I was contacted by Brian who has a new winner supreme at his home , housed in a rather spacious conservatory .
He was looking for a high quality cloth for his pool table , and I had recommended the Strachan 6811 all wool cloth with fine nap to him .
Brian has all the kit for looking after his Pool table including a very expensive Full size Billiard table iron .
a must if you want to keep that nice fine nap flat for a speedy cloth yet retain it’s napped wool cloth to make that cue ball perform on side and swerve plus screw back shots .
try these sort of shots on nylon speed cloth and the cue ball will not perform , it may be a speedy table using man made fibre speed cloths but these all wool Strachan cloths have been proved to be the best for the type of cue sports played here in the UK.
Have a look at the following photo’s , Brian had some new cushions fitted although I did point out at just over two years old his old cushions where perfectly fine .

the Winner supreme with it’s new cushions placed in order and numbered , we always cover 5&6 cushions to the right as the nap on all side cushions should follow in the same direction as the bed , some speed fitters cover them in all one direction , this is wrong , so always feel the side cushions on your table and make sure the nap is going in the same direction as the slate bed nap , the end cushions nap should go to the left .

always make sure you clean the ball runs when the slate is being re-covered , as grease and muck from these rails transfer to the balls and back onto the nice new cloth you have just fitted , a fitter doing speed work always seems to leave this job plus all the muck inside the table floor , I have seen tables with many crisp packets nub ends , half eaten sandwich , plus other unmentionable food , used condoms if your unlucky , false teeth ? , old sticky sweets ..the list goes on , you name it I have probably found it in a pool table including a gold sovereign that had fell out of someone’s ring .

Again we find the spray on glue that was applied at the factory , these where a problem a few years ago , the recent ones coming out of the factory are much better , this one was a bad one , see photo below to see how it came out when cleaned off with nail varnish remover ( Acetone )

The slate has been soaked in Acetone and the old glue rubbed off to reveal a nice clean slate , a must if you want the ball to roll true up to the pocket fall , if I had left that old glue on like speed fitters do and again used spray on glue the table would have been unplayable , but they would have been down the road having extracted the cash for doing the work and no chance of them calling back to rectify it , and sadly there are a few firms out there that behave like this .

The cloth that was used , Strachan 6811 100% pure new wool cloth with very fine nap .

The finished table , looks inviting ! lets play pool .

Not finished yet though , we have to level the table , we never leave a job half done . by not booking too many table’s in for recovering  in one day we have that extra time to make sure your table is fully playable and that includes levelling within a thickness of a £20 note .

Double check of level using a good old fashioned Engineers level , and the more modern Digital level. 0-0 is bang on

What it looks like when the level is out by the thickness of a £20 note ….. =  0-1

If you have a pool table that requires the same care and attention I give all my clients , then go to the firm that cares about it’s reputation in the cue sport industry …GCL Billiards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now and again I get emails from people who have had a table fitted saying they are having a few problems and how can it be sorted out  , now I am not going to embarrass the person who sent me this photo
And I will not name and shame the firm who sold him the table who have badly fitted it . but thought it may be a warning that low cost table fitting can not always be the best option. but in this case I understand it was not low cost.
but even if it was , there is only one way to put a table together and that’s the right way .
they say a picture tells a story , well this one certainly does.

First glance it is obvious that something is wrong here ,
the obvious one those blue double glazing plastic window frame shims should not be there in the centre of the slate , looks like this fitter also doubles up as a window fitter between snooker work .
The numbering indented into the supporting slate muntin , this is upside down so informs me the muntin may also be fitted upside down and therefore this may be the  reason of the very large gap that has to be packed to support the slate from dipping in the centre of the table.
Look further across at the side frame , I see more blue plastic shim and also thick wood or cardboard , this side rail of the main frame is supposed to be planed straight , most are good straight off the machine , some have to be shot with a long iron plane to get straight before the slate is put on .
Now and again you may see a playing card here and there which is acceptable on some tables , but to this extent of this thickness . it looks like they went so far levelling with shims under the legs then tried to get it level by packing between slate and frame .
Some may ask how to rectify this problem , well there is only one way start from scratch . table dismantled slates off and make sure all muntins are fitted correct , fit adjustable bracket to muntins to make  abetter table if possible .
Shoot side rails straight .
Level from highest leg , then put slates back on , Fine level and fill joints , sand clean and refit bed cloth , result is an expensive job to put right .
The moral of this story is use a qualified time served Billiards fitter

this is what it should look like , note the adjustable bracket , very little cost to put these in on a rebuild .
and no packing in sight on the far side rails , centre muntins adjust up to support the slate.

