Hainsworth vs West of England

[HemiRR]

We are going to re-cloth the tables in our Seniors Snooker Club. There is a great variance in skill level with in the club eg happy with 16 to century runners. Needless to say there are frequent miscues and cloth scuffing occurs when there are miscues when attempting to apply bottom.

Does anyone have experience with the durability and playability of:

Hainsworth Precision ?
Hainsworth Match ?
Hainsworth Smart ?

How does the durability and playability compare with West of England 6811 Tournament cloth ?

Any other comments or suggestions?

Thanks

[NorthWestJunior]

By the sounds of the range of player skill that is going to be playing you need to compomise between durability and playability. I don't know much on the cloths themselves but I think that is what you might have to do.

[Terry Davidson]

I have tried both the 6811 and #10 on my own table and I've just ordered a Hainsworth 'Precision'. The Precision is only weighted at 20oz and I think would be a little light for your application. I also don't think you need to pay the premium for the #10 cloth.

I would recommend you go with either the Hainsworth 'Match' at 27oz or else the 6811 (not sure of the weight but I think it's around 27oz too). I've found the Match to play very well and better than my #10 cloth given that both need daily brushing and blocking to keep their speed and ironing in a damp climate too

Terry

[TWorth]

Both Hainesworth and Strachan Stroud have websites that may assist. For example, 6811 Tournament is 30 oz and 100% wool. Hainesworth Smart is 450 gsm or 20 oz and has 5% nylon. My personal preference is West of England 6811 Tournament for the combination of playability and longevity. One of billiard hall customer switched from Hainesworth Smart for that reason. West of England No.10 is a great cloth (32 oz) but would not recommend it for most applications due to its cost.

[steveb72]

I have just had my table recovered in Strachan 6811 Tournament cloth by GCL Billiards and I can definitely say that it is better than the Hainsworth Match cloth that it replaced.

The 6811 is far more responsive than the Match. I can screw back much easier on the 6811.

As for durability, I have already miscued a couple of times on the new 6811 and both times I have left scuff marks on the cloth. When I did this on the Match the scuff marks were worse, ie. quite a few of them left a tiny hole whereas on the 6811 the scuff marks are not so deep.

The Match is thinner and lighter than the 6811 so I expected the 6811 to play slower however most surprisingly it plays just as quick if not slightly quicker and that's only after a couple of irons.

I won't go back to Hainsworth.

[cueman]

How old was your previous cloth Steve? I used to think 6811 was the better cloth but found that after a while its became very unresponsive, whereas the Hainsworth cloth, although it does wear quicker, seems to keep its responsiveness for longer. Its very difficult to make comparisons of cloths, especially with a brand new cloth, they always play great for the first couple of months. The real test is durability and play factor over time, for me Hainsworth >>>> Strachan.

[steveb72]

How old was your previous cloth Steve?

It was 2 years old but it never had the response that the Strachan has. Everyone who has played on it so far can tell the difference.

Obviously there are always variations in different batches of cloth and maybe I just got my Hainsworth off a bad batch. I can't see me going back to Hainsworth now though, unless they reply to one of my letters and consider sponsoring the NBSA. Mind you, Strachan never replied either!

[Nott]

I find buying cloth frustrating and feels like a gamble everytime. It seems to vary alot from roll to roll.
Personally I will stay away from 6811 gold next time we buy because the batch we got last year were so painfully slow. I've seen 6811 silver faster than this. If you're lucky though it can be really quick.
The various #10's we've had have also varied quite abit but so far not as bad as with 6811.

The only experience I've had with Hainsworth is the Precission cloth which we have on Kurt Maflins table now. It was lightning quick even without heating and it has held up surprisingly well now almost a year later. (Mind you its mostly him that plays on that table).
It was much more responsive than the #10 though. The cueball just bites instantly on screwshots, and for this reason Kurt wants to get back to #10 since that is what is used on the maintour.

I'm pondering on what to go for for our other 3 tables though. #10 or Hainsworth match (although I do love the precission I'm a little vary as to how long it will last with more usage as it feels extremely thin)

[chas6868]

I have the smart cloth, and have miscued a few deep screw duffers and took bad chunks out the cloth,as Steve says he had also done and noticed more damage than a 6811 cloth.

I still think the cloth runs well,I played on a recovered 6811 old GOLD cloth and it was a bit slow,saying that the fitter made a mess of the cushion rubbers, so the bed cloth may have not have been fitted too well.

hainsworth smart used to be a lot cheaper than the 6811 now I think they cost about the same.
Anyone know if you need to stretch a smart cloth?? after a few months?