o k i know yall have had some work done on a cue and were not satisfied. so have i.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,but who would you consider a butcher that ruins cues. any personal horror storys ?
cue butchers??????????????
- Thread starter billfishhead
- Start date
I must say that the repair people at Showcase Billiards in Denver are true butchers. I requested a tip replacement and soon thereafter received my shaft with a chipped ferrule, gouges in the shaft and a huge depression at the base of the shaft where it's locked into the chuck for turning on the lathe.
One of my friends handed his butt over to Showcase to have them fit their proprietary Predator-like shaft to it. The butt was returned with the wrap so damaged AND TORN that it hung from the butt in several places. You could literally peal the wrap off of the butt.
**** SHOWCASE for their shoddy workmanship. I wouldn't go there for ANY work done to my stick.
One of my friends handed his butt over to Showcase to have them fit their proprietary Predator-like shaft to it. The butt was returned with the wrap so damaged AND TORN that it hung from the butt in several places. You could literally peal the wrap off of the butt.
**** SHOWCASE for their shoddy workmanship. I wouldn't go there for ANY work done to my stick.
Last edited:
There's a repairman I know who does not use Delrin or nylon shaft collet.
Everytime he changes tips, he puts nice railroad dents on the shafts under the ferrule.
Everytime he changes tips, he puts nice railroad dents on the shafts under the ferrule.
Mine experience was not as bad, I guess I was lucky.
It was many years ago and the place is out of business now. It used to be a very big retail store chain all over Canada.
I asked them to install a tip for me and when I went to get my shaft, I saw scratches and dents every where on the shaft most likely from the chuck of the lathes.
The people who worked there were very friendly and nice, once I mentioned those problems to them, they got right on it.
One guy got my shaft and put it between his legs as he sat down, another took out a piece of sand paper and started to sand down my shaft by hand. He was so polite and he never once forgot to keep a smile on his face, "don't worry, this would not take away anything but the dirts," seeing the look on my face, he added, "we do this on our cues all the time, see...we know what we are doing!" He took out a cue from the rack and showed it to me. With a soothing voice, he assured me, "you really have nothing to worry about!"
They were not just quick, they even gave me a discount afterwards! They only charged me $10 for the tip, and the extra cleaning(sanding) on the shaft was "on the house" as they put it.
When he returned the shaft back to me, the dents and scratches were all gone! It was amazing! And my shaft was really clean! Even the finish just above the joint collar was partially gone as well so it felt smoother than before!
I could still sort of locate where the dents were when I rolled the shaft on the table as it started to wobble, but the point was they removed the dents and cleaned up my shaft and it was free!
After this educational experience, I started to learn how to do my own tip, my leather wrap, and eventually, how to build cues.
Thanks a lot guys!
Richard
It was many years ago and the place is out of business now. It used to be a very big retail store chain all over Canada.
I asked them to install a tip for me and when I went to get my shaft, I saw scratches and dents every where on the shaft most likely from the chuck of the lathes.
The people who worked there were very friendly and nice, once I mentioned those problems to them, they got right on it.
One guy got my shaft and put it between his legs as he sat down, another took out a piece of sand paper and started to sand down my shaft by hand. He was so polite and he never once forgot to keep a smile on his face, "don't worry, this would not take away anything but the dirts," seeing the look on my face, he added, "we do this on our cues all the time, see...we know what we are doing!" He took out a cue from the rack and showed it to me. With a soothing voice, he assured me, "you really have nothing to worry about!"
They were not just quick, they even gave me a discount afterwards! They only charged me $10 for the tip, and the extra cleaning(sanding) on the shaft was "on the house" as they put it.
When he returned the shaft back to me, the dents and scratches were all gone! It was amazing! And my shaft was really clean! Even the finish just above the joint collar was partially gone as well so it felt smoother than before!
I could still sort of locate where the dents were when I rolled the shaft on the table as it started to wobble, but the point was they removed the dents and cleaned up my shaft and it was free!
After this educational experience, I started to learn how to do my own tip, my leather wrap, and eventually, how to build cues.
Thanks a lot guys!
