Rusty Melton Cases

jimmycue

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have owned alot of production and a few custom cases over the years and untill just two weeks ago never really thought in general how a case should be designed. Tube or cloth or foam interior. And should they be air tight or able to breath. Well i found out the hard way. A friend was over looking at a cue i had forsale and of course i brought out my little collection of cues. Well it was a very humid day and we were in basement hitting some balls with all my cues and one of my shafts must have sucked up alot of the moisture in the air and a week later i tried to assemble cue and it would not thread on pin. After looking cue over not seeing anything wrong i tightened it up on pin and the shaft split from swelling. So now im thinking why? Well i must have put shaft away having sucked up moisture and not being able to dry out cause the case i put it back into was airtight. So now it is at the cuemakers getting a new shaft. My original thought about a case was the tighter the air seal the better until this happened. Now having just gotten two new cases from Rusty Melton i realized how important it is to have your case protect your cues from moisture if caught in rain and being knocked about but also to have cues being able to breath where ever you store them so the wood doesnt absorb the moisture and cant dry out. Rusty besides building a very beautiful case they are very functional as well as any case on the planet.
 

CocoboloCowboy

Cowboys are my hero's
Silver Member
So were are the Photos.
interrogation4.jpg
 

jimmycue

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Melton case pics

So were are the Photos.
interrogation4.jpg

Well im trying to give a reveiw of a Melton case and didnt think about pics. Rusty uses individual lined tubes for protection and seeing case has leather ends and not sealed in plastic your cue can breath and not have moisture sealed in case with cue. Pics are in gallery but here they are again.
 

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JB Cases

www.jbcases.com
Silver Member
I have owned alot of production and a few custom cases over the years and untill just two weeks ago never really thought in general how a case should be designed. Tube or cloth or foam interior. And should they be air tight or able to breath. Well i found out the hard way. A friend was over looking at a cue i had forsale and of course i brought out my little collection of cues. Well it was a very humid day and we were in basement hitting some balls with all my cues and one of my shafts must have sucked up alot of the moisture in the air and a week later i tried to assemble cue and it would not thread on pin. After looking cue over not seeing anything wrong i tightened it up on pin and the shaft split from swelling. So now im thinking why? Well i must have put shaft away having sucked up moisture and not being able to dry out cause the case i put it back into was airtight. So now it is at the cuemakers getting a new shaft. My original thought about a case was the tighter the air seal the better until this happened. Now having just gotten two new cases from Rusty Melton i realized how important it is to have your case protect your cues from moisture if caught in rain and being knocked about but also to have cues being able to breath where ever you store them so the wood doesnt absorb the moisture and cant dry out. Rusty besides building a very beautiful case they are very functional as well as any case on the planet.

What case was it in that you think caused the problem?
 

jimmycue

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
cases

What case was it in that you think caused the problem?

JB i have a 4x8 for storage and it is a foam filled and cloth lined with vinyl exterior. The shafts fit very tight while in case and i think thats why the shaft swelled up and split. The cuemaker has never seen one do this, lucky me. So now im going to get a 4x8 that has the same type of construction as Rusty Melton cases or close to it.
 

JB Cases

www.jbcases.com
Silver Member
JB i have a 4x8 for storage and it is a foam filled and cloth lined with vinyl exterior. The shafts fit very tight while in case and i think thats why the shaft swelled up and split. The cuemaker has never seen one do this, lucky me. So now im going to get a 4x8 that has the same type of construction as Rusty Melton cases or close to it.

Was it one of mine? Or a foam core (hard foam)?

Because I have never seen it happen either and I have been making padded cases for 20 years.

So you think that the case was the problem here? How about the other shafts?

I ask because I am curious and have done primitive R&D with steam to see what happens inside of cases and even with the case full of steam I have never seen a shaft swell up to the point of splitting. It's a very intriguing mystery.

Additionally we have about 40 years of sealed and semi-sealed cases that restrict airflow and thus restrict convection from allowing the moisture to evaporate and we have seen no epidemic of swollen cues due to these cases.

I am not saying that the case didn't contribute to the problem but I'd sure as hell like to try and duplicate the situation to prove it one way or the other before making a blanket assumption that snug fitting cases are bad for cues.
 

jimmycue

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Was it one of mine? Or a foam core (hard foam)?

Because I have never seen it happen either and I have been making padded cases for 20 years.

So you think that the case was the problem here? How about the other shafts?

I ask because I am curious and have done primitive R&D with steam to see what happens inside of cases and even with the case full of steam I have never seen a shaft swell up to the point of splitting. It's a very intriguing mystery.

