wanted snooker table

[tcollick]

Phillip,

Thanks for the quick reply and kind offer of helping.
The table is great value!..do you have any idea on the reputation of the other companies I mentioned? My friend wants me to create a shortlist for him, and then he chooses himself.

[philip in china]

No I have no idea on the other companies. Here we are very much in rural China with Chengdu being our local big city. Goods manufactured here tend to be badged up with almost any name! So I might have played a table by one of those manufacturers but wouldn't necessarily know.

The old tables that were made a few years back were absolute junk. Nowadays there is still junk produced but also some very good tables. You have to see them and know for what you are looking!! Last week I was staying at the Sheraton in 9 valleys resort. They had a couple of tables there a 12' and a 10'. Again they weren't by a manufacturer I had heard of but were decent tables. They just weren't looked after- needed a brush and an iron!

[tcollick]

Phillip...Thanks a lot for all the info...much appreciated!

[philip in china]

My email is philipgreening@gmail.com

I suggest if you want to develop the idea that we correspond there rather than on an open forum.

[tcollick]

Agreed!..thanks again

[inevermissblue]

Table Advise!

At our local club we are thinking of getting a few things done to our 2 tables. First thing is to address the height of one of the tables, as its about an inch too high! There is much confusion with regards to the tables in general. They have Riley Aristocrat badges on them, but do not resemble Aristocrats that ive seen. They do not have the arch style plynths under the frame like normal ones ive seen. Also the pocket drops slope rather than having the near sheer drop of a pro table. More alarming is the fact that the tables no longer have steel block cushions as indicated by a player who knew his stuff! The pockets are undesirably generous and this also needs to be addressed! The rubber on the cushions is something we would like to replace as it is not known when this was last done, if at all(probably more than 10 years ago).

So the question is! Do we/ could we address all of these issues at no great cost? Or would we be better off getting new/used tables?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

[Geoff Large]

is the height issue more to do with the floor being out on one end ?

i.e one leg sits on the floor with no packing under , this is called the high point of the frame before any toe pieces ( packing ) is put under the other legs to bring the table up to that height , in one club i go to , the table is out from one end to the other by 3 inch , that would mean , at the point of the leg with no packing = Normal height , to the leg with 3 inch of packing under it being 3 inch higher from the floor you are standing on .
if this is the case then unless the floor is level then no table replacement will rectify it .

if you go the other way around it ( and some have done this ? ) cutt 3 inch off and any other height issue on the other legs , you will end up with 3 inch lower at one end .

So only leveling the floor will rectify it .

it is sometime best to look for a good table on ebay at the right price to address youre other issues , you may then get steel block cushion tables as a replacement , I have seen people advertise tables for sale on ebay without them realising they have steel cushions on them , and therfore they go for a £200 to £400 , my opinion on square leg tables is , You do not play on the leg , turned leg is a fashion statement only for looks .
so it may be better to find low priced GOOD CONDITION square leg Burroughs and watts steel block cushioned table , or maybe find a modern steel block at a reasonable price .

take note that older steel blocks will have old type pocket plates and will prob not take a ball at speed resulting in bounce back onto table .

the best way is to just look at replaceing them one at a time if you decide to replace ( unless you have the money to do both ), then at a later date get the other replaced .
without seeing youre tables in the flesh I could not say wether it would be better to try and rectify the issue you have with them .

[inevermissblue]

I checked a few things regarding the tables at the club. The height issue is an unlevel floor, and as a result the table is heavily packed at one end. Also there are 6 bolt holes on the cushions. So with regards to steel block cushions am i right to assume that they are only ever 6 bolt fixings? As these are what were replaced with ordinary ones unfortunately.
In addition can you explain to me the processes involved to tighten up the pockets? for example, do WPBSA templates need to be used?

[Geoff Large]

The cushion bolts on a steel block cannot be seen until the frieze or capping as some describe is removed first , their is only 4 bolts in the frieze so in answer to youre question to the eye steel blocks only seem to have 4 bolts in them all round .
Modern slates have 6 bolts in all six cushions , welsh slate tables have 5 bolts in the side cushions and 6 bolts in the end cushions .
But as stated the thing to spot with steels is 4 bolts all around from the outside wood cushion surround .

to tighten pockets up it is a Rerubber , as Rubber has been trimmed and sanded to form a pocket opening , what comes off is off , so you require new rubber to cutt to template sized openings , some may cutt the rubber and just patch new bits in , this is false economy and a rerubber is the only way to go .

Rerubber is approx £285 + vat in northern rubber but you will then require the extra cost of cushions recovering as this has to be stripped off for a rerubber .

The table height issue cannot be rectified by cutting legs down , the floor has to be leveled by floating screed , table will have to be dismantled for this .

[inevermissblue]

Here i am again Geoff!!!

I have more information regarding the tables since your last post. Our tables are both 6 bolts end to end and 5 bolts down the sides. I'm not sure what else you will be able to find out about them but here are the pictures i have at the moment! The two table pictures are from both tables. The only difference between them is the framework i.e. leg styles (asthetics).

Any extra information, advice you can give me is much appreciated!

Cheers Geoff.

[Geoff Large]

I have more information regarding the tables since your last post. Our tables are both 6 bolts end to end and 5 bolts down the sides. I'm not sure what else you will be able to find out about them but here are the pictures i have at the moment! The two table pictures are from both tables. The only difference between them is the framework i.e. leg styles (asthetics).

Any extra information, advice you can give me is much appreciated!

Cheers Geoff.

They both have modern Riley normal cushions on them replaced circa early 1990s , and I know both makes just by the leg design , having worked on these type of tables many times in differant locations .

The first photo is a well known Burroughs and watts vertical Fluted leg design ( also available with slanted flutes in leg ), this would have been an upmarket table with very large legs and would prob have had steel block cushions on it from new Circa 1910 and costing around 100 guinea = £110 in old money .

Second table is another maker I am very familiar with , it is a George Wright
with fluted legs , the knee panels have faces from leaves formed in them .
you could have dated the George wright with its name plate on the original cushions by the amount of gold medals awarded which grew from year to year etc . but I think this Table is circa 1900 maybe outside chance of mid 1890s
Georege wright had a very large showroom 158 to 164 Westminster Bridge Rd London , I have vintage posters of the premises . and are my favorite maker . George wrights are noted for having Reeded legs in most of their designs . and many tables have huge turned legs . 10 to 12 inch in diameter when most where turning 8 inch legs . thick side frames where also used upto 3 inch thick .
the cushions would NOT have been Steel blocks on this table from new .

Because most modern Steel block cushions are drilled out for 6 bolts all the way around and not 5 down each side , they would have to be modified if you are thinking of putting modern steels onto any of these two tables .
i.e redrilled for older slates .
the slate beds on these table will be of a high quality , being welsh slate and prob both sets of slate 2 inch thick , but pocket falls ( point of ball drop ) may vary from each other .

Geoff

[marko33]

The guys might ship to europe

Aberdeen pool tables

They are the main supplier in my area,shop around clearly is a good idea.

Shipping will cost a bit though I would think!

[Quackers]

An absolute mine of information, Geoff Large impressive!:snooker:

[hotpot]

An absolute mine of information, Geoff Large impressive!:snooker:

Exactly my thoughts as well , how lucky we are to have so many experts in all fields .