taffy
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Post by taffy on May 30, 2023 18:32:22 GMT
last week a a decent "all there" Sams made £2,050 on ebay. That's the first time I've seen that and no longer based on Covid-19 and 'the man's shed'.
I guess you can't change 70 years history....
Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on May 27, 2023 10:02:43 GMT
Rah91 you were very polite about the King Street Run's table. It has truly had it and the landlord won't put a penny in to it. He does it to annoy me as I'm the only one that can repair it and I wanted real money and not a pat on my back. I don't know which part of Essex but try and get up to Sawston and the White Lion sometime? The table takes £45 per week meaning it is in use all night. They just had a K-O comp and had 55 entrants. As for buying tables, watch for narrow Sams, even the owners don't know they have a narrow! broken slates...watch out. mostly, the private owners have no timer cover to drop a coin through as they are set to free play. Likewise they have no money box underneath. some don't have the timer either and therefore no bar as a time limiter. There are no timers around so if you want one with a timer, you HAVE to have it with the table. Like cars, they can all be done up but if threadbare and chipped and banged make sure the price is right. The better deals are on Facebook. Taffy
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taffy
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Posts: 514
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Post by taffy on May 4, 2023 13:17:09 GMT
superb job, well done!
If you'd done the female ribbed pockets I'd have had a bunch of them off you.
Good Luck with it.
If you could, could you tell me if the table is 88cm or 94cm wide? With proper Snookerette rules up in the Fens, you can't move the cue ball - ever - from the middle of the 'D'
cheers
Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Apr 4, 2023 16:07:42 GMT
www.google.com/maps/place/The+Maypole/@52.2259295,0.9375442,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipPyef_d2vuPp_Ma8FKJtoKlGYvVoSP1r85kDLA3!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPyef_d2vuPp_Ma8FKJtoKlGYvVoSP1r85kDLA3%3Dw203-h270-k-no!7i3024!8i4032!4m7!3m6!1s0x47d9b05997bbe62b:0x580870a11c65eb08!8m2!3d52.2259295!4d0.9375442!10e5!16s%2Fg%2F11bx8h2c6h Tha Narrow at Wetherden can be seen here. Taffy
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taffy
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Posts: 514
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Post by taffy on Apr 4, 2023 7:58:07 GMT
The Bell at Murrow is back open and the landlady wants to put a table in an outbuilding but has an enormous Pizza oven in the way first to overcome.
There's no table at the legendary Dambuster Inn, Scampton. "Not been a table here for years".
cheers
Taffy
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taffy
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Posts: 514
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Post by taffy on Apr 2, 2023 10:04:04 GMT
Here's a new non-League one on the Broads, just the Norfolk side of the border: LOCKS INN COMMUNITY PUB, LOCKS LANE, GELDESTON, NR BECCLES, NORFOLK NR34 0HW Idyllic setting: www.thelocksinn.com/Table rented from @cueabovetherest. Here's what it looks like: View Attachmentmy favourite tables. A pre-war Sams, cues in the front and all that beautiful beading. weird to play on....like a narrow but a thing of real beauty! If I had 15 of them I couldn't be happier! Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Mar 30, 2023 10:56:01 GMT
cheers
Taffy
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taffy
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Posts: 514
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Post by taffy on Mar 27, 2023 13:38:44 GMT
The Final against Jeff Bridges was a real crowd pleaser, swinging this way and that before the last ball drama. Heartbreak for Jeff in losing consecutive finals, maybe third time lucky next year ... has he taken over Curt's mantle of being the bridesmaid but never the bride! (I know Curt won the East Anglian open years ago....) Taffy
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taffy
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Posts: 514
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Post by taffy on Mar 20, 2023 8:03:50 GMT
pheonix by wishbone ash. bliss!
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taffy
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Posts: 514
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Post by taffy on Mar 17, 2023 9:48:03 GMT
who and what are Proboards Sav? what kind of money scale are we talking of?
this forum is a great asset to Bar Billiards.
Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Feb 25, 2023 7:34:19 GMT
I can now take this a little further. I met Jim last night, a stalwart of Bottisham CSSC team and we get on really well. Jim told me that just the night before the AGM has been called for
Monday 20th March for 8pm start at the Milton White Horse.
There they will discuss winding up the league and the association; Cambridgeshire BBA. They have around £1,400 in funds to consider.
It appears my offer of a table at Willingham certainly didn't reach the two teams at Swavesey, others may have known but not the players. Apparently, the 'A' team have changed to pool and the 'B' team or all old and stopped.
Even the Gt. Wilbraham and Bottisham teams are iffy because they haven't played for 14/15 months.
The wheels have come off the wagon.
I made the offer again to Jim of the Sept/Oct and March/April 3-pin "if" teams cared to try it at my 7 tables.
I also mentioned that if it was the Cambridgeshire BBA did it not represent BB in all its forms and therefore there is a need for it and not to close it up? I have offered to go on the 20th and speak of my thoughts.
We 4-pin'ers aren't yet a democracy which is a double edged sword. Our first AGM is likely to be in September just before the new season as I want us to see how the land lies before we set out a league structure. Currently we have 5 teams but we may have 10/11 or even 12 by next Winter. Tables are in 5 pubs looking for teams, tables are going into others and although you can't count your chickens it could be a team or two more......
Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Jan 3, 2023 10:34:35 GMT
probably a product of snooker having 15 reds and a white. sensible!
Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Dec 5, 2022 13:37:40 GMT
A new table is ready to rumble from Taffy's stable - Jelks5. This is the second Jelks that came from Dover BBA and is coded 2916. It has new cloth, skittles, polished balls, new cues, with score discs changed (or painted). The undertray has been re-clothed in the baize that 'was' the cloth. It plays well, no troubles with the slate or mechanism. The table came with no front scoredisc strip yet I had one somewhere and fitted it! The trouble was that with the thick sponges in the ball tray, you would only ever see one ball! so out came the sponges and in went 4mm furniture pads. There was no lock on it - quite an effort, the cushions didn't squeeze up at the corners either so I slipped a little 4mm wooden disc in. Money box got a coat too and clothed inside. The wooden trim around the top has been battered in its time but it is what it is; lots of "patina"! Just need a pub or club now! Taffy Attachments:
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Nov 17, 2022 8:52:53 GMT
I've been waiting for a timer to come up cheap enough to buy in France. I've found this one by L'as. generally, the French don't like selling stuff abroad, not sure why but anyway, through my business, I meet several nice guys and I persuaded one to get me this item and forward it to me. It cost 80 Euros plus £10 post - and a favour! I have one of the Kent timers without the clock so I'm hoping that with a little 'meddling' I can transfer the clock off this and onto my UK timer. Generally, all French tables are in the £500-£1,000 range. But there are some shockers out there that are in barns worth £20 for the whole table and there sits the timer..... Timers in the UK are worth around £400 - if you can find one ....currently! Cheers Taffy Attachments:
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Nov 9, 2022 9:20:57 GMT
I can also confirm that there is still a table in ye olde bell and steelyard in Woodbridge but it totally unplayable, the cloth has more holes and rips in it than my socks. Plus it's another supreme I was back at ye olde bell and steelyard today and their table is no more, it has been removed from the pub and now laying in pieces in a shed waiting to be collected by sx leisure. The slate is in very good condition but that's about it, the quality mdf used to build the table has seen better days and to be honest as it's a supreme table it looks beyond repair if it has a slate dave, please save the slate. I'd come down for it if you can get it saved. I didn't think Supremes had a slate and were all MDF? cheers! Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Oct 26, 2022 13:33:36 GMT
My most recently repaired table is a Jelks known hereon as the Jelks4. It is the first of the Dover tables and was once in the Alma, Deal. Work carried out has been just good old school maintenance, the addition of noise suppresing carpet underlay, a swop of scoring discs, the recloth of the ball tray which had the moths attack it and also more green baize in each runner for quietness as much as anything. It has a hydraulic arm which is really quite handy! I also took the cushions off and plained 4mm off them to get them down to the level of the surrounding wood. It now looks a lot cleaner! Initially I pulled in the cloth hard and stapled but the ball bounce wasn't good so i picked the staples on one face and re-stapled pulling more gently and the result was a far more satisfactory bounce. I polished up the timer with a brass-wire haired rotary wheel - very pleased! A new D was glued down and all the appropriate spots marked (not my usual way, i like felt-tipped pens!) and the slates relevance to the centre line was impressively correct, correct and 1mm out when measured in three places! rubber stoppers for the tray, on the bar drop edge itself and polished brass coin drop slot and scoreboard with Brasso complete the picture. All in all a very nice table and updated. It now resides in the Dykes End, Reach a village NW of Burwell, Cambs. Attachments:
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Oct 14, 2022 15:28:25 GMT
Has anyone got the dimensions of a french table? are they 36" by 72" (I've included the ball tray) like ours?