Richard
Horror!!
i gave an early 8 point josswest cue to burton spain to refinnish and when i got the cue back the butt was sanded down at least 30 to 40 thousanths, the stainless joint still had the sand marks (never polished), the wrap area was never lathed to match the finnish so the wrap stuck up way above the finnish, which was absolutely horrible, and the shafts which were full 13mm shafts were now 12mm. the cue was junk. to add insult to injury he forgot to put the original joint protectors on the cue when he sent it to me so he said he would send them to me and he put them in an ordinary envelope!! by the time the mail came all i saw was a white envelope with a big hole on the side and no joint protectors. i drove to schon cues a week later after the nervous breakdown and they refinnished again for me but the cue, that was so thin, still was like shooting with a broom handle so i sold it.
i gave an early 8 point josswest cue to burton spain to refinnish and when i got the cue back the butt was sanded down at least 30 to 40 thousanths, the stainless joint still had the sand marks (never polished), the wrap area was never lathed to match the finnish so the wrap stuck up way above the finnish, which was absolutely horrible, and the shafts which were full 13mm shafts were now 12mm. the cue was junk. to add insult to injury he forgot to put the original joint protectors on the cue when he sent it to me so he said he would send them to me and he put them in an ordinary envelope!! by the time the mail came all i saw was a white envelope with a big hole on the side and no joint protectors. i drove to schon cues a week later after the nervous breakdown and they refinnished again for me but the cue, that was so thin, still was like shooting with a broom handle so i sold it.
We have a guy here in St. Louis.
His lathe is known to the local pool playing community as "The Beaver."
Any kind of damage you can imagine, he has inflicted on unsuspecting customers. He is especially known for tapering newly installed cue tips... and extending the taper right on down your ferule.
Lou Figueroa
His lathe is known to the local pool playing community as "The Beaver."
Any kind of damage you can imagine, he has inflicted on unsuspecting customers. He is especially known for tapering newly installed cue tips... and extending the taper right on down your ferule.
Lou Figueroa
billfishhead said:
Just got my break cue (with one shaft), 1 Richard Black shaft, and 2 Black Boar shafts back from Scot at Proficient. The cue looks better than I have ever seen it. The shafts were re-tipped and cleaned to perfection (he even added pads under the tips that I sent). The diameters of the shafts were not altered and there were no dings or chuck marks to be seen.
This was top of the line work.
I really had to grit my teeth when reading some of these stories because they were so bad. I literally could have nightmares and cold sweats if I read too many of these stories. My deepest sympathies to all who have suffered cue mutilation. Maybe we can form a support group.
As far as Showcase goes... I know that Ernie Martinez worked there for a while and I think the quality of repairs back then (1980's and early 90's) was good. I have a Showcase Sneaky-Pete from that era and it is quite a piece of work. I love that cue. Looks fresh off of a roadhouse cue rack (dirt and chalk ground into the finish and shaft wood), but has a pro taper, perfect tip, and shoots like a dream....
This was top of the line work.
I really had to grit my teeth when reading some of these stories because they were so bad. I literally could have nightmares and cold sweats if I read too many of these stories. My deepest sympathies to all who have suffered cue mutilation. Maybe we can form a support group.
As far as Showcase goes... I know that Ernie Martinez worked there for a while and I think the quality of repairs back then (1980's and early 90's) was good. I have a Showcase Sneaky-Pete from that era and it is quite a piece of work. I love that cue. Looks fresh off of a roadhouse cue rack (dirt and chalk ground into the finish and shaft wood), but has a pro taper, perfect tip, and shoots like a dream....
At the poolroom I play at the owner is the only one that knows how to put on tips or do any other type of basic cue repair. Anyways, I was playing one night and my tip came off and it was almost worn out anyway so I asked the guy who was working there at the time if he could put it behind the counter so the owner could fix it tommorow. The guy working who was a major hard ass know it all says I can put ya one on for 5 dollars. I was like ok go ahead. While he was working on it I put on my replacement shaft on and played. About 5 minutes later he came over to me and handed it to me. I was like that was quick and then I looked at the tip. It was overhanging the ferrule and not even close to being flush with the ferrule. The shaft had super glue on it and was rough. To avoid a long I KNOW everything speach I said thank you and gave him 5 dollars. Went home ripped the tip off and sent it to the owner personally.
