Cue recycling 101 or Extreme cue makeovers...

classiccues

classiccues

Morgan set complete...
Silver Member
Last year I purchased an old tired Palmer. The cue wasn't a line cue, and was kind of odd with a different collar, looked like something that was maybe thrown together. It roughly looked like it could have been a custom Model C, but anyways it was do for a makeover.

I chose this cue for the Szam prong, and it was fairly inexpensive.

This is the cue pre-saw.

JV
 

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One of the dilemas in a project like this is the donor has to be pretty spot on. This donor had a bad case of notclosetolengthius prongitis. Now depending upon the skill of the surgeon and the size of the forearm will dictate how much that can be adjusted. After a few tweakings it was bought back to within .010 of an inch in the prongs. That's pretty damn good.

After that it was time to design a new cue. Well in keeping in standard tradition, I decided it was going to be Bushkaesque. I picked Georges brain and used 3 or 4 ideas that George laid into different cues.

The backend, I thought I new right where to go. I was headed into acrylic bands, maybe the zig zag diamond and dot pattern, one of the classic favorite patterns, how could that miss..... after consulting with the Dr. I decided to take it into a new design, one that doesn't get done to often. I kept the acrylic bands and decided to go into the photos and chose a more heavily pearl inlay pattern. I mean if your're going to do a face transplant, might as well go for Monroe, and not Mae West.

JV
 

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Also just one question, how do you know its a Szamboti forearm? I would just like to know in case I run across something like this down the road.
 
Fast Lenny said:
Also just one question, how do you know its a Szamboti forearm? I would just like to know in case I run across something like this down the road.
Click to expand...

Length of prong, colors, and design (geometry). You can alter the prongs appearance by how you assemble and machine the forearm. Gus was pretty consistent with his cues. If you study prongs you'll notice some people go real deep and the ends, some not so deep, but you can still have a long prong and a not so deep cut. Gus always was deep and the prongs have a certain length because he did them one way. Take an old Joss, and the point geometry is different.

Burton Spains shorty prongs were someone shorter because he had a different technique.

In the updated website we are going to add a section on cues from this time period with some pictures and very accurate information talking about this very subject.

JV
 
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Vey cool.

I wish we saw more of this kind of thing. I often think about stuff like that....makeovers/rebuilds....

I have a tired cue with a WICO forearm that I am thinking could be used as a blank for a rebuild. Not exactly of the "caliber" of yours...but the same sort of sentiment.
 
classiccues said:
Length of prong, colors, and design (geometry). You can alter the prongs appearance by how you assemble and machine the forearm. Gus was pretty consistent with his cues. If you study prongs you'll notice some people go real deep and the ends, some not so deep, but you can still have a long prong and a not so deep cut. Gus always was deep and the prongs have a certain length because he did them one way. Take an old Joss, and the point geometry is different.

Burton Spains shorty prongs were someone shorter because he had a different technique.

In the updated website we are going to add a section on cues from this time period with some pictures and very accurate information talking about this very subject.

JV
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, its pretty enlightening stuff, cue makers are really artist in a sense. :smile:
 
So now the inlays. Again, there are hundreds of known examples of George's inlay patterns. From single dot, to 6 and 7 inlays per prong. I settled on a very unusual seldom seen 4 inlay pattern, consisting of 3 dots over a slotted diamond. I almost went with the typical one dot over, 3 dots under a diamond. But it's very over done, as is the single diamond with one dot over and one dot under.

The rings above the wrap are also slightly unusual because they start and end the ring assembly. Most the times I like to have black phenolic on the ends, but the Dr decided this was a classier look.

You can really see how nice the blank cleaned up and how good the point colors are under the sealer.

JV
 

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here is a cue i just had the same thing done found a donor forarm and the rest of the cue is new handle but shaftes etc he was even able to make the stacked v ring match really well as well as keeping the over all petina look to the cue its a monster player
 

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Finished

Cue came out fantastic....
15.5 oz butt
4.0 shafts

What did I order, 19.5 oz... imagine that... :)

The first Szamboti blank Steve Klein.

Ivory over stainless, ivory stitch ring
CORTLAND #9 linen...
16 MOP inlays in the forearm, 28 MOP inlays in the butt sleeve, delrin cap.

Remember the 8 slotted diamonds are custom cut to have the old school asthetic.

This cue really came out better than I thought it might because the blank had some point unevenness. Now its within .010 max at any point. Really a great job. Steve is very underrated and you can't ask for a nicer guy to work with.

Will post in the FS section soon...

JV
 

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For Lenny...

This is a Spain blank Bushka.. this cue had the matching stitch ring I used. A lot of people contribute this ring to Gus, but George had done it first.

In reference to your earlier inquiry you can see how short these points are in reference to the forearm.

JV
 

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classiccues said:
For Lenny...

This is a Spain blank Bushka.. this cue had the matching stitch ring I used. A lot of people contribute this ring to Gus, but George had done it first.

In reference to your earlier inquiry you can see how short these points are in reference to the forearm.

JV
Click to expand...

Very interesting stuff. Love learning new things. Thanks. :)
 
JV,

I have to concur with everyone...homerun for sure! This cue just SCREAMS "CLASSIC CUE"!!! :)

Kudos to Steve...I'm more and more impressed all the time with his work! He's definitely not
"underrated" by me! Which I'm sure he's been losing sleep every night wondering if he had my approval or not! :rolleyes:

Jason
 
Bumping my favorite cue project this year

This was my favorite cue I had made this year. Very tempted to keep it at the end.

JV
 
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