We have been having complaints about balls being spat out of pockets even when the ball has dropped down onto the pocket rail.  The following conversion will need to be done to rectify this.

Change all 6 ball rails to the latest fully slotted with Allen key bolt fixing type.  If the pocket liners also have a shine finish you can sandpaper the backs of them where the ball strikes or replace with a new set.  People who spray furniture polish or even back to black bumper shine onto the pocket liners and ball runs are not doing the table any good.  These polishes contain silicon and waxes, which gets onto the ball and the ball then skids and also kicks when striking another ball.

The above photo’s show the old smooth type Supreme pocket rail and also the new type with full recess and Allen key bolt fixing.

GCL Billiards would be happy to quote you for changing these ball rails and pocket liners.  Please phone for details, but we do recommend these be done at the same time as the table is due for a re-cover.

We have just completed another re-cover for our client who lives close to Loughborough in Leicestershire.
Last time he had a special speed worsted cloth by Strachan fitted , this time he wanted to slow the table down by having a good quality napped all wool cloth , as he was finding practice at home very different to playing down the pub , his ball travel was all out of control having practised at home on a speed cloth then in the real world of Pub match pool finding 99% of pool tables in pubs have wool napped cloth and not speed cloth.

We fitted the best West of England 6811 grade cloth to our clients pool table in royal blue .
a bit more expensive than the 777 Strachan grade but well worth it .

this table is 10 years old , but because it has only had home use looks only 6 months old , on these early tables there is a fault with the hard smooth internal pocket rails , on hard shots you can get the ball bounce back out onto the table , it is almost as if a rabbit has back kicked the ball back up the pocket fall and back onto the table , we have been getting one or too people complain of this fault , mostly at league play standard where it is sometimes life or death for some players if they lose a game due to this fault .
the following photo shows a new type ball rail , with Allen key screw showing and a recessed slot moulded all the way into the pocket fall , unlike the above rail which has a smooth finish , and if you drop a ball from height onto this smooth pocket rail watch and see how far it rebounds back up , then try it on the modern type rail .
Our client on his next re-cover is having the new ball rails fitted with the Allen bolt key fixing like below.

the following photos show the table stripped down and the glueing of the bed cloth to outside edge of the slate using proper hand spread contact adhesive , we do not speed fit and never use fast to use spray on glue’s which normally go all over the slate and ball rails when spraying on , it also does not grip good and many bed cloths just fall off the slate bed when fitters have used spray on glue .

When we come across a table that has glue over spray on top of the slate we remove the old glue with Acetone

These photo’s are put on to show how GCL billiard re-covers pool tables , we may be a little more expensive than a speed fitter , but we like to think the benefits are there to be seen by choosing a firm that has values to the type of work we do .
If you require a re-cover of your pool table then get a time served Billiards fitter in like Geoff at GCL billiards .

Dennis Taylor will be appearing at the Stapleford cue club on the 14th of December entrance fee of £20 and £30.
GCL Billiards have today just recovered the No 1 table at the club ready for this Audience with Dennis Taylor evening .

Click on flyer to see full details.
Dennis taylor flyer .

No 1 table at the Stapleford Cue Club new Strachan 6811 tournament 30 oz cloth fitted with new Riley match leathers and nets by GCL billiards .
this old Burroughs and watts has the best welsh slate with modern steel block match cushions .

The evening will consist of 6 frames of snooker with trick shots and hilarious stories of the past , an event not to be missed !

Dennis is one of the most approachable sportsman in the world of snooker and at this small event I am sure he will have a personal word with everyone he meets on the night .

