New young cue maker KT of Thomas cues

Thanks for posting! I have been hearing about Kennys quest to be a cue builder for a few years now. He has been taking the time to learn from some of the best local builders in Dallas. I met him a few months back. His enthusiasm for the craft obvious. It's nice to see him following through.

Larry

Russell.....Thank you brother for the kind words. I am really proud of how it came out and I'm glad you have one of the first ones. We are going to have to get you another camera, get some better pictures, really show off that finish :thumbup:

Larry....Thanks for the reply, it was a pleasure meeting you, your stuff is really looking great. I really valued my time spent with John Nemeck in his shop & miss going over there every day. He has a lot going on in that brain of his and was nice enough to share some of it with me. I need to go pick his brain some more about setting up to build full splices LoL.

I do appreciate the kind words, but cue maker might be a bit of a stretch. I am still playing around with old house cues and sneaky blanks. Sneaky's are my favorite style of cue, tho so I am enjoying building them out from the true hustler style to seeing them get a bit fancy with ring work and some inlay work. Mostly I am building them out to practice and perfect my finish work. I see these cue makers, and Bryan Mordt comes to mind in particular, with outstanding finish work & that's what I want to be associated with my cues when people hear the name or see them.

Anyway, didn't mean to be long winded, just a little about me and I wanted to show my appreciation for the posts.

Everybody have a great weekend & I am going to head up to the shop & do what I love. :thumbup:

KT

Very well done Kenne. Like the looks of the reverse. You are welcome any time to work on full splices.

Good job KT. I have seen his work 1st hand. Very tight and clean. Good guy to work with.

Hello AZers

My good friend Russel (hitnrun) has been trying to talk me into posting some pics of the cues I have done. I have been reluctant, but he posted up a pic of the one I just did for him so I thought what the hell, if I am going to build them, I may as well get criticism, be it constructive or otherwise.

Cue #1 My first cue, a Purpleheart Titlist Pro Hoppe wrapless conversion with the help & expertise of John Nemec. 3/8-10 w/Capped Ivory Joint, Ivory buttcap & Ivory diamonds. The butt was solid, but I wanted to refinish it and needed a center to drive the cue while spraying so I drilled and tapped it and put a 1/4-20 bolt in it. Smaller than usual I know, but thought I would try something a bit different. (Wish I would have just left it alone tho honestly, live and learn, right?)

Cue #2 Old Valley house cue conversion 3/8-10, Joint & Buttcap are Aegis. For those picture studiers, yes that is an OB bumper, not sure what happened to the bumper (probably in the bottom of my case, lol) so I grabbed that one of my OB-129

Cue #3 Schmelke reverse blank Maple into Goncolo Alves. 3/8-10, joint and buttcap are Aegis. There is no finish on this one, just sanded smooth, shellacked, and buffed the heck out of it.

Cue #4 Schmelke reverse blank Super Curly maple into EI Rosewood 3/8-10, Joint and buttcap are Aegis EI Rosewood "Hoppe" ring & ring at the joint. Bumperless with polished weightbolt

Cue #5 Schmelke blank Ebony into Curly maple, 3/8-10, added a buttsleeve and put in 6Holly scalloped diamonds, Joint and buttcap are Aegis.

Cue #6 Schmelke blank, Ebony into Curly maple 3/8-10, Capped ivory joint, Ivory "Hoppe" Ring, Bumperless with polished weightbolt into ivory.

Cue #7 Playing around I took and old house cue and made a jump handle out of it with a delrin buttcap to make it look like a little sneaky. 3/8-10 aluminum pin. The shaft is made from an old house cue with the point wood at the joint so it looks like the butt. The funnest part about this is the playing around, practicing, and coming up with stuff.

So with all the kind words and encouragement from Russel, I consider myself just a "conversionist" but am starting to play around with "v" grooves & short splices, A-joint construction, veneer stuff, and actually "making" a cue. A couple of years and plenty of mistakes I'm sure & I will start to get it down LOL. Sneakys are my favorite style so I will always "convert".

Thanks for looking

great works! keep it up!

For first cues these look great, and nice sharp inlays too!

Looking forward to see how you progress. Keep it up.

