Fore Rail said:

Just get the disassembled table to your house & have Ryan put it together. He will be able to tell if anything is missing & assemble the table properly the first go around.

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Yep.

Bavafongoul said:

Martin, I spoke to a cue maker I’ve used before and he essentially said what you explained.
It’s more practical for him to build a players design with simple points & veneers sans inlays.

Sneaky Pete cues tend to interrupt his established routine in his shop for building custom cues.
I’m sure there can’t be much profit realized on a SP cue and so what he explained made sense.

When I was discussing this idea with Jerry Rauenzahn, the approach was to build a genuine SP cue
without any fancy rings, veneers or inlays. The cue would be a road/league cue for prior customers.

The SP cues would be offered only to Jerry’s former clients rather than a brand new customer. It was
a way of showing appreciation for their prior patronage and rewarding them with something different.

I would have been thrilled to own a SP cue made by Jerry Rauenzahn. There aren’t any I’ve ever seen
or even heard existed. The cue would be numbered in a limited production run but It never got off the
ground. Jerry was thinking about retiring at that time and was really busy completing new cue orders.

Matt

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Sorry for replying so long after the initial post. See my post about my plain-jane Rauenzahn cue from a few years ago. There are pictures on there. My cue is not numbered or signed or anything. I still have it. https://forums.azbilliards.com/threads/question-about-an-ordinary-looking-rauenzahn-cue.525398/ I don't know if what I have is what you had in mind.

Oikawa said:

My understanding is that for the CB's reaction after hitting it with the cue, all that matters is what the cue is doing at the moment of contact

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Yep - angle, spot & speed (ASS).

Oikawa said:

However, the amount of times I've heard (mostly from local folks, but also at various online discussions) that certain shots can only be executed with a "smooth stroke", "good timing" or a "good follow-through", such that those shots are literally impossible without it, makes me wonder if there's any truth behind it

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All of that matters, but only for delivering the cue to the cue ball at the correct Angle, Spot and Speed.

pj
chgo

Smoothness or whatever is really just a shorthand for having efficient acceleration on your stroke. Sudden or jerky acceleration affects the way you engage your muscles and usually means you are doing more work to achieve the same result. That can lead to more tension and a greater likelihood of engaging the grip or shoulder in ways you don’t want to. Efficient acceleration lets you generate the same cue speed with less effort, which improves accuracy and makes power easier to control.

While I saw you clarified that you aren’t asking about consistency, I don’t think you can fully separate it from this discussion. Basically any shot can be made as long as you generate enough cue speed and strike the cue ball in the right place, which I doubt anyone would disagree with. But when someone says one shot or another needs good timing or a smooth stroke, that is really just shorthand for saying that the shot requires a higher level of precision in both tip accuracy and cue speed to make consistently, which is exactly what efficient acceleration gives you.

Just fire up the snowmobile.

I got a few jump/break tips directly from them recently.
The emails came from Jim (I guess Jim Stadum) so I guess still the same owner unless it's just an email they haven't changed

This has already been covered pretty well but I'll try to combine the main points in one place. After tens of thousands of hours on pool tables I can tell you that few things are impossible for one shot. However, stroke and follow through go together with making some of these things happen.

Sorta like the swipe stroke. Some SOB taught me that when I was very young. I fought mightily to make it work for months! Fifty-five years later it still sneaks in. I try to never shoot with a finger or two on the bumper or the swipe is likely to sneak in! Nine times out of ten you swipe early or late to basically no effect from the swipe. Doing it early the tip hits the cue ball out of place but has the same result as if you had aimed the tip at that spot. Late gives no effect of course. The one time out of ten or less that you swipe with perfect timing you usually get something totally different than you wanted. Maybe one time in a hundred magic happens and Venom would be jealous. A cue ball can curve like a horseshoe with a perfect swipe. You can try for hours and not hit that perfect swipe though and you only get one chance in a game!

