting for the table .
I am sure the Caravan Park members and visitors will find the club more inviting and the table will get the use it deserves .