Antique Brunswick One Piece Cues Questions

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fjk

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I bought these old Brunswick cues at an estate sale this weekend. Shockingly, they are reasonably straight. The problem is a few are missing ferrules and a few ferrules are cracked.

So,

Are they worth getting repaired for cool old house cues?
If so, should I also have them cleaned up?
How about bumpers: did they originally have bumpers and should add I them?

Thanks!
 

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If they have a screw hole in the butt end they probably had bumpers on them.
When these were made the bumpers were known as rubber noise subduer.
The labels on these cues show that they have been played a lot.
Bumpers are cheap and easy so I would clean them up and use them for play.

It looks like none have veneered points so the value of these for conversions will be limited. The ferrules on these old cues were commonly Ivory.
Great find and a fun project to make them playable again.
 
Cuebuddy said:
If they have a screw hole in the butt end they probably had bumpers on them.
When these were made the bumpers were known as rubber noise subduer.
The labels on these cues show that they have been played a lot.
Bumpers are cheap and easy so I would clean them up and use them for play.

It looks like none have veneered points so the value of these for conversions will be limited. The ferrules on these old cues were commonly Ivory.
Great find and a fun project to make them playable again.
Click to expand...
Thanks
 
fjk said:
I can't imagine any moisture left in that wood.
Click to expand...
Wood doesn't lose moisture with age. Wood, including kielwood, absorbs and releases moisture as ambient conditions (relative humidity and temperature) change. As wood naturally ages, its hemicellulose slowly breaks down chemically, eventually reducing by about half the amount of moisture that can be absorbed by the wood. "Roasting" the wood accelerates this process.

The wood density and surface area to volume ratio of a pool cue are too high (compared to, for example, a guitar soundboard) for an appreciable portion of the hemicellulose in the wood to chemically decompose naturally in only 100 years. Some/most surface finishes will slow the process further. It essentially takes a lifetime or longer for the process to occur naturally with a guitar, but it won't happen that quickly with a cue.
 
fjk said:
I bought these old Brunswick cues at an estate sale this weekend. Shockingly, they are reasonably straight. The problem is a few are missing ferrules and a few ferrules are cracked.

So,

Are they worth getting repaired for cool old house cues?
If so, should I also have them cleaned up?
How about bumpers: did they originally have bumpers and should add I them?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Keepers!
 
they make a great two piece bar cue.

but some will make much more out of them so they have value if you find the right person. try one on ebay and see what happens.
especially the one that has a wrap or looks like one. bet you get well over a 100 for it.

i have a couple cues made from 100 plus year old brunswicks and they hit great.
 
fjk said:
I bought these old Brunswick cues at an estate sale this weekend. Shockingly, they are reasonably straight. The problem is a few are missing ferrules and a few ferrules are cracked.

So,

Are they worth getting repaired for cool old house cues?
If so, should I also have them cleaned up?
How about bumpers: did they originally have bumpers and should add I them?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Send them to a cuemaker you trust to pin them and make you a few awesome sneakies!! 3/8-10 wood to wood.
Trust me on this!! 👊🏻
 
Cuebuddy said:
If they have a screw hole in the butt end they probably had bumpers on them.
When these were made the bumpers were known as rubber noise subduer.
The labels on these cues show that they have been played a lot.
Bumpers are cheap and easy so I would clean them up and use them for play.

It looks like none have veneered points so the value of these for conversions will be limited. The ferrules on these old cues were commonly Ivory.
Great find and a fun project to make them playable again.
Click to expand...
I assumed the holes on the butt end were for bumpers, but I looked closer and unless my eyes seen wrong, they don't have threads. They look to be straight formed (drilled) holes. I was wondering if that's the center hole used to hold them in the lathe. I expected to see rough threaded holes made by a wood screw.
 
Here's the other part to my estate sale find. There were two more cues I left there because they were shorter and didn't have the old Brunswick labels. I paid $30 for the whole group and left those two because I thought they were garbage.

Then I found this on eBay (image below). Yup, those were that. looks like I made another bonehead move.

Funny, because I was thinking the other seven were antique Brunswick so those might be Brunswick too. I was a fleeting thought though. I should have at least taken them as potential shaft wood.

1789563378999.png
 
fjk said:
I assumed the holes on the butt end were for bumpers, but I looked closer and unless my eyes seen wrong, they don't have threads. They look to be straight formed (drilled) holes. I was wondering if that's the center hole used to hold them in the lathe. I expected to see rough threaded holes made by a wood screw.
Click to expand...
The hole, if in the center would have been used to to hold the cue between centers of the lathe.
Many cues of this era would have bumpers or they could be ordered without them.
If there is no evidence of screw threads in the center hole, they may have never had bumpers.

You did well on the price of these.
 
fjk said:
That's an idea I'll explore. So far I only have $30 invested in seven. I'm guessing the work to fix them up into good sneakies would be a few hundred each. Still might be worth it though.
Click to expand...
So I buy these old BBC one piece cues to salvage the rosewood to use as handle sections on my new cue builds.

Most makers use maple for handles but my experience has been this old rosewood provides better hit transmission and it adds some additional cool factor knowing what's under the wrap.
 
fjk said:
That's an idea I'll explore. So far I only have $30 invested in seven. I'm guessing the work to fix them up into good sneakies would be a few hundred each. Still might be worth it though.
Click to expand...
I have a maker doing this exact thing for me now. I'll let you know how they turn out.
 
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fjk said:
I assumed the holes on the butt end were for bumpers, but I looked closer and unless my eyes seen wrong, they don't have threads. They look to be straight formed (drilled) holes. I was wondering if that's the center hole used to hold them in the lathe. I expected to see rough threaded holes made by a wood screw.
Click to expand...
Let me know if you decide to part with any. I'll take them!!
I got dibs. 😉
 
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usually they taper fatter towards the end then most like now. so you also need to have them cut down and then lose the insignia. then all you got is an old piece of wood. it will hit good though, unless the joint isnt good.

only worth doing if you want a great bar cue as these are very basic. otherwise you ruined it.
 
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