You guys sure are a generous crowd!
Thanks for the nice comments.
The cues i've made really are simple and uninspiring. During the 80's a couple guys gave me sticks, one a custom by unknown maker, the other a true sneaky from a cut down house cue. I didn't like the thin (11 -11.5 mm) shafts some of the better players used in those days, so set the them aside and figured out how to make a couple shafts. Mid 30's met my (eventually) wife, started family, and moved out of the area i had been active in pool. Won one local tournament near the town we moved to, then never played again for 25 years.
Complicated story why/how i started back in the game maybe 7 years ago, but cues had gotten expensive and the house cues were bad, so i made a couple merry widows to have something to shoot with. Then the full splice blanks. I only completed 2 of the blanks, and they sold to friends. I'm still shooting with the cue i built on a defective spliced butt from a supplier in FL that inspired me to decide i could do better. My cues are so simple i have not taken many pictures and regret none show much in the way of details, but here's some of what is in my files. I will try to document next time i get a blank down and start to finish one.
Photos of one for a buddy that wanted a 61" long 23oz cue. Just after finishing the joint/bolt in the butt; and starting to apply finish. Unfortunately there's a glare on the splice. Like I mentioned, the artistic aspects or concepts of cues aren't clicking for me yet. I have the (old school) tools, like a Gorton, mills, lathes, etc, but a person needs a vision. As an example, the bocote/curly pyinma is a good example - it looked so good on the lumber piles, but is a lot less interesting together. The Bocote darkens suitably and looks good over time, but the pyinma darkens faster, turns carmel colored, and the spectacular 360° curl barely shows in contrast. There's a disconnect between vision and product.
Again, thanks for the encouragement and kind words.
smt