Additionally we have about 40 years of sealed and semi-sealed cases that restrict airflow and thus restrict convection from allowing the moisture to evaporate and we have seen no epidemic of swollen cues due to these cases.

I am not saying that the case didn't contribute to the problem but I'd sure as hell like to try and duplicate the situation to prove it one way or the other before making a blanket assumption that snug fitting cases are bad for cues.

JB i will send a pm with more info
 

pwd72s

recreational banger
Silver Member
Very interesting...I've been toying with the idea of a GTF 2X4 for it's compact size. But they do seem to be airtight? Now I'm not so sure...:confused:
 

Roadie

Banned
Very interesting...I've been toying with the idea of a GTF 2X4 for it's compact size. But they do seem to be airtight? Now I'm not so sure...:confused:

You have nothing to worry about. I own a GTF and keep my cues in the car in all climates. It has traveled with me around the world for two years. It is also not airtight as I hear the air being forced out when I close the lid.
 

manwon

"WARLOCK 1"
Silver Member
I have owned alot of production and a few custom cases over the years and untill just two weeks ago never really thought in general how a case should be designed. Tube or cloth or foam interior. And should they be air tight or able to breath. Well i found out the hard way. A friend was over looking at a cue i had forsale and of course i brought out my little collection of cues. Well it was a very humid day and we were in basement hitting some balls with all my cues and one of my shafts must have sucked up alot of the moisture in the air and a week later i tried to assemble cue and it would not thread on pin. After looking cue over not seeing anything wrong i tightened it up on pin and the shaft split from swelling. So now im thinking why? Well i must have put shaft away having sucked up moisture and not being able to dry out cause the case i put it back into was airtight. So now it is at the cuemakers getting a new shaft. My original thought about a case was the tighter the air seal the better until this happened. Now having just gotten two new cases from Rusty Melton i realized how important it is to have your case protect your cues from moisture if caught in rain and being knocked about but also to have cues being able to breath where ever you store them so the wood doesnt absorb the moisture and cant dry out. Rusty besides building a very beautiful case they are very functional as well as any case on the planet.



That sucks Jim, but I don't think you can find a better made case than those that Rusty is building. He has come a long way in a very short time and his work is certainly becoming well know for qaulity here in the USA and around the world.

Take care Jim
 
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franko

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Makes a lot of sense

I have owned alot of production and a few custom cases over the years and untill just two weeks ago never really thought in general how a case should be designed. Tube or cloth or foam interior. And should they be air tight or able to breath. Well i found out the hard way. A friend was over looking at a cue i had forsale and of course i brought out my little collection of cues. Well it was a very humid day and we were in basement hitting some balls with all my cues and one of my shafts must have sucked up alot of the moisture in the air and a week later i tried to assemble cue and it would not thread on pin. After looking cue over not seeing anything wrong i tightened it up on pin and the shaft split from swelling. So now im thinking why? Well i must have put shaft away having sucked up moisture and not being able to dry out cause the case i put it back into was airtight. So now it is at the cuemakers getting a new shaft. My original thought about a case was the tighter the air seal the better until this happened. Now having just gotten two new cases from Rusty Melton i realized how important it is to have your case protect your cues from moisture if caught in rain and being knocked about but also to have cues being able to breath where ever you store them so the wood doesnt absorb the moisture and cant dry out. Rusty besides building a very beautiful case they are very functional as well as any case on the planet.
What you just wrote makes a lot of sense. I have quite a few cases from all the top case makers. I have most of the air tight variety where the top slides down on the case that are used for storing my cues.I have noticed on several of the shafts stored in these cases that the wood below the ferrule has swollen. My playing cues thatare in cases that are not air tight the shafts are fine.By the way I have one of Rusty's cases on order.
 

runscott

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
In keeping with the forum rule of one thread per case maker, I'm posting here, despite the fact that this thread quickly became a cluster f**k and definitely is not a fair one for Rusty's cases to be reviewed.

I would love to hear from Rusty regarding his thoughts on case-making - what makes his unique, why they are built the way they are (especially the non-tooled ones like the one I'm posting).

I just picked this one up through the 'For Sale' section here, as it is EXACTLY what I was looking for in a cue case - color, design, 2x3 (as opposed to 2x4), and old-school construction/look. I searched for examples of other Rusty Melton 'hustler-style' cases, and the design features (no straps, no tooling) and color could not be improved on for my needs. I have seen very long predicted wait times and I did not want to wait and did not want to take a chance on losing this case.

What I love about it: design, color, removable pockets, butt holder takes larger butts, super-protective, stands up, handles on end and on case body.

