I have worked at the Kirby Cross snooker club on and off  for near on 40 years , and in that time for at least three maybe four different owners
they did try out a different firm on the last re-cover but have returned to Geoff  Large who now has his own firm  GCL billiards for this water Damaged table caused by a burst pipe from the upstairs flat .
Rachel Phoned me in the week and asked for a quote and if I had any time ASAP , I am fully booked out for work for all of August so I agreed to come in on Saturday to do this work as it was the only free  time I had .
I would really like to tie in most local club’s as possible to Me , I am based in Long Eaton at Junction 25 of the M1 and this club is just off junction 27 of the M1, so we are under 30 mins away 
the table in question is an old George Wright circa 1910 , with very large bulbous reeded legs , as you can see at one time they had 5 or 6 tables in this room and the other tables are stored underneath these two .
that’s around three ton of slate , two sets under and one on top , the floor has been well supported underneath !

I spent a good 4.5 hours in recovering this table , I paid attention to the slate joints as I could see they where out of true and had been filled very badly with soft filler which was coming out of the joints
I checked table for level and filled the joints with soft sand car body filler , this made a very good improvement , balls will now glide over the joints without jumping or rolling off .
I also replaced one net Free of charge on this table .

after I had finished I tested the cushion bounce  , although not as lively as some tables there is a few years life left in them , I got a 7 cushion rebound by throwing the ball around the cushions at an angle and 4 runs up and down ,
this will increase to 4.5 runs once the cloth has been worn in a little and the new cloth on the cushions are not pinching the rubber tight as the cloth slackens off in the two weeks to a month, then the rebound will increase .
all tables that have been freshly re-covered will have tight cloth over the rubber , this will restrict the rebound value for a couple of weeks .
Ex professional Gary Wilkinson still has a knock around in this club . it was the club he learnt how to play the game in as a youngster in the 1980’s .
Both tables that are left have had at sometime a replacement set of cushions with BCE extra bow pocket plates fitted , the tables cushions are not steel cushions as used by professionals , but they are pretty good for standard wooden cushions .
If they require new rubber going forward then maybe on the next re-cover ? but for now i think they will be OK .

I have been over to Northampton for the past 4 days
The first two days I had 7 pool tables to re-cover at coopers in Northampton
Two in the main bar that are used for Matches in 6811 tournament 30 oz Strachan all wool cloth
and 5 in the side pool room in 6811 Strachan club cloth

the first two tables at Cooper in Northampton being stripped down

The ball rails where showing a lot of muck had collected and where overdue a good clean out .

A close up of what that muck really is , look at the edge of the rail where the ball makes contact and you can just see the formation of greasy wax build up , a combination of sweat off the players hands and dust
over the years if this build up the balls will stick , the players will then start lifting the table up and banging it down resulting in broken feet and then you are unable to level the table , and in some worse case scenario a Broken slate bed !
All caused by a dirty rail system and sticking balls .

after vacuum the inside of the cabinet and rails we wash the rail system down to remove all muck and dust

when we remove the bed cloth we find the dreaded spray on glue over spray , this will result in a lump under the cloth so must be removed before any new cloth is applied to the sale bed .

we take every staple out of the cushions, speed fitters are notorious for just stapling over staples so do not really strip your table down ,
they glue over spray on glue with even more over spray and attach even before the two sides are ready to be contacted together .
loose cloth and lumps under the bed cloth are a clear sign of speed fitting , at GCL billiards we can work to a fast system but we are just not as fast as some speed fitters ,
and that is because  we always take very staple out and remove glue over spray and clean the ball rails out .