My favorite is number 6, I'm a sucker for an ebony SP with a big pin. :thumbup:

Thanks everyone

Yeah, #6 is my favorite too, currently my player...hits great :thumbup:

Thanks Bro, things have been crazy busy at work so my building has slowed a bit, but I am buying woods, playing with a few things, and working on making my finish pop even more. After several tries, I am extremely happy with my taper & love the way it hits, & knowing all the many high end cues that have gone thru your hands, thank you for the compliment, Im glad you like the hit. Keep thinking of ideas, it wont be long now before we are more caught up and I can start doing some things again. I would still love to go spend some time with Darrin if I ever get a chance, we can make a road trip :thumbup:

KT

I've been playing with cue #5 for the last 3 weeks and I have to say KT does amazing work. His taper is perfect. The cue hits a ton. This is my number one playing cue.

Site?

Does this cue maker have a website? Where can I find his cues, specs, and prices?

Rono8275 said:

Does this cue maker have a website? Where can I find his cues, specs, and prices?

Click to expand...

Thanks for the interest....I do not have a website & am not really taking orders or selling anything right now. I am still practicing with construction methods, figuring out what works & what doesn't. I am talking to cuemakers, asking questions, & just making sure I don't put out anything that..............sucks, for lack of a better term.

The couple that I have out are for friends here locally....they are strong players & have played with great cues so I wanted to get their feedback. I have a long way to go, my goal to have a fully functional shop up and running and to actually be selling Thomas Cues is somewhere around the 5 year mark.

Thanks,
KT

I know this thread is old, but I wanted to bring it back in order to give recognition where it's due. I've been playing with a Kenne Thomas now for about 4 months, and I have to say it plays really well. The wood is really gorgeous and the taper is great. I'm very happy with it!

pocketsplitter said:

I know this thread is old, but I wanted to bring it back in order to give recognition where it's due. I've been playing with a Kenne Thomas now for about 4 months, and I have to say it plays really well. The wood is really gorgeous and the taper is great. I'm very happy with it!

Click to expand...

How crazy is this, our CNC lathe was down for the day today so I was just messing around cleaning up my work area and going over some of my first cues that I just refinished due to inexperience in finish work a couple of years ago. Anyway, that cue and you crossed my mind and how you liked the cue & I was going to message you about it today.

Thanks for the kind words, I have had a few players comment on how they like the stiffness & crisp feel that my taper has. I have just finished an A-joint constructed coco merry widow hoppe cue that I am about to put on my first leather wrap. It will be my first non conversion cue, Im excited, it looks really nice, just a little intimidated about the wrap. I will post pics when I get it finished.

Beautiful cues, I'm glad pocket splitter bumped it to the front page. Sneaky's are bar none my favorite cues and the only one's I'll buy. I hope to some day own one of KT's cues, if Russell (hitnrun) holds them in such high regards I'm sure they're fantastic, the Josey that I purchased from him looks amazing and plays even better(the sounds the cue makes when striking a cue ball is harmonic, ear candy if you will). Sorry not trying to switch it to a Josey thread lol, what I'm trying to get at is if a gentleman such as Russell owns and plays with such sweet cues, holds KT's cues in the same regard, they must be pretty stellar cues.

I also admire and respect the "currently not for sale" because of personal standards. Shows passion and pride, along with respect to himself, others, and the game itself. I know that feeling being a part time glassblower, anything worth making is worth making right and if it's not good enough for me, I don't want it floating around with my name associated with it. I've never met or talked to KT but just from this thread I can assume that he takes pride and thought into his work, more or less a "cue artist."

I hope my next cue can be converted or constructed by KT, looking forward to it.

poolhalljnkie said:

How crazy is this, our CNC lathe was down for the day today so I was just messing around cleaning up my work area and going over some of my first cues that I just refinished due to inexperience in finish work a couple of years ago. Anyway, that cue and you crossed my mind and how you liked the cue & I was going to message you about it today.

Thanks for the kind words, I have had a few players comment on how they like the stiffness & crisp feel that my taper has. I have just finished an A-joint constructed coco merry widow hoppe cue that I am about to put on my first leather wrap. It will be my first non conversion cue, Im excited, it looks really nice, just a little intimidated about the wrap. I will post pics when I get it finished.

Click to expand...

Do you have the pics of the coco merry you did? Would be interested to see it and get an update on your pool cue building journey