Table maker / fitter wannabe.......

[Chippie-brian]

Hi people,
Been playing for around 15 yrs. Been a carpenter/joiner for 10 yrs nearly.
I've often thought about how I can get into table making/ fitting.
Lately I've been thinking more seriously into it and I'm wondering how you would go about doing it? Who to contact etc. I live in surbiton, Surrey and would be able to travel some distance to work.
Any table fitters out there who will give me some experience in the fine art of table making/ fitting. Dream job.

Thanks,
Brian Mulrooney.

[Bigmeek]

Brian Hope you find what you're after. Dream job IMO. Could watch them at work for hours. If you're after an apprentice let me know! lol

[Chippie-brian]

Lol, will do.
Can anyone out there help??? Would love the chance to get into it.

[Geoff Large]

Acadamy billiards west byfleet surrey would be the best bet in youre area .

tel 01932352067

you have to travel in this line of work , mainland uk ireland and europe if youre lucky .

[barracuda911]

Try saying dream job, 10 mins after you've lugged a set of slates up or down 30 flights of stairs. lol

[Chippie-brian]

Lol, I understand it's hard work but I'm well used to lugging heavy timbers up and down stairs, sites etc so I'm not afraid of hard manual labour which I know this job involves.
I might give that number a bell later on email them. Cheers for your help.

Regards,

Brian.

[Geoff Large]

They may not have avacancy , but get youre foot in the door by offering odd days labour , and try and pick the job up from this .progress to a few days a week then full time .
we have a few guys who labour for us , they only come in when required , but they know how to dismantle and set up a frame with slates on for me to follow up and finnish .

[Chippie-brian]

Hi Geoff, I've emailed them offering unpaid labour. So I guess I'll watch this space. Thanks a million for your help and advice, it is much appreciated.

Brian.

[cazmac1]

I started to train as a table fitter when I was 18 and working at archway snooker club. I love every thing about snooker at the time and would have done it for free back then. I was talking to a table fitter and he told me things where hard at the moment. No matter what job you take on it has to provide you with a living. You might not feel the same after 3 years and earning little or no money. can some one tell me what the average wage is for table fitter?

[Geoff Large]

Wage Depends on their experience , but base the top end fitters of this world on say electricians and Plumbers 40hr basic wages , there are fewer Qualified billiard fitters still going now than in the 60s and even 80s which was the boom years .
times are hard for every trade at the moment not just Billiard fitting .

But if the firm you work for has a Good name and track record and time served Fitters then it should not struggle to find the work .
investment in a good Web site and keeping in touch with youre customer base always keeps youre name alive and the first they tuen to for work .
and always look to expand youre customer data base , clubs come and go , private house,s tend to be regular work but that work is more spread out over the years unlike recovering tables in a club every year or so .
expanding into american pool and normal uk pool tables is also a must , you will be amazed how snobish some fitters can be when they will only work on Billiard tables rather than diversify into all cue sport tables .
this type of diverse work keeps you going year round , always be prepared to travel .

I think it is wise to warn people that learning the job , you are not going to earn top dollar , it takes 4 years to teach someone and a further 4 years for that person to find their feet and feel confident in every aspect of the job as a Billiard fitter .

ther are a few speed fitters out there , who staple over staples and leave rubber hanging off blocks and wood split on cushions etc .
these people are not around long , but the sad thing is there is always another speed fitter around the corner . and people ternd to go on price so are this mans prey .

this is not the case with a time served billiard fitter . not many about these days .
and not many firms operating in the proper manner , The only warning I can give to people wanting to learn the trade is , make sure the guy who is teaching you is a Time served billiards fitter , having been passed down the Art of billiard fitting in all it's forms of Setting up a table , Re rubbering , recovering , nets leathers etc , learn extra things like how to float slates and level a table to a much higher degree , learn as much about the history of firms and be interested in the work as if it is youre hobby .

Because most tables these days are manufactured abroad mainly in china , that is where the most skills will now develop , there are not many UK manufacturers who make tables in quantity and not many with a high staffing level , where by they can afford to take on an aprentice who would help many people on the workforce and learn from many not just one .
I was lucky to learn from 3 Billiard fitters and that makes a huge differance as you find each one has slightly differant ways of working . this taught me my own style based upon these three fitters , some where better at leveling and some better at cloth recovering while one was superb at rerubbering etc .
one thing is for certain you will not be fitting cloth in youre first year , mainly stripping down and learning how to Brush and iron and fitting nets and leathers , maybe recovering Pool tables .
how to stack slates and store tables , How to transport , how to figure out a way of getting a table into a house or building safely . ( not every job is the same )

2nd year Leveling tables fitting slips and learning how to cover cushions ,
3rd year fitting second hand cloths onto beds before having a go with new cloth
4th year Rerubbering . table woodwork repairs slate repairs etc .

Next 4 years building youre confidence up , getting the correct speed up for the job , no one will employ you if you take too long than is acceptable .
Last but as important as everything else ...Customer comunication . and respect of their property .

[Geoff Large]

Wage Depends on their experience , but base the top end fitters of this world on say electricians and Plumbers 40hr basic wages , there are fewer Qualified billiard fitters still going now than in the 60s and even 80s which was the boom years .
times are hard for every trade at the moment not just Billiard fitting .

But if the firm you work for has a Good name and track record and time served Fitters then it should not struggle to find the work .
investment in a good Web site and keeping in touch with youre customer base always keeps youre name alive and the first they turn to for work .
and always look to expand youre customer data base , clubs come and go , private house,s tend to be regular work but that work is more spread out over the years unlike recovering tables in a club every year or so .
expanding into american pool and normal uk pool tables is also a must , you will be amazed how snobish some fitters can be when they will only work on Billiard tables rather than diversify into all cue sport tables .
this type of diverse work keeps you going year round , always be prepared to travel . and stay away from home all week .