Almost finished these two , just waiting to iron them , then clamp lids back down and check level .

three more done in the side room

5 done in the side room in total , plus dismantled two to take over to the sister club in Wellingborough , another american pool table is replacing these two for Northampton Coopers snooker club
I have to return later this month to re-cover a full size snooker table in the main hall .

an so onto Wellingborough , this photo shows the american pool table being stripped down to take over to Northampton

the first two tables at Coopers in Wellingborough  where the two that where taken over from coopers at Northampton
The Coopers at Wellingborough have just acquired the Northamptonshire county pool team  , and part of the agreement was to have at least 8 Pool Supreme Winner Pool tables
You may notice from the photo’s that the tables are staggered all over the place , this was because they had all american pool tables at one time and they where zig zagged down the hall rather than spaced evenly
There will be space for 9 tables and maybe 10 , the electrician is going in at the weekend to move the lighting chains from the very High Ceiling of this old cinema building .
they will also be having a lighting upgrade to twin tube florescent fittings.

this is the way I glue the bed cloth and slate , I use a center section of old cloth that is being taken off to put in the center of the new cloth fold over and glue , this is to protect the new cloth from glue
My glue is only half inch on the top edge and on the side only of the slate , at no point is glue put on the playing area of the slate ,and that makes for no fouling of the area that a ball has to roll over ,
unlike spray on glue that you have no control over , the glue I put on goes where I want it to go .

Coopers Wellingborough , enough room for 10 tables with plenty of space around , I will take some more photo’s later in august when I return to re-cover two snooker tables .
I have replaced 4 sets of cushions for new cushions and also replaced three to four sets of ball runners with the latest type as used on new Supreme winners
these are on the older Mahogany cabinet  tables .
I am well and truly tired after this job , I would like to say I have the weekend off , but I have to work most Saturdays now we are that busy

I have been over to Sandiacre which is two miles from my home
I was told my clients  had an old pool table that they wished to put back into use for an upcoming party / Wedding
it was in a very sorry state when I arrived , this premier late 1970’s / early 80’s model had the feet broken into the underneath of one leg making leveling impossible.

the first job was to fix the broken feet and I fastened two pieces of new wood under this leg and re fixed the adjustable feet

Cushions re-covered and re fixed to the upper frame and cleaned out of internal ball runs

The slate put back in and new Strachan cloth fitted

the finished table , level and ready for play with a new set of ball provided

We offer a range of three colours in this grade of cloth , Green / Burgundy red  / or Royal Blue

I have been over in Derby this week working on a few tables in the Cueball club .
Danny has got hold of some second hand Riley cushions that are much better than the current cushions on some of the tables woodwork wise and bounce wise
so we have been stripping down the old tables and improving them by means of a re-cover in match cloth and these upgrade of cushions.

The first table to receive cushion upgrading and brand new Hainsworth Match Cloth

Second table stripped down and ready for new bed cloth

The second table finished new Hainsworth Match cloth fitted , and better Riley cushions with silver slide in panels on this set
A new set of nets and leathers where also required for this table .
Ongoing improvements are being carried out to the tables at the Cue Ball Derby during the summer by  GCL Billiards .
We have another table to do tomorrow and another three sets of Riley cushions  to fit to other tables throughout the club before the Winter league starts up
Cue Ball Derby are not standings still or stagnating , they are improving the tables as a long term investment , nobody likes to play on slow none responsive cushions and bed cloths
So Danny has invested in a roll of Hainsworth Match Cloth which is a thin fast cloth , much thinner and faster than the normal 30 oz that you see in most clubs

Although this Match cloth on all tables  is costing the Club more money ,it is all part of the plan to give the Cue Ball Clients the best possible playing conditions
most clubs have the standard cloth fitted to most of the tables with just Match cloth fitted to a couple of match tables , the Cue ball Derby wanted to offer their clients the best on every table and still charge the standard rate for normal thickness cloth !
the Air Con which had been off line for a few days  has also been fixed and I must say it was most welcome when I was fitting the cloth .

so if you fancy a game of snooker in an air conditioned club this summer playing on top class cloth and cushions visit The Cue Ball Derby
sited under Roller World on Mansfield Road DE21 4AW , tel o1332 360924

The Cueball Derby also have a superb Pool hall , where the tables are well used and maintained to a high standard .

We have been to West Bridgford Arena to day to work for Rushcliffe Council
the Rushcliffe Arena is closing for two years , they are knocking the old Arena complex  down and rebuilding a New one that will take two years to build
Snooker has been part of the old Arena for many years and Rushcliffe council still wants to put the two tables back in the New build in two years time.
So it was decided to put the two tables into storage at one of the Councils works Yards in a disused office.

