I have just spent the last three days traveling down to Cornwall and staying over for two nights before traveling back today .
I had previously visited the same home 5 weeks ago to dismantle the table after a flash flood had flooded the lower rooms to my clients house .
this table was not without it’s problems , the owner having bought the table in dismantled form and it came with the property and was stored in the garage
I had worked on this very table 8 years ago for the first time and noticed it had a odd slate on one end that had come from another table .

this is the set of slates back on the table , this end slate is smoother than the other slates ,
and I think the old table was used as a work bench at some time in it’s life due to very large score marks in the slate .

here is a close up of those score marks , it looks like someone has been cutting something on the slate bed and this is on 4 slates , the odd slate being smooth
and someone had removed the brass dowels on the joint of this odd slate so it would butt up to the 4 original slates .
I have seen this done on a few tables that have had a slate broken or damaged to a point that it cannot be used .
it is possible to do this but you may have to shim here and there under the odd slate to get the joint to stay level .

on one corner there had been some damage to the top of the slate , so I re-filled with car body soft sand filler , I was very pleased with the result
once the cloth is back on , no one will have a clue as to the condition of the slate bed on this tbale having all those score marks and damage in them .

as you can see I got it very level with thye rest of the slate bed .

time to fit the new cloth to the table , and my most popular and recommended choice is the Strachan 6811 30 oz tournament cloth

The finished Billiard table which is a Burroughs and watts pre 1895 circa , Bob the owner is very pleased with the way GCL Billiards handled the work , making two trips down to Cornwall 5 weeks apart
quoting for the Home Insurance approval to allow us to be succesfull with our quote , we have done a few insurance claims on snooker tables and pool tables mainly due to water or flood damage , but occasionally Fire or smoke damage too , Bob also asked for Me personally to carry the work out because he knew me from 8 years ago and knew I was up to the work involved to get it back to playing standard
I also sorted out three broken bolts that had been snapped off inside the slate bed , replacing them with new bolts and insert lugs .
The strangest insurance claim I have had to deal with was a pheasant flying into a window and smashing glass all over the cloth ripping the cloth and also scratching the cushion capping’s .
Bob the owner of this Billiard table in Cornwall designs high end Retro Stereogram’s mainly for the vinyl LP revival hobbyist , they are based on retro styling of the 1950’s and have Full valve amplification and all high end fitments and craftsmanship , Bob also restore old Dansette record players .

this is Bob’s Flagship , retro 1950’s designed Stereogram with valve amp , high end turntable and speakers in a Craftsman made cabinet , I will put POA
but to anyone who knows what high end hi fi costs you will have a good idea  , the sound by the way was very deep warm sound that only a Valve amp could reproduce .
Bob also let me have a peak at his other pride and joy .

a 4 seat Home cinema room with projector screen and also another top end surround sound hi fi system .
Bob lives in a beautiful countryside in the heart of Cornwall of which he maintains to a very high standard , not only did Bob’s snooker room get flooded but also the room with the stereogram in and this home cinema room and his Music room which housed  a grand piano , it was a right mess a few weeks ago , but it is now looking it’s best again after a major refurbishment from the Insurance e company and the specialists firms that undertook each part of the work .

I have been over to Willingham-by-stow near Gainsborough Lincolnshire to re-cover a supreme winner 7×4 pool table
the owner also has a full size snooker tbale that I re-covered around 2 years ago .
The room is a DIY built shed at the bottom of the Garden in what must be one of the largest ones I have worked in.

both tables in one of the largest Man caves I have worked in .

the room has a large Log Burning fire and it’s own Toilet room a kitchen area and a large screen TV.
the owner has built most of this shed out of reclaimed throw away materials as he works for a large Builder and rips Buildings apart he has access to re-use the throw away materials .

the slate bed is re-covered in Strachan Tournament 6811 all new wool and slightly lighter 29 oz cloth weight .
The cushions where re-covered in the heavier 30 oz Strachan tournament 6811 all wool cloth .

the table is around 2008 and is in excellent order , I did clean the insides out and washed the ball runs down .
My Client plays to a decent county level at World Rules Pool for Lincoln .