You are in a position that you are unlikely to be able to demonstrate to prove your claims. You aren't wrong that almost anything can happen for one shot, particularly a break. If you want something to work more consistently, your naysayers are right. I doubt the best in the world, artistic shooters, can swipe consistently enough to put it in their bag of tricks.

My opinion, you are right about not impossible for one shot, just extremely unlikely. Your naysayers have much better documentation than you do. If you built a very sophisticated robot you might be able to prove your point. Until then you are probably facing "can't be duplicated". You hear some wild stories from rodeo hands and real cowboys that work with livestock regularly. What almost all of these stories have in common is "can't be duplicated on demand".

I have seen things happen on ratty old tables that can't be duplicated on good equipment. I was hanging in a bar one day and saw a guy fire a ball in the side pocket of a seven footer . It went down just fine, only to pop up out of the other side pocket and stay on the playing surface. I filed it away for future reference. A day or two later I was playing a local hustler on that same table. The money ball was near the side pocket, went down to the corner. Far enough from the side pocket I could easily adjust the cue ball's path but the natural hit was dead center of that pocket that had flung the ball while I was watching. We were only playing for $500, OK even story telling I will have to make it five a game, and I played this guy pretty regularly killing time for small change. BAM! I fired the ball in at break speed. The cue ball went in the magic side pocket and popped out the other side. The guy I was playing tried to call it a scratch but I pointed out the house rule, play them as they lay. No way to dispute the cue ball was on the playing surface! I took the money.

Hu

Matt_24 said:

Well, I must say that I'm a huge Grady Mathews fan. The first professional match I ever saw was the final of the 1989 Brunswick 9 Ball Open, where Grady took it to the hill on ESPN against a prime time Nick Varner. With commentary by Steve Mizerak and Barry Weiss, it was a legendary match. Grady played fantastic in that event. World class in fact (for that time). If I remember, he won some Legends of One Pocket events in the 80s, and other tournaments.

I absolutely love Danny DiLiberto and think he was a phenomenal talent. I love the match Jay produced between Danny and Ronnie Allen. I've watched it multiple times. I bought the DVD set on ebay years ago (decade or more?). Old school equipment...different approaches to the game, but so much fun to watch. Also love watching Danny play 9 ball. He had a unique stance, grip, and approach.

Grady's book was...interesting. The pool stories were fun. A lot of it could have been left out (if you know, you know)..but glad to have a copy. I also have a copy of Danny D's book. Also great.

Edited to add that I've heard Bill Incardona say in commentary that he thought Grady's best game was straight pool. Grady would do exhibitions and run 100 balls on different tables, balls, etc, all across the country, almost at will.

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Grady came to where I played probably 90/91 time frame and bet the owner paying for his exhibition with about 30min warm-up he could run 100 double or nothing, Grady got paid

Benelli said:

Thank you for doing that, I really appreciate it!

Now we're back to square one!

Another collector friend suggested Tice but I don't know his cues either.

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I definitely prefer the linen wrap over leather but please update us when you get the cue back. Id love to see the difference after the refinish.

Hail Mary Shot said:

I was hoping that we have manufacturers that sell tips of typical sizes now that are already cut and shaped. do they still expect people to play with 14mm tips? pretty much the standard now is less than 13mm. hopefully they get the drift. also, I hate using the typical trimmer/sharpener. they don't cut good. I find doing it manually with a box cutter faster and much better.

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Somewhat agree, but for single layer tips such as Triangle, you want the biggest ones. They come from the better, thicker part of the hide.

Ken_4fun said:

I suck with a house cue. Even the ones in my poolroom at home. For a cheap "going to bars" cue I got from Rick Howard is a true sneaky pete and I think I paid $400 for it a few years ago. It plays nearly as good as my more expensive cues and doesnt draw attention. I asked for straight grain with cocobola.

I think it turned out great.

Ken

View attachment 878143View attachment 878144

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That case screams "HUSTLER" even before you take any cue out of it.... I love it (and the cue)

Iwishiwasrich said:

Welcome back!!!

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I just realized I recognized the name from years ago before I read your post. Yes, welcome back