A buffet will be provided on the night £20 admission , £30 front row seats , tickets available by phoning Stapleford cue club during opening hours on 0115 9394504 if you are on facebook they also have a page on there .
Stapleford Cue club , a small venue of 6 full size snooker and 4 supreme winner 7ft tables , the club can be found behind Pizza hut at 148 Derby road Stapleford , Nottingham , NG9 7AY

Just back from Butlin’s in Skegness where we have been recovering the six american Brunswick pool tables in hotshots and three supreme Winner UK pool tables dotted around the Camp
This year Rob chose another new Strachan Art-scape design of Grass- Turf with the Butlin’s logo across the centre pockets.
I do find this Art-scape cloth very easy to fit than some of the thicker Euro pool type speed cloths that I normally fit to american pool tables .
Last year rob chose the Red star pattern with butlin’s logo , this design had to have the colour coding of the cushion cloth fitted to the same colour coding of the bed cloth to make sure the pattern ran smooth from bed cloth to cushion cloth .

This Grass pattern was not as difficult as last years pattern but the same applies , each piece of cushion cloth is colour coded from Blue to purple , then black Red yellow and green , each has a certain cushion to be fitted to .

Bed cloth fitted

The centre pocket fall , Art-scape cloth is very easy to fit , and I only needed to add skirts to the centre pocket fall as seen above

the cushions upside down having just been recovered in the grass speed cloth .

All six tables sporting their new Design logo Grass cloth for the coming 2014 Season at Butlins , I wonder what design they will go for next November

GCL Billiards have again been allocated the work at Skegness Butlins Hotshots american Pool Hall for the coming week starting Sunday 24th November 2013 .
We got the contract last year to recover the tables in Butlins own Special designed logo cloth of red stars with the Butlins log across the middle pockets .

the Artscape cloth has matching pattern cushion cloth which have to be placed on the cushion to match up with the pattern on the bed cloth , so it is just like matching pattern wallpaper  .

Artscape can do many designs some standard designs and also custom logo designs , they even do football club logo’s in the cloth , but you have to have the permission of the football club for it’s use of logo rights .

Many thanks to Rob & Wayne at Skegness Butlins for trusting GCL Billiards to carry out the work to a High standard , not rushed and many snags sorted out on the tables too , as you can expect with holiday Camps that are open 11 months of the year , these tables get some heavy traffic , and it is not uncommon to find some damage when we strip down the tables .
Geoff has been maintaining these tables for a few years now both for his  firm GCL Billiards and when he was an employee before he went self employed.
Rob & Wayne can rest assured that Geoff will always find a way of keeping these 1980s American Brunswick’s in playing condition ready for another season at Butlins.

Today we have been installing a Winner supreme pool table into a local pub .
This pub is very particular on the type of table they required .
Not satisfied with low quality of the last pool table mainly on condition of the new rubber cushions they had fitted .
They decided that GCL Billiards was the best choice to rent their pool table from .
This particular table is 6 months old having been in another local pub which is now being knocked down to make way for a new Ice Land store .
the team had played on this table when playing away games in the league , they where very impressed with the bounce in the cushions and the speed of the table due to the best Strachan 6811 cloth used ,  and when they found out I still had it in stock they requested this one for their Pool Team .
The photo below is of the old pub pool area that is being knocked down to make way for Ice Land even though the pub is only 20 years old ?

In fact the old pub used to have two tables rented from GCL Billiards but this one was their main match table .
We decided as it is so close to Christmas to delay re clothing the table with 6811 Strachan tournament cloth until after New year , just in case someone was to spill a drink over it , over the Festive and new year celebrations when these things seem to always occur.
So we have booked a recover on the table for mid January .

Above the photo of the table in it’s new location .

Double eight Pool tables is GCL Billiards Pool table Rental Division , our tables carry the Double Eight logo as well as the Supreme logo .
Double eight Pool and GCL Billiards are now known to offer unrivalled quality and maintenance of Pool table Hire.
If you are local to us then please get in touch if you require a decent Supreme Pool table for your premises. our weekly rental contracts start at just £15 per week , that works out at £65 per calender month which is our preferred method of payment on the 28th of each month , or £60 per every 4 weeks.
Phone Geoff on 07753466064 or email c.large@btinternet.com