We have been over to Burton on Trent where we where instructed to replace the cushions and the fixings of the cushions
to more modern Allen key fitting upgrade for a super league table

Old poor designed four prong cushion fitting screw cam .

Brand new cushions which had full size snooker rubber fitted to them and the new Allen Key type fitting to fasten them on nice and tight .

cushions covered and fitted with Allen key bolts , and slate covered in nice new Burgundy 777 Strachan cloth

Finished table all it requires now is a new dust cover

Nice new fitted Peradon UK made dust cover to keep the sun from fading the cloth

I am about fed up with so called web designers contacting me by email and saying they can improve my web site and my business and my turnover .
I get around 50 a month saying they have this and that experience to redesign my web site .
I am very content with my web site and the business turnover and the fact that I am always busy proves this .
I get good feedback from my web site , and if you study the content it is more advisory than hard sell .
informing future clients how busy we are and how we go about our profession as a Qualified Billiards fitter
also showing the downfalls of cowboy work and how we rectify it .

I let my customers feedback guide me , I get good response from work that I have completed or even if it’s a bit of free information or guidance on tables .
We do not buy or sell snooker tables the market has been poor for years and it is a buyer’s market , so no profit to made from selling snooker tables unless you have something special or famous owner owned .
We like to stick to what we are good at and that’s fitting & maintaining snooker and pool tables

My web site gives good information , there are many stories about tables we have worked on
we do not try and be something we are not .
we do not pay £2000 for a nice designed e-commerce type web site , we go for a more direct personal approach that is easy to understand .
all our second hand snooker tables advertised on our web site  are privately owned and still at owners home address , you can deal direct with the seller unless the seller would like anonymity then we deal with the table sale on your behalf  and you save middle man fees this way , as we said we are not interested in collecting large stocks of snooker tables and paying warehouse storage only to sell one or two a year .
I have seen this done many times with other firms and it is a loss making enterprise to stock so many second hand tables when the demand is so low .
so we leave stock piling snooker tables to other firms that specialize  in buying and selling snooker / billiard tables .

a typical table for sale on our web site direct from the seller .
you just decide which table you are interested in we let you contact the seller , then you can arrange for professional dismantle and delivery and set up from GCL billiards
it is a proven system that works for us .

a table move for a local council sports center

So having explained the situation on our current web site and how it performs there is no need to upgrade or alter it
as the saying goes if it’s not broken don’t fix it .
I know web site designers have to earn a living , but to bombard my emails with such requests is not doing themsleves any favors
I have a good friend who put together my web site and it works very well for me and my Business .
if I need to tweak it , then he would be my first point of call , not some web site design enquirer from half way around the world .
I do not even open them ,  I just put them in spam folder and delete .

I have just completed two re-covers on winner supreme pool tables for local establishments in and around Derby
My morning stop off local to me at sawley derbyshire , a pub with an upstairs pool / poker room .

the cloth was ready for a re-cover on this table

Every staple is taken out , unlike some hit and run firms who just pull the old cloth off and  leave all the old staples in and cover over them
a case of what the eye cannot see , We at GCL Billiards take every staple out .

Cushions re-covered in Strachan 6811 pool cloth .

the Strachan brand pronounced Strawn , and the 6811 grading is our most asked for cloth and used throughout the industry for pool tables in pubs and clubs that league pool teams play on , a 100% pure new wool cloth , and at 28 oz it is pretty fast .
some may ask for an upgrade to the full 30 oz Strachan tournament as used on full size snooker tables , but this is 30 oz grade more expensive , and at the end of the day they are both made from the same 100% pure new wool .

slate covered and cushions refitted cabinet and rails cleaned out , almost finished , just got to attend to the leveling which is a problem on this table because the feet have been stripped of their threads and will not screw up or down , a common fault when a ball sticks the players lift the table up and bang it down to free the ball , this ball sticking is caused by muck on the rails , that is why GCL Billiards clean the inside of the tbale when re-covering we do a full service not half of one .