Boy you ain't kidding about Showcase. If you care about you're cue, do not send it to Showcase! If you send you're 13mm shaft in to have a tip replaced, it very well might come back 12.5.
Not to mention I believe they charge $18 for a tip. Of course, this does include the retapering.
Doug
Not to mention I believe they charge $18 for a tip. Of course, this does include the retapering.
Doug
One of the major reasons I learned to do my own retipping is that many good retippers are deaf to my instructions requesting that they do not touch the shaft. Invariably they'll sand it during the replacement process even though I stated DON'T TOUCH THE $#& SHAFT.
You get what you pay for !!!!
Sometimes necessity forces you to take what you can get. At a recent tournament, I needed a tip on one of my shafts. The shaft was played with, maybe, for 1/2 hour from the original cuemaker. I asked the repair guy at the tourney to replace the tip. He says give me a few minutes and I'll have it done right quick. I come back 10 minutes or so later and he is running sandpaper up and down the shaft pretty vigorously. I very nicely ask him what he was doing and he says, " Well you want me to clean the shaft and get all these dings out don't ya?" In shock now, I tell him to just leave the shaft alone and I'll take it as is. I pay him $10 and walk away in disbelief. Then comes the cherry on the cake. I hadn't even looked very closely at the tip or ferrule. Mr. Cue repairman had taken the sandpaper all the way to the tip. The ferrule was completely ruined with gouges that were very, very noticable. I decided it was in my best interest to just let it go and have someone else fix it.
Sometimes necessity forces you to take what you can get. At a recent tournament, I needed a tip on one of my shafts. The shaft was played with, maybe, for 1/2 hour from the original cuemaker. I asked the repair guy at the tourney to replace the tip. He says give me a few minutes and I'll have it done right quick. I come back 10 minutes or so later and he is running sandpaper up and down the shaft pretty vigorously. I very nicely ask him what he was doing and he says, " Well you want me to clean the shaft and get all these dings out don't ya?" In shock now, I tell him to just leave the shaft alone and I'll take it as is. I pay him $10 and walk away in disbelief. Then comes the cherry on the cake. I hadn't even looked very closely at the tip or ferrule. Mr. Cue repairman had taken the sandpaper all the way to the tip. The ferrule was completely ruined with gouges that were very, very noticable. I decided it was in my best interest to just let it go and have someone else fix it.
ive heard so many storys like these that when i even want a tip replaced i send the shaft half way accross the country to the original cue maker for a tip,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,btw ive got 4 shafts for each cue
id hate to go to jail for killing some idiot for ruining an ivory ferrule
also, may i add to the list Wayne Gunn for doing very shoddy work on a Rizzo,,,,,,,,,,,,,i had heard he did good work,,,,,,,,,,word was wrong
id hate to go to jail for killing some idiot for ruining an ivory ferrule
also, may i add to the list Wayne Gunn for doing very shoddy work on a Rizzo,,,,,,,,,,,,,i had heard he did good work,,,,,,,,,,word was wrong
Even decent cue makers can slip through a butcher job once in a while.
I picked up an old collectible where a good cue maker had replaced a broken joint. He had put on an oddball joint that was nothing close to original and butchered both shafts in the process. I picked up the cue for pennies on the dollar.
I took a parts cue I had with the original joint parts and sent it with the butcher job to Scot Sherbine. When I got the cue back, it looked better than new - gorgeous - and an old collectible that by all rights was destined for the scrap heap was saved.
Chris
I picked up an old collectible where a good cue maker had replaced a broken joint. He had put on an oddball joint that was nothing close to original and butchered both shafts in the process. I picked up the cue for pennies on the dollar.
I took a parts cue I had with the original joint parts and sent it with the butcher job to Scot Sherbine. When I got the cue back, it looked better than new - gorgeous - and an old collectible that by all rights was destined for the scrap heap was saved.
Chris