another conversion using adjustable brackets , this time recycled from an American pool table and used on this 8ft snooker table .
but a simple joist beam bracket from B&Q will do the job and use a bolt and two nuts , drill a hole and weld one of the nuts to the bracket

B&Q Diy bracket
And it is far easy to fit these brackets than messing round packing slate with window packing and chasing bubbles on the level

 

 

I got a phone call the other week to book GCL billiards to call in and re-cover three of the 7 pool tables in this well known large Snooker club in Derby.
The Players and management where very specific in the type of cloth that they wanted the tables re-covered in
and Hainsworth branded cloth was the first choice , two of the tables to have Match cloth and the one table in the main lounge area to have precision cloth
these cloths are not a low cost option , but they where adamant that they wanted this cloth so it was arranged to get this cloth which is not one of my main cloths that we use.
I normally use Strachan branded cloths  on all cue sports tables.
But I must admit the cloths where very good to put on , they where a bit thinner than the normal cloth that I use , so I am very interested in seeing it’s wear qualities .
the Hainsworth match had a fine nap but felt a little coarse , the Hainsworth precision also had a fine nap but felt soft to the touch .
I am awaiting feedback from the Management and Pool teams experience of the cloth .
GCL billiards are happy to fit  any cloth that the customer ask’s for , and as always we always prepare the table before fitting , taking all staples out of the cushions , cleaning slate of any overspray of glue and applying by hand spreader new contact adhesive glue ( WE DO NOT USE SPRAY ON GLUE ) . Please read this link for the reasons we do not use spray on glue

https://gclbilliards.com/pool-table-re-covering-spray-on-glue-v-spread-on-contact-adhesive-glue-for-attaching-bed-cloth-on-you-decide/

We also vac out the table and wash and wipe down the ball run’s , you would be amazed at how many companies just leave all the dust and muck inside the table , and if  you think about it , the balls run on this grease and dust on the rail system and deposit it on the Brand new cloth just fitted , a no brainer really to clean out the table as well as re-cover it .
We also found a low spot on one slate bed , this had been filled by someone very badly , I sanded all the loose filler away and surface spread new filler , and then with a sanding block sanded the filler level with surrounding slate bed , it is now as good as new .
This large club was taken over two years ago , and the new ownership have made great stride’s in making it the No1 Club in Derby for cue sports.
GCL billiards take pride in that when they do a job they do it well , and with the top branded cloth that the club selected and the top class thorough workmanship , this club is only supplying the best for it’s members .
As can be seen from above photo’s , this Derby based club has very good facilities for pool and snooker , plus they have multi Darts board area and lounge.
they also have  numerous pool teams use the excellent facilities .
the tables are well spaced out , and they have plenty of cue room .
the tables used are all free play Winner supreme which are light timed charged for club members and visitors , these Supreme pool tables are as used by professionals in  competition and tournaments .

The snooker area

a photo of just three of the 9 dart boards available , 6 being cubicled like these .

I would like to thank the Management of CueBall Derby for using GCL billiards , we are a local firm and we think local Snooker club’s should give us a try , we aim to do excellent thorough none rushed work ,which in the cue sports industry it is hard to find a firm that sticks to these values , there are so many firms who rush work to get as much cash flow profit through the firm rather than a steady guaranteed flow due to good workmanship.
I based my firms value’s on my Old Boss John hopkin’s values  , he was well known in the billiards industry for being very fair and thorough and took pride in the family firm .
He always instructed the staff who worked for him to do the best unrushed job that we could do .
It helped that john was a church going man , and did a lot for the local church of which he is still a member at the ripe old age of 92?
I am not a church going person myself , but I like to think some of John’s Christian value’s rubbed off over the years I worked for him .

If you are a private one table owner or a multi table club owner , GCL billiards is a firm to trust in the billiards industry
we would be happy to quote for any work on your cue sports table , approaching 40 years as a billiards fitter Geoff large has  a vast experience in all cue sports work from a table install to re-covers , re-rubber or just servicing and leveling .
From small pool tables to full size snooker tables , we can also dismantle transport and erect your table for you .
We also offer a Private for sale section on our web site for people who are moving house and need to find a buyer for their table , please click on tables for sale to see a selection of tables being advertised at great prices direct from seller to buyer with no middle men fees , then just contact GCL billiards for a quote to relocate it .
We have re-located tables from Cornwall to Scotland and even in France .