yet another pub want the game and I can't swing it out and could do with it being 6" shorter.
cheers
Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Sept 17, 2022 10:29:56 GMT
Mark so you would have a wooden frame as a base. the top 3/4 is slate screwd to it. you then pull the cloth over the slate and staple the cloth onto the wood. The 'leatherette' is an oblong of wood covering the first 1/4 of the frame. A slit would be made for a coin and then it's covered in a leather replacement material and glued down. The leatherette is usually screwed to the wooden frame after you have dropped the frame into the top of the table. I wedge the slate so that the table is symetrical using the middle top hole(10/30), the 100 and the 200 holes to get it spot on. Then the three clothed and one leather covered cushion are screwed on. I check and double check for symetry with the cushions on and go back if I have to. I then squeeze a gap and slip the glue covered leather D in the gap twixt leatherette and cloth and then hold it down till set. I then level the table ofer several matches and adjust 'the spot' from 2-3mm wide by adding on one edge or the other till it is a 4-5mm dot. the break shot must be symetrical. Sometimes I have to rip the D out and move it over 2-3mm and re-glue. It takes me a week to get the "D, dot, table level, slate straight' right. Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Aug 13, 2022 17:23:23 GMT
Just casting out to see who might have; 1) the shaft that you pull out to start a game along with the 'L' arm at the other end that drops the bar?
2) the ticker clock mechanism?
I realise there are different teeth pitches but let's see what you have?
cheers
Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Aug 12, 2022 10:55:35 GMT
I have bought the stock of 8 tables from Dover Deal & District. I'd like to thank Chris for his honesty and integrity in his dealings. I found him to be easy to work with and straight all the way though. The request was to take the lot, when his head was nearly turned by others I just bit the bullet and waited, sitting on my offer, I was rewarded. I'd offered to buy the lot as requested - fluff and Kent cobwebs included...nothing left and that's what D,D & D have got. All gone, nothing left.
But hopefully some great memories! I hope you get about a lot Chris and I hope I have something in Cambs for you to come up to in a few years. That would be a sight, 4 tables in the Earl of Beaconsfield, a big competition on and all flourishing!
He also showed me how to transport a table the correct way!
We hit two massive hold ups on the way home and got back after 8pm and still had to unload! I'm not sure where I'm putting everything, I've left the small stuff on the grass overnight and have to fathom it all out.
I 'should' now upgrade the whole effort to 'pretty serious about Bar Billiards'.
Cheers
Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Aug 10, 2022 18:28:15 GMT
that's right Tommo. When I ran ely colts, the landlords son joined us all the way from Willingham so i made sure my minibus stalled at the front door!
Cheers!
Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Aug 10, 2022 15:39:51 GMT
The Porterhouse said to me only in May that they had a table, nobody played it, it is (we're) too small (here).
