damaged case

seanjonsean said:

Hi all, I have a friend that bought a very nice, expensive case from a known case maker,his problem is that the bottom of his 2x4 just dropped out, I'm thinking he either banged his cues into case. What are ure thoughts on this?now it gets tricky, he says he contacted CM and and was told to provide witnesses to this, hmm is all I can think of, so someone is not telling what really happened, but I would like to know what would make his case bottom drop.....

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Why not contact the maker, and ask for a repair?

CocoboloCowboy said:

Why not contact the maker, and ask for a repair?

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Do you read any of these threads or just the titles? He said he contacted arghhhhhhh never mind.

decent dennis said:

Do you read any of these threads or just the titles? He said he contacted arghhhhhhh never mind.

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So did the friend ask for a replacement, or repair. Maybe the friend only asked for a replacement?

Some very detailed pictures would likely show the construction method and provide some insight as to how and why the failure occurred. For example if there are a bunch of bent nails and torn leather we can tell your friend that he must not take it so hard when he loses a game. Or perhaps he needs a much lighter cue.

Pictures would help to explain the problem and where to go for solution. I know the customer servive with some places is far superior to others. Good luck though.

Maybe someone should suggest that he contacts the case maker.

Wheee, I just pulled a Cowboy!

Maybe this thread wil go like the one about the CASE that Scratched Cues?

A friend had a Murnak 4x8 case lose its bottom when we were at the SBE. The nails used to hold it were too thin and too short for any rough usage. $25.00 later it was fixed with more appropriate nails. He admitted to heaving it into the trunk rather than placing, but I was still surprised at the construction.

Is it a Murnak case? Not sure why folks are afraid to say it... but I was VERY unhappy with the quality of mine! I can't be alone with this opinion.

I had a case from a top maker once and they had forgot to put the small nails in the top of the lid. It wasnt a big deal and I could see how one could forget it, I put them in myself and no one ever knew it. The bottom is a little different story probably. I bet JB Cases can shed some light on the subject.

$TAKE HOR$E said:

I had a case from a top maker once and they had forgot to put the small nails in the top of the lid. It wasnt a big deal and I could see how one could forget it, I put them in myself and no one ever knew it. The bottom is a little different story probably. I bet JB Cases can shed some light on the subject.

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I can indeed shed light on the subject. Having made too many cases with weak nails and weak bottoms I certainly am familiar with the subject.

Let's let the thread develop and then we can discuss the various reasons.

One particularly horrible story I have about the bottom falling out of a case is when I was taking my Joss to have it refinished by Mark Smith in Russelville Arkansas. I grabbed a 1x2 Vincintore/Bentley case that I had taken in on trade but not dissected or used. I put my cue in this brand new case and watched in utter horror as the bottom broke and the cue slid out through a ring of nail points.

The bottom had been made of pressboard, you know the type of board that is made from wood dust and glue. The nails had broken this material and not made any sort of bond at all.

Anyway the cue had a long scratch that went from the buttcap all the way up to the top of the wrap and some other scratches. So it had to be sanded all the way to the wood and the color was never the same.

$2000 cue ruined because of 10cts in wood and utter carelessness in construction. So next time you want to save money by getting a "cheap" knockoff just remember that you really don't know how it's built inside.

We spend more time doing the bottom of the case than most case makers do. After having taken them all apart I feel that only Whitten does the same level of construction on their bottoms and in fact the way I do it is somewhat modeled after the way they do it.

For cases where I can't do that level I try to figure out other ways to do it so that the bottom is not stressed from the top.

And I am still not happy with how the bottoms are done and am always thinking about how to do it better. I hope this isn't my bottom on the line here.......

First let me be very clear and state that this was NOT a JB case.
A customer of mine several years ago purchased a new case and took it out to play one night. He always slid his break cue back into the case to hold it after breaking. I guess having a beer too many caused him not to notice the damage until the end of the evening. Seems the case had a nail or two sticking out and wrecked the buttcap after sliding the cue into the case numerous times. Horror stories like this are why I trust John Barton to protect my cues.
Pic below...

I use 1" (measures 3/4'") #2 white pine. It's covered on both sides, (6oz. leather on the outside and thin foam padding on the inside. Glued in place and from 8 to 11 (depending on size of case) 3/4" nickle plated nails. I do the lid in the same way. As far as I know there has never been a problem using this technique.
I would think that the case maker in question would be very interested in seeing this case, finding out how this happened, rectifying the problem and hopefully still have a satisfied customer. If it's not due to the case being grossly abused, it could lead to him building a better case.

seanjonsean said:

Why are u unhappy with case?

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Handle sewn on crooked, loose leather on body, flimsy interior tubes, exposed hard glue lines in the way oversized tubes (cues rattle terribly) and twist latch that broke. Overall, it felt cheaply made considering the expensive price. But I will say the Murnak looked nice from a distance. I never would have purchased a Murnak case had I been able to inspect it before I bought it!

send the pics to me at guycrunch@aol.com and i will post them for you.

guy

Varney Cues said:

First let me be very clear and state that this was NOT a JB case.
A customer of mine several years ago purchased a new case and took it out to play one night. He always slid his break cue back into the case to hold it after breaking. I guess having a beer too many caused him not to notice the damage until the end of the evening. Seems the case had a nail or two sticking out and wrecked the buttcap after sliding the cue into the case numerous times. Horror stories like this are why I trust John Barton to protect my cues.
Pic below...

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That's so brutal I had to take a screenshot. I might make it the first image on my website for a couple weeks.