Have I made a mistake?

[Creaky]

Over the last 18 months I have been building myself rather a large 'man shed' at the bottom of the garden - 45' x 14' !!

The structure is now finished and decorated and I have been fitting it out and as part of this decided to buy a bar billiards table.

I looked at secondhand ones on places like eBay as well as 'professional' restorers - in the end I decided to buy new and have got a 'Supreme' table being delivered next week at a cost of £1,200.

I have just read a thread on here where a gent from York was asking for advice on buying a table and some of the replies were rather dismissive about modern tables

So my question is, have I made a mistake buying a new table?

[Chris_Sav]

Hi and Welcome,

Supremes are not popular with league players because they are unfamiliar and MDF can never replace traditional hardwoods. The early Supremes were truly dreadful with MDF replacing the slate.

The more modern ones are better.

The problem with buying a traditional table is that they are all sixty or more years old. You would be taking a major risk buying a sixty year old table that would almost certainly need recovering and re-rubbering at best and have hidden structural damage at worst. A design flaw in Sams and Jelkes means that very many of their slates are cracked. There are virtually no professional restorers left that I would let within a mile of any of the tables I am responsible for, most don't have a clue what is required in my opinion and do the work on a budget.

Without experienced league players around you to advise your risk is increased.

Thus you pays your money and takes your chance. You have taken the safer option of buying a new table with the support that goes behind it and, I am sure, will give you years of enjoyment.

Sav.

[barbelman]

Hi Creaky

There are a few things that league bar billiards players don't like about Supremes but in my experience the newest ones can be set up and levelled to a very acceptable standard.

You will find it will depreciate rather quickly too, compared to one of the antiques that we use!

And what Sav said...... :D

Tony

[Creaky]

Thanks for the replies

I bought the table from Liberty games and it is being delivered by two guys who are going to set it all up and get it level..I'm not worried about depreciation, (I guess I'm depreciating faster than the table will :D

I don't suppose it will get a lot of wear and tear and hopefully won't be subject to the same rigours as a table in a public bar does. If I could have found a real hardwood table that I had confidence in then I would certainly have gone that route - I guess I just wasn't willing to take the risk of buying a lemon.

Anyway thanks for your input guys and I feel a little more confident that the table I have chosen should be adequate for what I need.

Hope you have many hours of enjoyment out of it.
Part of the excitement of course is kitting your 'haven' out......mini-bar or small fridge to hold beers ?
And of course one of those circular cue-racks to hold cues of all shapes and sizes - including shorter ones for smaller members of the family. ;)

[Creaky]

Thanks for the comments - I decided to go ahead with the purchase and have to say I'm more than satisfied with the table.

I paid for a two man delivery and installation and they did an excellent job in setting up and levelling the table. The only "problem" I had was after they had left and I realised the game had been set for just 5 minutes! - Fortunately it was just a matter of changing a few DIP switches to set this for 17 minutes.

I have a few photos on Photobucket for anyone that may be interested

s304.photobucket.com/user/upthecreek_album/library/PUB/interior

Thanks again for your input.

Spectacular bar area !
You have everything there needed to be able to host a league match !

[bigtj]

Looks like you have done an excellent job hope you get many hours of pleasure

[Creaky]

Sept 7, 2013 11:34:33 GMT tommo III said:

Spectacular bar area !
You have everything there needed to be able to host a league match !

If I could afford it I would offer to hold at least a friendly - can't sell alcohol so would have to give it away

[barbelman]

Blimey Creaky - we've got pubs in Witney smaller than that!!  


Tony

[Ros]

Great photos! What was that you called it - a 'man shed'??

I'm sure that the table will bring you a lot of pleasure. Part of the problem with the older Supremes was that they had a coin slot that used to take the skin off your hand every time you took a ball out of the tray! The coin slot is in a better place on the newer ones. Supreme tables, especially those with a slate bed, can be set up to play perfectly respectably.

Whereabouts in the country are you? We can see if we can set you up with a friendly - and we would expect to bring our own drinks!

[Creaky]

Apologies for the delay in replying

I live in Hookwood which is between Reigate and Gatwick Airport.

More than happy to host a "light hearted" friendly if anyone in the area wants to organise one - probably best if someone came out to check the 'man shed'.

Anyone interested can contact me on [e-mail]

Aren't Redhill Rainbows something to do with the girl guides ?

[Creaky]

Yes - the Rainbows are the youngest section, (5-7 year olds), of the Girl Guiding Association.

My wife runs the 1st Redhill and the 7th Horley groups