Cue Design - Who Was First?

JB Cases

JB Cases

www.jbcases.com
Silver Member
Hopefully here is a thread we can all have fun with peacefully. Leafing through my Billiard Encyclopedia and my 3rd ed. Blue Book of Cues I find some many designs from the 1800s onward that are echoed in the work of newer makers and I see work done by newer (newer than 1950s) that doesn't show up earlier.

We have a lot of cue knowledge on this forum and so I thought why not have a discussion on who was first with any particular design elements in cues. This refers to decorative designs not structural designs.

Craig said Paradise was the first to use MOP notched diamond inlays. I can't find an earlier example so I have to give Craig the point at this point so let's start with that.

Maybe this format would work.

Design Element - Maker - Year
---------------------------------------------

Notched mop diamond inlays - Paradise - mid 50s

Single Sided Veneers - Richard Chudy - 1993

Four points - B.Finck - 1880 (the annotation says some designs go back the 1840s)

Butterfly Splices - B.Finck - 1880

Round dot inlays - B.Finck - 1880

Diamond inlays - B. Finck - 1880

Veneers around the points - B.Finck 1880

Segmented Inlaid Handles - B.Finck - 1880

Elaborate wavy curly designs - B.Finck - 1880

3 piece cues - B.Finck - 1880 (sorry Sheldon and Predator)

Barbells - B. Finck - 1880

Reverse points below wrap - B.Finck - 1880

Sharp points into butterflies - B.Finck - 1880

There is really a lot more but I am kind of tired - the B.Finck fold out is on page 282 of the Billiard Encyclopedia Third Ed. I see about 150 cues and within those cues is almost every design element found in cues today in some form or another.

So continuing on though for a few minutes off the top of my head - please correct me if I am wrong:

Unbroken interlocked inlays - Thomas Wayne - 1994/95ish

Sliver Inlays - Ginacue Ernie Gutierezz - 1965

Pearly rings - Paradise - 1960ish?

Ok, you guys take it from here. Let's establish a list of firsts.
 
Signature - Rambow?

Name window - Paradise?

Star endorsement - Hoppe Pro?

Weight stamp - ?
 
Six Point like Southwest does, First Done by Bert Schrager!



Bert started building cues in the 1960’s and is credited with helping many up and coming cuemakers. We won't list names, but it would be a who's who list of higher end smaller cuemakers who spent time in Bert's shop. Bert has always been very helpful to the beginning cuemakers and that is one thing the ICA stands for. Bert got his start in cuemaking from his close friend Harvey Martin who is also an ICA Hall of Fame member. Bert was one of the earlier cuemakers to break into the high end cue market and one of the first few to crack open the Japanese market. Many famous people have had Bert build cues for them. He never went the CNC route and has produced some very high end cue designs with just a pantograph. He is credited with popularizing the 6 point cue design. Bert was our first living member to be inducted. His wife Pat has done much of the beautiful pantograph inlay work on their cues. At 80 years of age he was still at his labor of love: Building Cues.
 
George Balabushka

Buzz Ring
Bushka Rings above wrap

And I am sure someone who has investigated George further can and will ad more things. And put some dates to them.

But regardless of decoratives. And who used what first, if you have played with an original bushka (one that has not been through the ringer, meaning original, not re tapered in the butt, and don't have this or that shaft made by this or that maker) you will know it was more about how they play as to how they look.

And until someone proves otherwise (which I doubt) I will include some APA sleeper listed in another thread.

1-delrin butt caps
2-stainless steel joints
3-recessed bumpers
4-nickle silver trim rings
5-linen based phenolic

I also forgot, since you added pearly rings for Paradise. We will add Metallic colored acrylic and Bakelite to George's list.
 
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"Box cue"....with floating box inlays in forearm and butt. Ernie Gurierrez (GinaCue), made in 1969 for Ed Kelly.

I would also be surprised if Ernie wasn't the first to do the following, as well:

- Crown style prongs (8 points in a alternating high/low fashion)
- Single piece ivory handle, although Harvey Martin was probably the first do ivory in the handle as multiple pieces (turned from cue balls).
- Inlaid rainbows between points (i.e. on his Rasputin cue)

Was Ernie or Tad the first custom cuemaker to incorporate the wood inlaid strips, common in furniture making, into a cue? I know George did with his railroad track inlays, but I would think one of them might have done this first.

**I'm curious if anyone knows the following, who was first to incorporate CNC into their cue production to cue inlays? What about the first to make a 5 point cue?

This thread has potential.....lots of good stuff can be compiled here.
 
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First acme pin, Harvey Martin ? First white and brown joint combo ?
First radial pin, Stroud ?
 
Who was 1st to incorporate a cored forearm? Would it have been Corsair with his black beauty style cue, phenolic forearm.

First to dye ivory.......John Robinson ??
 
cueaddicts said:
Who was 1st to incorporate a cored forearm? Would it have been Corsair with his black beauty style cue, phenolic forearm.

First to dye ivory.......John Robinson ??
Click to expand...

To my knowledge Harvey Martin was using Cored forearms on some his cues as early as the 1940's.

