Bullwinkle

ridewiththewind

ridewiththewind

♥ Hippie Hustler ♥
Silver Member
I call it Bullwinkle.

byqy7upu.jpg


Four layers of 4-5 oz leather laminated together. Too time-consuming to make to sell...but pretty happy with the results, for the most part.

Lisa

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
 
CocoboloCowboy said:
But they would sell, if priced fair.
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I know they would sell...but I wouldn't be making anything off of them. If I had some way in which to cut the pieces other than individually by hand...that would be one thing. There is also time in on the grinding to get it right, then burnishing the edges. That's two days...easy. There is no rushing it. The laminating has to set up properly, and the grinding has to be fairly precise...it's a lot of time-consuming work. I'm not afraid of the work...but doubt the compensation would offset the hours involved.
 
That is a nice piece of artwork you created. Great work. I eventually would love to make my own cue. I don't even care how fancy it is, I just want to have a cue that I made from scratch.
 
That's just about the Perfect Bridge right there. It won't be putting small
"dings" in your shafts like every Plastic or Metal Bridge. If you had sheets
of laminated leather and a tool-steel die & press, you could stamp them
out and quickly burnish them. Problem is ... the Die would set you back
a thousand or more and you'd have to sell hundreds of them before
turning a profit.
Very Nice Job. Enjoy the one-and-only in existence.
 
ridewiththewind said:
I call it Bullwinkle.

byqy7upu.jpg


Four layers of 4-5 oz leather laminated together. Too time-consuming to make to sell...but pretty happy with the results, for the most part.

Lisa

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Obviously the design is not original but once they are glued up they can be punched out in a few seconds. I go a place that has a press that they put in like cookie cutters and punch out leather shapes. This thing can be adjusted I bet to a couple of tons of pressure.
 
ridewiththewind said:
I call it Bullwinkle.

byqy7upu.jpg


Four layers of 4-5 oz leather laminated together. Too time-consuming to make to sell...but pretty happy with the results, for the most part.

Lisa

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Looks nice, what I'd like to see is an asymmetrical design that can easily be reversed. At times I need to use a low hit but the position of other balls get in the way of where the low shaft holder is on the bridge.

If I could swap the locations as needed, there would be less issues with shooting some shots due to not having to jack up the cue as much.
 
Nice job Lisa. I agree, even with the plastic Moose Heads, you have to use a bit of sand paper on the inside edges to take the sharp ridge off, otherwise you're dragging your cue
against a sharp surface.

That won't happen with this one. Wish I had one just like it.
 
Actually had occasion to use it tonight...worked out great. Very happy with it.

Thanks for all the comments. Very much appreciated.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
 
ridewiththewind said:
Actually had occasion to use it tonight...worked out great. Very happy with it.

Thanks for all the comments. Very much appreciated.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Lisa showed up at the local shoot tonight showing this thing off. Impressive and a bunch of people asking her when she is going to make more!

She also had a chalk holder thingy that she made for her Predator chalk that was sporty looking as well.

:grin:
 
Very, very nice work! I agree, I'm sure the hours it takes to create something that nice would potentially price it out of the market. However, you might be surprised, I'm sure there are people out there that would pay $125 to $200 for something that nice.
 
nobcitypool said:
Very, very nice work! I agree, I'm sure the hours it takes to create something that nice would potentially price it out of the market. However, you might be surprised, I'm sure there are people out there that would pay $125 to $200 for something that nice.
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It is just a matter of having the right tools. Leather bridge heads have been made for a long time.

here is one for $15.95 and that is retail so you know it is made for like a fraction on that. Just a matter of making it in a different configuration. If there is a market for them they would have no problem producing the moose shape.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tiger-Products-Corona-Leather-Pool-Cue-Bridge-Head-/120791590522
 
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That turned out even better than what you showed me on FB. If tips can sell for $30 and chalk for $35 then handmade bridges like this are easily worth $50. I think you should make them as you please and charge what you want and if people order then great and if they don't then don't worry about it. I promise you everyone on this forum has at times in their life spent much more on things of far less value.

My advice would be to have several profiles for people to choose from.

Make them, sign them. Sell them. :-)
 
macguy said:
It is just a matter of having the right tools. Leather bridge heads have been made for a long time.

here is one for $15.95 and that is retail so you know it is made for like a fraction on that. Just a matter of making it in a different configuration. If there is a market for them they would have no problem producing the moose shape them.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tiger-Products-Corona-Leather-Pool-Cue-Bridge-Head-/120791590522
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The work Lisa put in is far more than what goes into the Tiger one. That's the real difference. A leather bridge isn't hard to make. Making them as nice as Lisa's just takes a lot of work and attention to detail. If one just wants a functioning leather bridge then sure, get the Tiger or don't get leather at all and get the $5 plastic one.

Lisa's is a piece of functional art. I made my own as well, but I didn't have the patience to make it beautiful like Lisa did.
 
Thanks John! I may reconsider it. Bouncing around the idea of perhaps tooling one next time...maybe a basketweave. We'll see.
 
ridewiththewind said:
Thanks John! I may reconsider it. Bouncing around the idea of perhaps tooling one next time...maybe a basketweave. We'll see.
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Lisa, I agree with John -- what a nice piece of work you created! You can tell the quality of the materials you used and the care / attention to detail that went into it. Even though it's leather, it kinda has an amboyna burl look to it -- very nice!

One question, though -- the rubber grommet looks exactly like the one supplied with (and offered separately as spares for) the Tiger Corona bridge. Did you find a source for those that wasn't Tiger?

-Sean
 
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sfleinen said:
Lisa, I agree with John -- what a nice piece of work you created! You can tell the quality of the materials you used and the care / attention to detail that went into it. Even though it's leather, it kinda has an amboyna burl look to it -- very nice!

One question, though -- the rubber grommet looks exactly like the one supplied with (and offered separately as spares for) the Tiger Corona bridge. Did you find a source for those that wasn't Tiger?

-Sean
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No, Sean. I found an extra one in one of my old Instroke cases about a year or two ago, and they are the Corona replacement grommets that can be purchased separately from Tiger. I have an original Spinali bridge head, and one of the first Corona leather bridge heads as well. They are what inspired me to do this. I love the versatility of the Spinali, but also love the idea of a leather bridge head like the Corona, because it is kinder to your shafts. To me, this 'Bullwinkle' bridge head is the best of both worlds.

While mine is not nearly as beveled along the edges as the Corona or original Spinali...I experienced no drag whatsoever when I used it during a set last night. This may well be the result of the heavy burnishing I did along the entire outer edge. The bridge was very stable, and the fit was firm on the host cue, so no wobble factor front to back, (which I hate!). I had occasion to use it three or four times last night, and each and every time it delivered what I expected of it.

I am going to ponder reconsidering my initial decision to not make any more of these. I may well try and get some made up and available in time for the league season to start up. If I do, I'll be sure to post them here.
 
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