I’m afraid I had to place a few beer matts under the feet to level this table , there is a repair kit available sometimes on ebay where you drill out the hole larger , fasten a new plate to the bottom of the leg and screw the feet back on , or you can get a welder to make some plates that can be bolted onto the bottom of the legs and have a nut welded on so the legs can be screwed back on ,or simply buy new legs .

table is now finished , 2 springs were also put back onto the EDR coin mech and side flip out tray cleaned .
My second table in Derby was at a social club on the outskirts of the City .

striped cushions of all staples , again I always point this out to my clients as many other firms in the area just do a hit and run job and leave all old staples in the cushions

it has been a year since my last re-cover at this social club and cloth shed dust is always going to happen in and around the pocket falls
I vacuum out the dust and wash down the rails .

Now cleaned out , balls will not stick on the rails or flip out tray located in the side of the table .

table is finished re-covered in strachan 6811 and has been leveled
on these type of Supreme tables , you get a different sound when a ball bounces on the hinge side of the table
the bounce is not affected , but players moan that something is wrong when they hear this sound , this sound is the hinge rattle , by placing a bit of card between the hinge you can soften this sound noise down , but there will always be a sound difference from the clamp down side to the hinge side on any table that has hinges , but especially on supreme tables .
they are clamped down on coin mech side and ends , but are hinged on the far side by a split hinge , this so that the top can be removed easy to maintain and re-cover , but this split hinge rattles more than normal fixed hinges , and that is why so many pool players moan about the noise . this is a design fault if they used clamps all the way around there would be no moaning , but hinged lids are part of this tables design . and it is the most popular table sold in the UK .

We get plenty of referrals from people recommending GCL billiards
one such person who recommends us is Jules Goodyear of Newark cue club
so it was no surprise when Jezza a regular player at Newark phoned me up to book his own table in for a re-cover in Strachan 6811 Tournament 30 oz cloth
Now I have worked in jezza’s cabin before but not for Jezza as he had bought the entire Cabin and table from another Newark pool player  Dan Heath .
but this Supreme winner 7ft  table was bought by Dan just before he sold the cabin due to a house move, I had not actually seen this table before .

so arrived and cushions off and the strip down begins , I had not worked on this particular table in the past so gave a few hints to improving the table

cushion stripped down , every staple taken out , although the cushions has supple rubber it was the old red rubber that Supreme used to use
this has a habit of going rock hard , it may start with just one cushion or part of one cushion , but this red rubber gives no warning and it could solidify next week or next year it happens that quick when it decides to harden .

here is a photo showing the red rubber from another table ,as you can see I can hold it out like a stiff stick
the black rubber is new and just bends , so going forward try and make these cushions last a year then on next re-cover have brand new black rubber cushions fitted .

after stripping the cushions down I attend to the slate bed prepare the surface and get off any old glue on the playing surface area
glue to outer edge of slate and 1/2 inch on top which is under cushions to give more contact Glue down area .
then glue to underside of new cloth outer edges and pocket area’s.
the old cloth is laid over to protect the nex cloth at this glueing stage .

the finished table re-covered in Strachan 6811 tournament cloth 30 oz grade .

as can be seen we use genuine Strachan 6811 tournament cloth for what call our top clients choice .
this cloth to play well has to have a well kept brushing and ironing regime every 10 hours of use .
some club’s go for much thinner finer cloths and do not brush and iron as much as you need to when you have this slightly thicker cloth on
the reason I recommend this grade and make of cloth is because it will last and it will wear well , it is not by accident that Strachan is used by the governing body of snooker on the majority of their tournaments .
fitting thinner faster cloths , maybe good from the first cueing of a ball , but I can guarantee they will not last as long as this cloth
If you ,maintain Strachan 6811 and brush and iron every 10 hours of use as recommended by the manufacturer then this cloth gets fast as it wears in .
you cannot have thin cloths and durability , but if asked I will re-cover in Hainsworth Precision or match but this cloth is more costly and the benefits are not any better than useing 6811 tournament in my opinion , and also the players of Newark Cue clubs opinion after many years of useing this grade of cloth they would not use any other .

