Keith Auld started making cues in 1976 but only on an individual custom cue basis. In the 1980’s whilst having a shop in Wimbledon in which besides making snooker cues he also made trophies and silverware for some notable people such as Everton Football Club for whom he was commissioned to make a special silver cup in memory of Dixie Dean; Damon Hill commissioned him to make a special presentation trophy of his racing car steering wheel to present to his sponsors and Carlton Television commissioned him to make a special silver golf cup for their company’s golf day; he met up with Jimmy White and Tony Meo both of whom wanted work done to their cues and as a result of later making new cues for them his reputation spread and he started making and stocking in the shop, cues from all different manufacturers but also concentrated on widening his own cue portfolio.
At the time there were only 3 well known private companies hand making cues in London; Keith Auld, John Parris and Hunt & O’Byrne. Both Keith Auld and Hunt & O’Byrne used to use Mick Rees for all their joint making and assembly; later Hunt & O’Byrne started fitting a pre produced joint that Mick Rees had designed, themselves; but Keith still uses Mick Rees for his cue joints and to maintain the authenticity of a full hand made custom cue, all Mick Rees cue joints used in Keith’s cues are individually custom made.
Keith moved from London to Southampton on the South Coast of England following a divorce, and as he had custody of his two sons had to bring them up on his own, during this period he only made cues on demand and very few were for UK customers, nearly all went abroad. Now back making full time many of his cues are destined for the Chinese market, but there are now many cues being ordered by UK players and as an active participant on the Snooker Forum website, has tried to assist players with cue information where possible.
Each cue that comes from Keith’s workshop is genuinely hand made, cut from a specially selected square piece of ash or maple. This is then sawn to a predetermined taper and then hand planed to a tapered round cone. This is then marked to take the splices to be glued to the shaft and a flat taper is then hand planed on the shaft, to which the prepared exotic hardwood splice is attached. After the glue has dried this shaft is then once again hand plane to a round cone, rotated through 90 degrees and marked for the second set of splices and hand planed once again to produce a flat taper to take the final set of splices, which are glued to the shaft and once dry, are once again hand planed back to a round cone. This procedure is continued time and again to produce the colours you’ll see on Keith’s cues, all splices are perfectly symmetrical and in line when finished, and all cues individually balanced. You cannot get a better cue from any cue maker anywhere in the world than a Keith Auld cue.
Over the 30 years Keith has been making cues he has taught a number of now successful cue makers practising their art in different parts of the world, his most notable student in this country is Robert Osborne, who himself makes quality cues now, so it is with pride that the art of hand making snooker cues has been passed to another generation of cue makers, particularly in this time of mass production.
