Saturday and working again when will I ever get a full weekend off ?
Got a phone call Friday afternoon informing me of this L shape tear on a club table in Derby .
with a few bills coming in the club wanted me to sew the tear up and then around September maybe re-cover the table ,
but for now they just wanted to get the table back in use for a nominal costing .
this is what I found when I got there this morning .

a 4 inch by 4 inch tear , obviously someone knew they had done this , not saying deliberate but it took some downward cueing stabbing power and  a sharp ferrule or very hard tip to rip this cloth to this extent . Especially as this cloth has had two stretches in the past and is on very tight not slack at all .

to sew this large tear the cloth had to be sewn from the reverse which meant two cushions coming off and taking tacks out of two sides .

Right I can now get at the tear and get the cloth to close up a bit rather than trying to pull it together sewing from above , which was impossible due to tension of cloth .
so not a quick repair like some are , this tear was too large to do that . with traveling of around 10 mile each way , this repair took almost three hours of the day up .

Lock stitching the tear together from the reverse side.

when finished I always rub a little candle wax over the threads to strengthen them

the repair of tear fully sewn up and tapped level with hammer and wood block , then cloth is ironed as flat as I could get it .
there is some slight ball deviation when a ball rolls over it but this will get better as the table is brushed and ironed more .
but at least this repair will last them until September , unless someone rips it more or decides to have a go at the repair .
I have suggested  CTV in the room from now on .

not many firms would do a call out job like this , preferring to turn it into a full re-cover

but GCL Billiards do work with clubs to look for a more affordable solution to keeping the table in play until they can afford a re-cover
like most clubs , they have expensive rates and bills to pay at certain times of the year , and the budget for the next re-cover for this table is in September 2017 .

Just been over to Hunters Bar this week to re-cover 7 Supreme winner 7×4 pool tables .
6 in Strachan 6811 tournament and one in Strachan super pro speed .

with 7 supreme winners and 4 Sam K steel 9ft pool tables int his club , it gets very busy at times

a photo showing  the Sam k steel 9ft American pool 9ft Tables in the back ground .

gluing of the bed cloths to the slate bed

We strip every staple out of the cushions , cowboy speed fitters cover over old staples and it is not unusual to have 3 to 4 sets of staples left in when stripping down
at GCL billiards we like to take every staple out every time we do a re-cover .

close up of a finished table  re-clothed in Strachan 6811 tournament cloth .
the day before I went to Grantham I also re-covered 4 Supreme winners in sleaford at the Reel Club in the new Simonis speed sky blue cloth .

we have a Silver pool table at £350 Cash on collection . this is a PRIVATE SALE . and not part of GCL billiards stock .
a supreme Winner 7×4 coin operated with super six coin mech adjustable from 10p to 50p
The table has a hardly worn Strachan 777  Blue cloth fitted to it .
this pool table has come back off site and is now for sale as it stands buyer collects from long Eaton near Junction 25 of M1.
in my opinion all it requires is a respray by silver Halfords can of paint to top surround to look good again .
it is a second hand Pool table and has the usual knocks and scrapes associated with on site use in a pub site .

the top surround is suffering from coin flipping to the silver surround and has marks above where the coin mech is as seen in above photo .
this table will look good again with around £20 worth of spray paint and masking tape , that is all it requires to make it look really good like this photo below when it originally went out on site 18 months ago

the table has been used since this re-cover but no much , and the cloth is in very good condition .

This photo is the current condition of the table as it was picked up off site and as it is for sale .
this price is for pick up only from Long Eaton near junction 25 of M1.

as you can see if the top was resprayed like this photo the table would look a lot better for it .

The table side door has new locks fitted 4 silver legs to match the cabinet and two sets of balls , a set of blue and yellows and a set of spots and stripes
it has a triangle brush and two cues .
the coin mech can be set for FREE play if required .
there is also a ply wood hard top cover to the table as seen in this above photo .
the table is also up for sale on another site so please inquire to see if still available .
In my opinion the cloth has plenty of life left in it , a re-cover in Strachan 6811 is an extra £185 if required , but as said it does not require this .
these COIN OPERATED supreme winners are around £1200 to £1250 delivered and set up depending where you purchase from  , grab yourself a second hand one at below 1/4 of the price of new.

here is one example of silver 7×4 Supreme winner table with blue cloth and coin operated at £1253.00p

Supreme Winner 6 ft, 7 ft, 8 ft English Pool Table

We are off to Belfast for a long weekend 12 am Friday to late Monday .
we will be out of office from Friday March 10th   until Tuesday 14th of March , no telephone calls or Emails will be answered during these 4 days .
Myself and my family are ice hockey followers and full season ticket holders at Nottingham Panthers , and we have not been to an away game in Belfast as a Family for years, so decided to do it this year and go watch our local team the Nottingham Panthers take on the Belfast Giants , the weekend is a double header meaning  two games one on Friday evening and the other on Sunday afternoon .

as you can see when the Nottingham Panthers are in town the rink is normally a sell out at the Odyssey Arena  in Belfast .

sometimes a fight breaks out , I have been watching Ice Hockey since 1980 , you do get fights and scuffles it is very rare to see an all out bench clearance these days but it does occur now and again
A player normally gets a 5 minute penalty for fighting , if one is adjudged to be the instigator he gets an extra 2 mins .
you get 2 mins for roughing , but things like checking to the head gets you an 5 + match and you are thrown out the match , a team member has to take your 5 min penalty
a panel sits during the week and that player who checks to the head  can get an extra 5 game penalty .
if blood is on the ice the game stops the ice machine ( zamboni ) comes on and cleans the ice before it can resume .
now come on ,  tell me this is exciting than watching football ?