Cheers
Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Jul 25, 2022 9:00:43 GMT
Tommo The Gedney Hill league is predominently a Lincs League with Some Norfolk and one Cambs team. So my Facebook page only mentions the one Cambs team in that League. Three years ago when i last visited the Black Bear there were only 5 teams left in the Summer League and I think there were seven in the Winter League.
I'm hoping to visit the Chequers on Thursday evening.
Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Jul 23, 2022 11:28:16 GMT
The Chequers Inn, High Road, Tholomas Drove, Wisbech St. Mary PE13 4SL has taken the table from the Bell at Murrow which is due to re-open in the Autumn but for sure - at the moment - the table now resides at the Chequers permanently.
Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Jul 11, 2022 19:38:28 GMT
A Narrow Sams has gone into The Maypole in Wetherden near Stowmarket today. address is; Stowmarket Road, Wetherden, Suffolk. IP14 3JP. It is my Narrow that i fully refurbished with mushtittles and the new owner has put it in the local! As he's near Bury St. Edmunds he wants to continue with the Nmkt & Bury St. Edmunds rules. I didn't prompt it... He also says that if anyone has a spare table, the Landlord at the Queens Head in Eye (Suffolk still) would like a Bar Billiards table.
Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on May 22, 2022 8:15:05 GMT
A very enjoyable day as usual at the Cock Inn, Northampton. I was a little hungover from the previous evening but still enjoyed my day out...my only comp of the year! no comps, no league but I hope this is the last time I have to say this.
Thanks to all at Northants for a splendid effort, man down with Jason being away for the weekend. The Coleman's put a shift in and I have to say, having won the first leg of the main comp quarter-final, he may have lost the second leg comprehensively (to Nigel Senior) but Simon, you had a lot on your plate mate!
Kurt Driver (bt Kevin Tunstall) won the main comp and Colin Southouse (bt Damien Coates) won the plate, congratulations to both! I have to say, I scored the final of the plate and it was a real privelage, neither player would back off! Colin had a 1.750 HT lead and in two breaks Damien had got it all back = they were level. Colin produced 1,300, Damien 1,200 and a shock looked on, another big score each before finally Damien DNS'd just once. In this game that's enough.
[moderator edited]
But that break shot, without it you-are-stuffed! The game is centered around the break shot and clearing up to do the break shot and there is just so much more to 4-pin than that! I did 3 x 200 shots out of nowhere but with the skittles so close to the holes the risk/reward is just too far apart. The 50 holes are micro-managed to perfection and the skittles are placed there as a result of this but it just wrecks the rest of the game.
an idea; pegs 3-5 from the edge of the pocket and the same shot RESULT cannot be repeated. 150 one way, 150 the other, 150 the first way. next; one up.
the reverse 50s and more 100s and 200s in open play are very long vague shots that may rim the holes so players don't currently try them.
Cheers
Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on May 18, 2022 14:20:06 GMT
I agree dave, new looks fantastic but my most immaculate, all-new table loses value in my eyes when it is all new. Whether it is old leatherette, untouched wood, balls or skittles, i like to leave some rustic charm on the table.
I've done as you recommended Tommo!
Dave, have you ever suffered the fate of a ball that flys out sideways on one breakshot but not in the next? My red ball will track into the 50 hole with one shot and then take out the middle of the mushroom (coming off the cushion early) in the next? I can't make it out? like the ball is out of balance...
Cheers
Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on May 17, 2022 20:00:42 GMT
Has anyone managed to get the white balls back to a nice ivory white?
I saw someone had used bleech on a pool ball but when i tried it the whites turned pink. Obviously I "could" have reduced the solution but pwerhaps someone already has the answer? any advice please?
Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on May 16, 2022 12:01:56 GMT
a Brilliant bloke, a proper foot soldier that kept it all going. Always had time for a word with you. I'm glad the 4x4 is named in his memory, very worthy. My condolenses to the family.
Taffy
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taffy
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Post by taffy on Apr 14, 2022 19:05:01 GMT
I've got several old pegs but don't remember having one with rings on the stem. New one won't have the patina of age.
agreed!
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