To my knowledge
 
JB Cases said:
Hopefully here is a thread we can all have fun with peacefully. Leafing through my Billiard Encyclopedia and my 3rd ed. Blue Book of Cues I find some many designs from the 1800s onward that are echoed in the work of newer makers and I see work done by newer (newer than 1950s) that doesn't show up earlier.

We have a lot of cue knowledge on this forum and so I thought why not have a discussion on who was first with any particular design elements in cues. This refers to decorative designs not structural designs.

Craig said Paradise was the first to use MOP notched diamond inlays. I can't find an earlier example so I have to give Craig the point at this point so let's start with that.

Maybe this format would work.

Design Element - Maker - Year
---------------------------------------------

Notched mop diamond inlays - Paradise - mid 50s

Single Sided Veneers - Richard Chudy - 1993

Four points - B.Finck - 1880 (the annotation says some designs go back the 1840s)

Butterfly Splices - B.Finck - 1880

Round dot inlays - B.Finck - 1880

Diamond inlays - B. Finck - 1880

Veneers around the points - B.Finck 1880

Segmented Inlaid Handles - B.Finck - 1880

Elaborate wavy curly designs - B.Finck - 1880

3 piece cues - B.Finck - 1880 (sorry Sheldon and Predator)

Barbells - B. Finck - 1880

Reverse points below wrap - B.Finck - 1880

Sharp points into butterflies - B.Finck - 1880

There is really a lot more but I am kind of tired - the B.Finck fold out is on page 282 of the Billiard Encyclopedia Third Ed. I see about 150 cues and within those cues is almost every design element found in cues today in some form or another.

So continuing on though for a few minutes off the top of my head - please correct me if I am wrong:

Unbroken interlocked inlays - Thomas Wayne - 1994/95ish

Sliver Inlays - Ginacue Ernie Gutierezz - 1965

Pearly rings - Paradise - 1960ish?

Ok, you guys take it from here. Let's establish a list of firsts.
Click to expand...



This is a good topic John, hopefully this one will not be derailed by drama.

Thanks John
 
First to do a design with exact mirror images inlaid beside each other in the forearm and butt sleeve? Ernie Marinez (with his Escher inspired cue design) 1993

(still one of the coolest cues ever made imo)
 
I copied this from Bill Stroud's Josswest website if anyone is interested in joint screw history and development.

http://josswest.net/screw.html



The pin in any cue serves a variety of functions. It must be strong, precise, functional and of good design. I use 3 distinct types of joint screws at Josswest and each performs in a slightly different way. The original 5/16 14-thread Acme is a throwback to the historical designs of the past It and the regular 5/16 14-thread are the most common screw used in cuemaking today. I developed the 3/8 radial pin in 1989 and is now being used by a variety of cuemakers. The uni-loc which I co-developed with Paul Costain of the Uni-Loc corporation is the newest, most modern and precise of the three.
 
Ray Schuler had interchangeable shafts. No need to send the butt in to get a new shaft. He also had 10 stock tapers.
 
JB Cases said:
[...]

Unbroken interlocked inlays - Thomas Wayne - 1994/95ish

[...]
Click to expand...

Much earlier than that.

Regarding my "firsts" you can also add:

4-axis inlay - late 1980's - "Disintegrating Cue", first displayed 1992

Inlaid articulated animal skeletons (ivory "bones") - "Jurrasic Cue", 1992

Seamless keyhole crowns - many cues, beginning in the early 1990's

Damascus steel joint - Samuri", 1994

Partial leather wrap / inlay design carried down through wrap - "Serpentes", 1995

Lengthwise progressive figure/ground reversal - "[puzzle for] Maurits", 1995

Progressively-angled re-cut points - "Pomone", 1997

Tactile, relief-carved inlays (grip section) - "Celtic Prince", 1997

[...]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Multi-layered exposed (tactile) underlays - Jeff Prather, "Dragon Cue", 1996(?)

Mokume joint rings - Rick Chudy, cue unknown, date unknown

Ivory joint pin - Jerry McWorter, cue unknown, date unknown

Internal butt cap - Jerry Mcworter, cue unknown, date unknown

Intarsia "braids" - Dave Doucette - mid 1970's

Full-circumference intarsia fantails - Dave Doucette (as Samsara) - 1990 or earlier

Full-circumference intarsia swirl - Dave Doucette (as Samsara) - 1990 or earlier

Progressively twisting butterfly points - Dave Doucette (as Samsara), "Twisted Sisters", 1998(?)

Vertical-split figure/ground reversal - Ernie Martinez, 1994

Acrylic window inlays - Joe Porper, early 2000's

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

A couple common design elements, but uncommonly done:

Extruded vinyl angle "veneers" (v-points) - Gordy Hart (Viking), 1960's or early 1970's

Dyed cast-epoxy "veneers" (v-points) - Burton Spain, 1980's (?)

Also: water-based polyurethane finish - Burton Spain, late 1980's or early 1990's


TW
 
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Continuous veneers around points (joining at the wrap) - Tim Scruggs, 1978; at least I'd not seen them before then.
 
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