The snooker room at Rushcliffe Arena , with two modern 1980/ 90’s  Metric sized Thurston snooker tables .
Cushions taken off and bubble wrapped and bed cloths now about to come off too .

Now the bed cloths are off we can take the shades down and bubble wrap them too

one table on plus a set of cushions off the other table and the two shades , and we are just about to take them the 2 miles down the road to where we are storing them
This van will take 1.6 ton including Driver and passenger so we are still under weight
one of these metric snooker table weighs 1 ton exact.

all we left for our second trip later that day was to finish the dismantle and bubble wrap of the other  frame and load with slates onto van

Both tables where put in a disused office in the council works Yard , stacked neatly and ratchet Strapped for safety ,
I am returning tomorrow Morning  to put another ratchet strap and two eye hole screws in the wall
To give extra safety in making sure the boards stay in front of the parts  .
and if we have two old dust sheets we will also place these over the entire two tables and tape them up .
The tables will be here for two years storage and will not be put back together until July/August 2017
Rushcliffe Arena have used GCL billiards in the past for re-covering work so we where the local natural choice to Dismantle move and store of these tables in the correct manner.
Geoff at GCL Billiards has been moving and storing tables for 40 years
if you have a table that you require collecting and storing or even set back up , then contact
GCL Billiards for a quote.

I have been over to a Club which has 5 full size snooker tables in Ashby de-la-Zouch  Leicester .
they have Ken Doherty flying in from Ireland today to give an Exhibition of snooker playing 8 local snooker players .

A photo of Ken in his recently opened Snooker Club / Academy in Ireland click on the link for more details.
http://www.kendoherty.ie/snooker-club.php

This is the table that has been selected for Ken to play on , I have removed the cushions and bed cloth , and have re-stretched the cloth to take all slack out of it .
the string  line is to center for spot marking out , the table will play faster now it has been re-stretched .

the table has now been put back together and I have started to re-stretch the next table to it

2nd re-stretch done and the lads are practicing on the exhibition table to get to know it’s speed .

With the tables either side boarded over and covered and the shades removed for easy viewing , chairs have been placed around the table for seating of the select few who have paid a higher price to be on the front row.
The Ivanhoe club in Ashby is one of those little gems of a club , in that it has 5 full size snooker tables with plenty of space around the tables and high Bench seating to the sides and ends of the tables .
a normal club will have one or two tables then it is a jump up to 10 to 18 tables for large snooker clubs , so this club fits in between that with 5 tables you can almost be sure of a table being free for a casual game of snooker .
You may notice the new lighting over the table with 4 coffin shades over the other four, I have been informed that all the lighting will soon be the new strip lighting with more light and less shadows .
The Ivanhoe club really look after their tables they get regular brushing and Ironing and do not want for anything really as they also get a re-cover every 2 years by GCL Billiards and re-stretched bed cloth at 12 months after the re-cover.
My last job of the day was to check on levels of the table , and I found that the Exhibition table was pulling off from Black spot to middle pocket really bad. a simple jack up and shimming of the legs and the problem was solved , the table is now level and ready for Tonight’s Exhibition with Ken Doherty .
this is not the first time I have had to get a table ready for Ken to Play on , I also maintain a table at Dunston Retirement complex in Northampton , they have Ken on a regular basis to show them the finer points of snooker .

Ken with the Members of Dunston Village retirement complex .

We have been up to Worksop this week to re-cover a pool table for a Church youth club
The Vicar asked for a durable cloth as youngsters would be using the table
So I recommended Strachan speed cloth the super pro type
this has 30% man made fibre and 70% wool , this is tougher to rip than normal napped all wool cloth

Start of re-cover , cushions off and just sorting cloth size for slate bed

The registered  brand trade mark of Strachan super pro speed cloth

The finished table , we supplied two new cues and a Triangle
We gave them two sets of second hand balls free of charge , these where one’s we had just hanging around spare in the workshop .
I do try and help out Church Youth clubs with any secondhand balls .