Jezza’s table finished re-covered and ironed and level ready for use .
the only other improvement I would recommend is to replace the older smooth ball runners inside for slotted type as bounce back onto table can occur with smooth runners .

older smooth ball runs tend to have bounce back up of ball dropping onto this flexible shiny surface , these will normally crack with age

a more modern ball run , the slot is extended right up to there the ball falls in , and you can see the allen key screw head where it fixes onto table .
these are the type we recommend to have fitted as an upgrade, balls tend to stay down on these ball rail runners .

It is no secret that most billiard fitters do not like working on small tables that are fiddly to work on , but we do have to offer this service .
these can take much longer to re-cover than a full size snooker table , and many owners of small 6 foot tables are shocked at the labour charge for these size of tables
but I am afraid we charge the same labour rate on small tables as we do full size tables when re-covering as it take just as long and maybe even longer to complete .
Only the cloth is lower priced due to less of it it to supply .
I received a phone call the other week to give an estimate to the cost of re-covering a 6ft snooker table local to me at Derby
I asked for a photo of the table to give an accurate quote and to make sure it was a 6ft table .
once I had looked at the table I noticed it was a very well made one .

when I arrived it had a very large slash type cuts in the bed cloth , apparently a student staying at the house decide to do some craft work and used a stanley knife to cut card on the table unaware it was  damaging the cloth underneath .
I noticed a Badge on one end saying Elston & Hopkin Ltd Goldsmith Street , this was the firm I used to work for until it was sold in 2004 by John hopkin who is still alive and in his 90s .
I immediately recognized it was a John Gent licensed victuallers table, and I  have a photo of Burnaby hall which was a Billiard rooms in Hyson Green and John Gent tables were installed in there in the late 1890s / early 1900s .
here is that photo , click on the photo to enlarge for more detail .

They are all full size Billiard tables apart from one small table in the center of the room which is an identical model of the table I am working on at Derby
it could even be the same table , I know this 6ft  table ended up in a pub in Bulwell market place and then sold on from there in the late 1980s .
John Gent was a billiard table manufacturer based in Nottingham in the 1880s onwards and had offices and billiard rooms on Broad Street , and the factory was based on Convent Street which is behind the old Palais de dance on lower Parliament Street .
John Gent passed away in the late 1920s and the firm passed over to John Elston who renamed it Elstons of Broad Street and dropped the manufacture of tables and decided to concentrate on the Billiard rooms and sales of accessories .
In 1938 Gent joined forces with another billiard hall family of Hopkin , and decided to trade from an head office Billiard rooms on Goldsmith Street , the firm was renamed Elston & Hopkin , and they had between them around 13 billiard halls and rooms .
In 1980 the premises on Goldsmith Street was demolished to make way for the new Royal concert hall and we relocated to Newark Street for office and billiard room and the workshop on Canal Street was also incorporated into Newark Street .
and by 1970s Elston and Hopkin which was by now run by John hopkin ( my old boss ) the Grandson of the original Stuart Hopkin who actually owned Burnaby billiard rooms , by the 1960’s the Elston Family  had ceased having an interest in the firm
in 1980 ,  I joined the firm from my Uncles Billiard & Snooker -Pool firm Trent valley Leisure.
I stayed until 2004 and then moved on with the new owners who just bought the name , until 2012 when I branched out on myself to form GCL Billiards , I am the last Billiards fitter trading in nottingham to have direct links with the original Elston & hopkin .
there are two others fitters who were trained at elston & hopkin ltd , one is now retired and the other is based in Nottingham and still does a bit of work locally but has other business interests and unlike myself who is totally involved with the maintenance of Billiard snooker and pool tables .
I Visit John Hopkin every Christmas , and often remind him of tables such as these when i get the opportunity to work on them again .

the table  re-covered in Strachan 6811 tournament cloth with new bag nets .
These tables are made correctly , they have cushions that are the same build quality as a full size
it also has bolts in the cushions , not low quality wood screws , the corner plates are called billiard finger top plates and have a thin strip of leather on the inside .
unlike the full leather that is on some tables , this shows this table is a very early table , made around 1890 circa .
If you look at the side frame and legs , imagine this on the end of a full size table .
those legs are full size legs , the table is made very sturdy , unlike some 6ft tables you can buy today online or at high street stores that I describe as throw away tables , this table will last for years and years .