Started playing Snooker at the beginning of this year

[ste.richards]

We have a Snooker table where I work and since we came back to work from the Christmas break I play a frame each lunch time and after work. Apart from this I get the odd few games in as much as possible out of work.

I am finding a real love for the sport now I'm starting to get good pot success but Snooker seems to be all I think about. I get butterflies just thinking about pulling off good cue ball action, although I can't

Does anybody else get this? I think about it all day long and I'm willing to drop anything to go and play

[magicman]

It's that kind of passion for the game you need in order to get better. Every decent player will know exactly where you're coming from!

[franksandellsnooker]

You don't have to be a great player to have these sort of feelings. As magicman says the game becomes a passion. It started for me when I potted the green into the left middle pocket on table 9 in the old Zans billiard hall, which in those days was Temperance Billiard Hall. I was about 12. 32 years ago it had become so obsessional I formed a company to work in it full time and I still play Billiards and sometimes snooker virtually everyday. I,d have been a bloody sight better off without it, but in truth have never regretted it. Tell your friends and get them obsessed too. If you need advice ever E mail me from my website.:snooker:

[stephen povey]

Its been a passion of mine since my grandad sat me on a stool in pub when i was 8 with an orangeade and a packet of smiths crisps, sadly in those day no snooker clubs had to wait till i was 18 to play in a working mens club.. just to think of all those wasted years breaks my heart... i so wanted to play and drove my parents mad

[Vex 147]

You have a snooker table where you work...so where do you work? In heaven maybe!? Well if you need another employee, count me in, will work for table time only

[ste.richards]

You have a snooker table where you work...so where do you work? In heaven maybe!? Well if you need another employee, count me in, will work for table time only

Haha I work as a programmer at an ISP. I don't know for sure how the table got there but word has it that the Taiwanese owner bought the table for his home many years ago and didn't use it so he brought it into work for everybody else to use.

As we get a frame in each lunch and for as long as we like after work we're having an assessor come out tomorrow morning to quote us on having it re-clothed. This is a question I have for people, will I be asked what type of cloth I want on the table and also what are the recommendations?

[franksandellsnooker]

Without much detail the first thing to say is if and when you have a refurb. make provision for good regular brushing,blocking and ironing. I would always suggest Strachen Millikan gold tournament cloth as it is both durable and well finished. It is not the cheapest however. Their Club cloth is also OK. but not so tight in the weave or so well finished. Get the fitter to check the rubbers and support blocks. It's pointless to recover over dead or dieing rubber. Make sure his price covers small repairs to pocket nets, runs etc.If your in the South East I may be able to arrange it for you. Good Luck. F:snooker:

[ste.richards]

Without much detail the first thing to say is if and when you have a refurb. make provision for good regular brushing,blocking and ironing. I would always suggest Strachen Millikan gold tournament cloth as it is both durable and well finished. It is not the cheapest however. Their Club cloth is also OK. but not so tight in the weave or so well finished. Get the fitter to check the rubbers and support blocks. It's pointless to recover over dead or dieing rubber. Make sure his price covers small repairs to pocket nets, runs etc.If your in the South East I may be able to arrange it for you. Good Luck. F:snooker:

Thank you for the offer but I'm based in Telford and the guy should be here within a couple of hours.

[ste.richards]

We've just been quoted £568 for Strachan 6811 Tournament Snooker cloth along with rubber replacements on the cushions and pockets along with a spray and iron on the cloth. They're are over 10 cues by the table that are broken and have just gather there and they will replace all the nibs on them along with the rest, elephant spider and the long extension and cue.

[Terry Davidson]

ste.richards:

The 6811 is the old designator so make sure you're getting the gold and not the red club 6811. The price for re-rubbering and re-clothing seems to be very good however also ensure you're getting good Northern Rubber and not the Wiraka knock-off, which doesn't play as well nor last as long.

You can tell the type of cloth by looking at the printing along the edge and there should be a gold or red stripe or else the printing will be in gold or red.

As a warning, there's also a blue which is the cheapest but it is classed as 'seconds' and will have some flaws in it.

Also, with the new cloth and as was mentioned, get a few people to maintain the cloth. Brush it lightly, with just enough pressure to remove the chalk marks because if you brush with a lot of pressure you will remove some of the nap and shorten the life of the cloth. Ask your table fitter to make you up a blocker, which is just some old (but not worn) cloth wrapped tightly around a 10" piece of 2"x4" and you use it just like an iron.

Getting a table iron might be an expensive proposition as brand new they cost over 200quid, but perhaps you can find a working used one on eBay. There might be a member here who might have a used one for sale.

Brush and block the table daily and iron daily if you have very humid conditions (I guess that's anywhere in the UK) and a little less frequently, like every second or third day with dry conditions. I have an air extractor in my house which regulates the humidity at around 40% and I hardly iron my table at all, just brush and block and I have 6811 gold and it has stayed in reasonable shape for 2 years although I will have to replace it soon as the spots are now like craters and I'm getting a lot of kicks of the spots

Terry

[franksandellsnooker]

On Strachen gold tournament cloth the writing is in gold and there is a blue line either side. This line is reinforced by Strachen so it cannot be torn and is an endorsement that it is from their works in Stroud and not an imitation. I endorse Terry's remark about the rubber which should be Northern. It will be stamped on its top edge with name and also the production date. Accept nothing else. The price is very very good ?!!! for what you have specified. Does it include VAT?. Avoid the spray it is irrelevant. No fitter worth
his salt would not iron the table after fitting. "Elephant" spider ? what a great name for the Swan/span rest. Never heard that description before.

[ste.richards]

Thanks for all the advice everybody.

We named it The Elephant or Anal Probe because we didn't know what it's official name was