I'm not crazy about it being 2+ inches longer than other cases, or it's heaviness, but those trade-offs are worth it. There seems to be a couple of inches of reinforcement at both top and bottom, as opposed to the hollow top that many cases have. I'm sure the heaviness is mostly due to the thick leather. Since John Barton has already posted in this thread concerning protection offered by cases, I will mention that my every day 2x4 case for the last 14 years has been his Instroke 'Nature' case. It is light and I have never had any issues with protection - it's a great case. I'm not sure I'm moving to this one for everyday use, but it's possible. I won't be getting rid of either.

I bet he could make a phenomenal 1x2 case with minimal tooling ala the A.E. Schmidt in 'The Hustler'.

edited to add: the leather pocket and chalk-holder are not shown, but they are A+ quality. The pocket has two straps that go around each side of the handle to hold it on - a great idea that I had not seen before in cases.
 

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JB Cases

www.jbcases.com
Silver Member
Rusty's quality is very high. I am pleased with one I have and someday I hope to add a personal one made for me to our collection.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk
 

Rusty Melton

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi,
I'm glad you like the case, it's always good to hear!

That style came about because I was asked to build a 2x3 square case, so I gave it a go and liked how it turned out. The idea for the detachable strap came from Jive Ong, he wanted a case that looked like something from the past. I was going to post pictures from the when Jive posted them but they don't show up anymore. I will try and find some pictures of it and post them on this thread for you. On Jives case the straps for the detachable pocket had keepers sewn onto the case to keep in a little more secure so I wouldn't slide around to much.

They may be a little longer than some cases, but are about the same as some of the others. The body should be right around 33 inches and I never know how long of a cue someone will be using so I try to build something that will fit most any cue. I use a inch oak piece in the bottom and top to nail the leather to the wood. I could probably get by with a thinner piece of wood but them I would take the chance of one of the tacks coming through one side or the other of the wood and it would show poking up underneath the leather. I use about a half inch of padding on the bottom and top so the cues won't get banged around but the wood on the bottom if the case gets slammed down on the ground. So both of those things add a little to the length to the case.

I agree that most of the weight comes from the thick leather and the tubes are a little heaver than the interiors like JB uses. I try and build my cases a little heavy duty mainly because I would like them to last a long time and also it keeps me from having to do a bunch of repairs.

I have been trying to come up with a really good 1x2 case but it's still in the works. I like to sew the back panels on the cases instead of rivets but that limits me on the 1x2 because I can't fit my hand inside of the to sew the saddle stitch that closes up the back. The one Jimmy posted in the top of the thread is probably my best way of working around that but that has a few drawbacks of it's own.
Thanks for asking and if you have anymore questions just ask away.
Rusty

In keeping with the forum rule of one thread per case maker, I'm posting here, despite the fact that this thread quickly became a cluster f**k and definitely is not a fair one for Rusty's cases to be reviewed.

I would love to hear from Rusty regarding his thoughts on case-making - what makes his unique, why they are built the way they are (especially the non-tooled ones like the one I'm posting).

I just picked this one up through the 'For Sale' section here, as it is EXACTLY what I was looking for in a cue case - color, design, 2x3 (as opposed to 2x4), and old-school construction/look. I searched for examples of other Rusty Melton 'hustler-style' cases, and the design features (no straps, no tooling) and color could not be improved on for my needs. I have seen very long predicted wait times and I did not want to wait and did not want to take a chance on losing this case.

What I love about it: design, color, removable pockets, butt holder takes larger butts, super-protective, stands up, handles on end and on case body.

I'm not crazy about it being 2+ inches longer than other cases, or it's heaviness, but those trade-offs are worth it. There seems to be a couple of inches of reinforcement at both top and bottom, as opposed to the hollow top that many cases have. I'm sure the heaviness is mostly due to the thick leather. Since John Barton has already posted in this thread concerning protection offered by cases, I will mention that my every day 2x4 case for the last 14 years has been his Instroke 'Nature' case. It is light and I have never had any issues with protection - it's a great case. I'm not sure I'm moving to this one for everyday use, but it's possible. I won't be getting rid of either.

I bet he could make a phenomenal 1x2 case with minimal tooling ala the A.E. Schmidt in 'The Hustler'.

edited to add: the leather pocket and chalk-holder are not shown, but they are A+ quality. The pocket has two straps that go around each side of the handle to hold it on - a great idea that I had not seen before in cases.
 

Rusty Melton

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Rusty's quality is very high. I am pleased with one I have and someday I hope to add a personal one made for me to our collection.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

Thank you John, I appreciate it a lot! I know, I know, I need to get cracking on your case. But you aren't forgotten, I promise!
Rusty
 

deanoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
don't let him rush you rusty
john is ignoring my case order and pretending to be a one
pocket player
hi john,remember my wylie coyote cases
 
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