Table Quotation

[nutscrewsandbolts]

I received two quotatioins for snooker tables. I would like some advice on which table to go for.

1) Used Riley Aristocrat Mahogany Legs Steel Block £ 3800

2) Refurbished Riley Westbury Mahogany Legs Steel Block £ 3480

Price includes
1) Complete set of new accessories without light shade
2) Transportation
3) Installation
4) two years warranty.

I'm not sure if used means "as is" and refurbished means "new cloth".

Also, I need to know how I can identify if the table has steel block cushions. Just removing the panels and seeing if there are bolts is enough? or is there more to it?

Thanks.

[samad]

I'd go for No.2 coz its refurbished and cheaper .

dont know about the steel block thing, cant you find out by using (hitting a ball) on the cushion and see the effect coz i've heard that steel block cushions are better so can't you identify them by using them ?

[Geoff Large]

I would ask if they knew the full history of both tables , and to recomend the best slate for trueness , if they have interchanging sets of slates , i.e either will fit both tables ( bolt holes are sometimes differant ) then just pick the design of leg you want and ask for the better slates , it is a sad situation these days that the majority of slates are untrue for level to 100% , if they know the the history of both tables and serviced them throughout this history , then they will know which one is the better table . ( or the fitter will )
one quick method of knowing if they are steel block cushions is the outer surround wood cappings are only fitted by 4 bolts .
The cushion is in two parts , the steels with wood block and rubber attached , and the outer cappings , the steels will bolt into the slate, note that modern tables such as these have 6 bolts in every cushion rather than older tables with 6 in end cushions and 5 in side cushions , the cappings bolt into the steels with just 4 bolts . these are hid by a slide in panel .

Refurbished can mean many things , a full refurbish will be new rubber /cloth / repolish etc , a part one could be just recover and nets and leathers . many firms have differant levels of refurbishment , some have just the cushion capping repolished and the rest re waxed ( mr sheen )

If the slates are untrue then ask if they know of anywhere they can get them HAND FLOATED , this is important to the quality and satisfaction of youre table and game .

But could you please answer one question for me , are those prices inclusive of shipping and fitting in Kuwait ? or are they allready in Kuwait ? if not what have you been quoted for the shipping and fitment , *** I am not after the fitting job , I'm just curious of cost and type of shipping to Kuwait ***

[tAfKa S-WC]

Option 2:snooker:

[MattCash]

a member of this forum was offering a riley aristocrat tournament spec table for £3000 a while ago, it may still be available.

[nutscrewsandbolts]

Thanks for your replies. I think I'll go for No. 2 as it is refurbished and cheaper.

But could you please answer one question for me , are those prices inclusive of shipping and fitting in Kuwait ? or are they allready in Kuwait ? if not what have you been quoted for the shipping and fitment , *** I am not after the fitting job , I'm just curious of cost and type of shipping to Kuwait ***

These tables are already in Kuwait and were part of a health club. Now they decided to expand the health club and close down the snooker section, and they plan to open somewhere else with new tables. So there is no shipping fee involved.
I don't understand what hand floated means... could you pls elaborate.

I'm a bit apprehensive about buying a snooker table online, but another option I have is Rais Tables in Dubai. Unfortunately they don't have Rileys/BCE. But their cheapest steel block costs £2400 without shipping. So I rather go for Riley/BCE.

BTW, I've seen Riley Aristocrat and BCE Westbury... and then i've heard of "BCE Riley". What is BCE? Is it a part of Rileys? or the other way round?

[Geoff Large]

E.J.Riley is registered now in Bristol not Accrington or Burnley where they went bust .
B.C.E is short for Bristol coin Equipment so you can assume they got the name before it went bust . therfore BCE riley would be a table made after they aquired riley . B.C.E westbury are not as good as the riley aristrocrat .

All slates now produced are machine honed , sometimes the bearings on these machine spinning cutting tools wear , and they then cannot hone the slate to a more Flat acurate level .
Hand floating was common pre 1980s , but with the the Italians claiming their slates where 100% true , table manufacturers stopped employing or contracting in the hand floaters .
Hand floating is a form of floating a steel grid up and down the table useing cutting grit or sand , an engineers straight edge is then used across the table width and a ciggerette paper is put between the straight edge and the slate bed , if the paper grips along the width of the slate in all positions , then the floating has got any deformation out of the slate .
some floaters use large sheets of sand paper , but this clogs , the best way is to have a metal grid made with two 10 foot poles each end to push it up and down .
I am afraid there are not many hand floaters around , the last I heard of and witnessed doing this job , worked for Enbuild who guarenteed there slates for trueness .
Also
Adjustable muntings ( internal slate bearers ) are a good thing to have on a modern table as it prevents slate sag .

those £2400 steel block tables will prob be Chinese . or have Brazilian slate , both type's of slate are not as good quality as italian slate .

[senga147]

Riley ceased trading approximately December 2002. The assets of the company were broken up and sold of. The brand name RILEY was purchased by BCE who now trade as BCE RILEY. The brand name SUPERLEAGUE was bought by another company who brand their pool tables SUPERLEAGUE.

Buyers looking to buy British should note that the vast majority of products sold by BCE RILEY are imported. Not all tables sold by BCE/RILEY are UK made and are actually imported. The Renaissance being one example. The ARISTOCRAT is still UK made hence the cost difference. BCE/RILEY do not manufacture the ARISTOCRAT but have a third party manufacturer in the UK to make them.

The tables being sold by `Rais` will almost cetrainly be Far East imported tables which should be avoided like the plague. A well known and respected snooker coach advised me that a well known Dubai snooker company who were until recently agents for BCE/RILEY had lost their distributorship due to selling copycat Riley tables. I would therefore tread very carefully with respect to the authenticity of any `RILEY `or `BCE` table found abroad.

[nutscrewsandbolts]

Thanks a lot guys... this is great info.
What I can apply from all this information is that
1) Steel block cushions normally have 4 bolts under the sliding panel
2) If fakes were sold in Dubai, they could be sold here.


The company that sent me the quotation supplies tables to the local snooker club here. Those tables have certificates and serial numbers. Most of them are ex-tournament tables. So I don't doubt the intentions of the suppliers.
If tables come with certificates stating their serial no., can BCE/Riley help me with tracing the history of the tables etc? Or is that being too paranoid?

All this slate business brings my insatiable curiosity to another question. Can slates be identified on a table without cloth?

[nutscrewsandbolts]

Just want to add another question...
If I buy a table and wish to replace the cushions say after a couple of years, can I just buy a set of 6 online that will fit an aristocrat?

How are pockets adjusted to tournament standards using templates?

[senga147]

The slates will be marked with the name of the quarry. Ardessio Biggio being the main one. This will usually be in red ink of the side of the slate.

The cushions would only need to be re-rubbered. It would usually not be necessary to replace the cushion blocks and the friezes should not require replacing unless they get damaged.