I was actually at this match in Belfast a few years ago now, this kicked off after the game on the hand shakes . ( no that is not a ghost in the background but some sort of advertising mascot )

Nottingham Panthers already have a very highly prized trophy this season in the continental Cup winners 2017  ( its actually a shield )
no other club in UK hockey has won a European trophy , Panthers are the only team to win a European Trophy and they did it this year in Italy .
It looks like Cardiff Devils will win the league this year but chasing them all the way to the end of the season are the Belfast Giants so we expect a tough two matches this weekend .
Cardiff have already won the League Challenge Cup ( normally panthers win this every season ) .
so whats left is the Play off trophy which always takes place in Nottingham the home of the panthers .
10 teams in the league top 8 go into a play off 1/4 finals , last 4 teams meet in Nottingham to play two semi finals on the Saturday and the last two teams in the final on the Sunday
all the fans from around the UK come to the play off finals it is like their Wembley .

When you win the big three and that’s a grand slam in ice hockey .
Winning the Continent cup this season must go down as an equal to lifting all these three trophies in 2012 -1013 season.

I have been out to Glen Parva near Leicester yesterday
my clients where looking for a cloth that was more in keeping to their modern designed home furnishings .
Their choice of Cloth to be Grey , and I was able to source the higher quality Strachan 6811 tournament in Grey as a special order .
we only carry the main three colours of Green /Blue / and burgundy in stock , any other colour is a special order and postage to us is extra for this ,

I had previously called in and took the cushions back to our workshop for new rubber fitting and profiling .
so got straight into applying the glue to the slate bed  with contact adhesive around the outside edge only .
The burgundy red is the old cloth laid over the new Grey cloth to protect it from accidental glue spillage or over spreading of glue.

with our clients neutral colour scheme they wanted a neutral coloured cloth .

My clients are delighted with cloth choice and quality of the work carried out .

Been over to Skegness in Lincolnshire to re-cover four full size snooker tables and also fit new nets and leathers and general check around the other tables for faults and rectify .

In this photo we have three tables side by side that have had the full works of Re-cover plus new nets and leathers on all pockets

Looking much better when they have new nets and leather fitted with a new cloth re-cover
the problem with old leather sis they split on the face side this then chips away at the balls hitting the unprotected brass pocket plate .

the other table that was due a re-cover was on the other side of the room .
Again a full set of new nets and leathers fitted .

a general check over of all the other tables ensured the coming season that all tables are in use and fully operational until the  next child or adult rips one or swing on the ball rails .
Butlins do keep a check on things though and do call me in on a regular basis over the year , we also do the Hot shots  american pool tables too .

I had a job the other week to dismantle and relocate an 8ft American Titan pool table .
the table had been put together in a very bad way , cloth was not fitted good and gaps around the pocket plates
I suspect the old owner had set his table up himself .
here area few Photo’s explaining what was wrong about the table on strip down .


Very badly fitted top cushion surround with gaps up to 3/8ths thick between surround and pocket plate .

Badly fitted bed cloth

so we dismantled the table right down to the base

Transported it to a our new owners Home
slates on top of sub frame level and joints filled in ready to sand as one unit of slate .

and yes I even managed to refit that badly fitted cloth but only just !

and got the plates to fit without gaps !

a very happy client at the end of the Day

Been a bit late posting some work on the web site due to me being too busy with hands on work and not enough time to sit down in front of a PC.
So here is job one that I did a three to four  of weeks ago .
The Phoenix Snooker Club in Eastwood Nottinghamshire ,  is a busy venue in the Nottingham Pool leagues and snooker .
now under the appointed manger of Ron Sharp who has some good experience in organizing Pool and snooker tournaments in the local area .
it was Steve the owner who booked me in for a return visit to this busy club .
My work this time around was to re-cover three full size Karnehm and Hillman tables upstairs and have a general check round for nets and leathers straps , and leveling of tables .
here area  few photo’s of the Snooker tables .

All the tables are Karnehm and Hillman manufacture circa 1980s

I had worked in the past on all of these tables bar this one , but I got it this time
I think because it is near the door it is the last one to be booked out .

all of the tables where re-covered in top quality Strachan 6811 tournament cloth 30 oz weight
The secret about this club is , it is very well known for it’s pool tournaments and has a huge following in that area
many county pool team matches are played in this club .
leaving the snooker tables ticking over upstairs in what I would describe as a quiet peaceful environment just the sort of room you would want to play snooker  , so if you are struggling finding a club where a table may be available for booking on ?

Give Ron and Steve a phone at the Phoenix club 0n 01773 760 459  plenty of car parking across the road  .