I think it is wise to warn people that learning the job , you are not going to earn top dollar , it takes 4 years to teach someone and a further 4 years for that person to find their feet and feel confident in every aspect of the job as a Billiard fitter .

ther are a few speed fitters out there , who staple over staples and leave rubber hanging off blocks and wood split on cushions etc .
these people are not around long , but the sad thing is there is always another speed fitter around the corner . and people tend to go on price so are this mans prey .

this is not the case with a time served billiard fitter . not many about these days .
and not many firms operating in the proper manner , The only warning I can give to people wanting to learn the trade is , make sure the guy who is teaching you is a Time served billiards fitter , having been passed down the Art of billiard fitting in all it's forms of Setting up a table , Re rubbering , recovering , nets leathers etc , learn extra things like how to float slates and level a table to a much higher degree , learn as much about the history of firms and be interested in the work as if it is youre hobby .

Most tables these days are manufactured abroad mainly in china , that is where the most skills will now develop , there are not many UK manufacturers who make tables in quantity and not many with a high staffing level , where by they can afford to take on an aprentice who would help many people on the workforce and learn from many not just one .
I was lucky to learn from 3 Billiard fitters and that makes a huge differance as you find each one has slightly differant ways of working . this taught me my own style based upon these three fitters , some where better at leveling and some better at cloth recovering while one was superb at rerubbering etc .
one thing is for certain you will not be fitting cloth in youre first year , mainly stripping down and learning how to Brush and iron and fitting nets and leathers , maybe recovering Pool tables .
how to stack slates and store tables , How to transport , how to figure out a way of getting a table into a house or building safely . ( not every job is the same )

2nd year Leveling tables fitting slips and learning how to cover cushions ,
3rd year fitting second hand cloths onto beds before having a go with new cloth
4th year Rerubbering . table woodwork repairs slate repairs etc .

Next 4 years building youre confidence up , getting the correct speed up for the job , no one will employ you if you take too long than is acceptable .
Last but as important as everything else ...Customer comunication . and respect of their property .

[Bigmeek]

Lol, I understand it's hard work but I'm well used to lugging heavy timbers up and down stairs, sites etc so I'm not afraid of hard manual labour which I know this job involves.
I might give that number a bell later on email them. Cheers for your help.

Regards,

Brian.

Good on you Chippie. Hang on in there. Not about time you were beating that 93 break? Ha ha!!!

[cazmac1]

great post geoff. I'm pretty sure that chippy has all the facts now and can make an informed decision:snooker:

[Chippie-brian]

It surely was a great post, very informative. To be honest I knew it wouldn't be an easy craft to learn, and it is a fine craft. I didn't think it would take as long to become able enough to fit & finish a table on your own. It is something I would like to do though and I wouldn't expect a brilliant wage for doing it but if I'm doing something i enjoy and it being a hobbie of mine too then you
Have the best of both worlds. As long as the bills are paid and there's bread and coffee in the cupboard I'm a happy man. I have savings to get me buy so I would be able to take a reduction in money and even go unpaid for a while.
I have thought about it for a long while and while I'm still only 27 I don't think I'm too old to persue a career in cue-sport fitting.

Bigmeek- badly need to get down the club more mate, I'm slacking... Lol.

Regards,
Brian.

[ryanah147]

Hi Brian,
I wish you the best of luck in your quest to enter the Billiards trade, although Id say it will be quite difficult to get a start as Billiard firms are not hiring at the moment. I can see how enthusiastic you are as I was 35 years ago. The snooker trade has come full circle since those days. When I started in 1975 (pre Pot Black era) people were ringing
us up and actually paying us to take away tables. Some of the tables we refused was unbelieveable, all the good makes B&W, Orme, Thurston ect... but if we took them in, we couldnt get rid of them.
When the boom started in 1980 there was only about half a dozen good table makers in the UK, but then every Tom, Dick, and Harry joined the bandwagon and lots of inferior stuff came on the UK and Irish markets. Workers who called themselves Billiard Fitters had no more training than the very basic, these people were put in at the deep end by their bosses in order to make money and for no other reason. There was job satisfaction to a certain degree, but not the real job satisfaction one would have if they were trained properly for their job, and unless you served your time with an established company and went through every aspect of the makings of a Billiards table it is only then you would achieve that satisfaction.
Read all of Geoffs threads, you can actually smell the job satisfaction he gets as you read his brilliant contributions to the Forum.
When I started all these years ago I started off by mixing horse glue in a steamer for my boss who was then 82 years old, I then went on to making cloth retaining slips, stripping cushions (these were the days of 3/8" cushion tacks, no staples here mate) fitting pockets, pocket leathers. Everything was done by hand, all the mucky jobs you did and you didnt question them. It was almost a year before I actually covered a cushion and that was with secondhand cloth for training purposes, and didnt cover my first full size table alone till nearly 5 years into the job.
On a positive note the job is possibly one of the best a man can have, it brings us to stately homes, castles, prisons, army and naval bases, rock stars, film stars, oil and gas rigs out in the ocean, old cow sheds, draughty old barns, and every possible place a Billiards Table can be placed. You are always treated with the utmost respect from the clients who at times stand over you watching, and are fascinated by our craft.
Your joinery and carpentry skills will certainly stand to you when you apply for a position, but to be quite honest with you, with the decline in the Billiards trade your chances are slim.
Follow Geoffs advice about offering your services, and hopefully something may turn up.
I wish you the best of luck in your quest.
Gerard