Cuemaker build off

nor_daens said:
For a test of cues up to $500 or so, I would just buy them from their site/retailer.

If full splice then that is what I would get, buying cues as close to possible to each other.

Then it would truly be a blind test of a players cue.


I may be wrong, but I think that is pretty much what were doing. We are giving the cue builders what we want in a cue, and they are sending it out.

Now that has been discussed.....to give the cuemakers a 500.00 limit on a cue, them do what they want as long as they would sell THAT particular cue for 500.00.....then we try them cues out..

We are trying to make this as simple as we can..And U feel we have done that...but that ideayou had was a good one...
 
OK guys....we have a case builder donating a case for this build off so we can ship the cues/shafts in a protective case....So we will be evaluating a case as well...I will let you guys know who the casemaker is once everything is finalized...should be this week sometime..

Thanks for all the great cuemakers and everyone willing to help out in this build off....once everything is agreed upon, I will let you guys know. I have to contact all the cuemakers involved to finalize this....

Thanks everyone
 
I will be sending out the finalized build sheet to all cuemakers involved later today so they can get started.

We will push the build time for cues to be completed by April 17. Once cues are finished, they will be sent to Eric Crisp for initial inspection and evaluation.

Right now we are looking at 7 cuemakers participating. You guys are going to flip at the cuemakers involved in this "small" buildoff! :thumbup:

I will post more later today!
 
I'm amazed as to how well this is going through.....especially the protective case.

I've always thought this was a great idea for cuemakers whether they knew it or not. It gives a great opportunity to people wanting to buy a custom made cue who are very skeptical about buying something before they can hit with it. I've always disliked that part about billiards. If you don't know someone that has one for you to try you are buying on looks or reputation and then you are stuck with either selling (at a probably loss), learning to love or just dealing with it. If I were a cuemaker I would be all over this just for fun and possible bragging rights.
 
gunzby said:
I'm amazed as to how well this is going through.....especially the protective case.

I've always thought this was a great idea for cuemakers whether they knew it or not. It gives a great opportunity to people wanting to buy a custom made cue who are very skeptical about buying something before they can hit with it. I've always disliked that part about billiards. If you don't know someone that has one for you to try you are buying on looks or reputation and then you are stuck with either selling (at a probably loss), learning to love or just dealing with it. If I were a cuemaker I would be all over this just for fun and possible bragging rights.


Seriously, I am amazed at how this is going also. You would NOT believe the cuemakers that have offered to build cues for this. We are keeping the list small for right now to keep the shipping and insurance cost down to ship the cues. There have been cuemakers that build cues that have a cpl yrs waiting list that have offered to do this.
You guys will be suprised who is doing this!

I have another idea for cuemakers on a buildoff on the next round if this one goes smoothly..this is going to turn out good for us the platers, AZBilliards, and the cuemakers.
 
Here is the finalized specs for the cue buildoff.....Lots of good builders involved, and we have a great casemaker building us a custom case for this event........This is gonna be lots of fun for all involved and give a chance for these cuemakers to shine...


1. The cue will have a lightly figured BEM forearm and butt

2. Handle will be Maple or Purpleheart, wrapped or wrapless (up to cue builder) if you specifially build all your cues with PH then use PH.

3. Cue builder to decide to core or not to core

4. cue builders personal taper on shaft

5. Cue builder to use Molavia Medium tips provided by Duc Lam

6. Builder's to use black phenolic collars, buttcap

7. Cuemakers choice on ferrule, pin

8. Weight will be 19oz +/- 0.2oz

9. No ringwork, inlays, points, signatures or trademarks

10. have integrity & build the cue as if somebody had ordered it, the same way you'd build all of your cues.





Any questions....please feel free to ask


Shawn
 
Last edited:
ftgokie said:
Here is the finalized specs for the cue buildoff.....Lots of good builders involved, and we have a great casemaker building us a custom case for this event........This is gonna be lots of fun for all involved and give a chance for these cuemakers to shine...


1. The cue will have a lightly figured BEM forearm and butt
2. Handle will be maple, wrapped or wrapless (up to cue builder)
3. Cue builder to decide to core or not to core
4. cue builders personal taper on shaft
5. Cue builder to use Molavia Medium tips provided by Duc Lam
6. Builder's to use black phenolic collars, buttcap
7. Cuemakers choice on ferrule, pin
8. Weight will be 19oz +/- 0.2oz
9. No ringwork, inlays, points, signatures or trademarks
10. have integrity & build the cue as if somebody had ordered it, the same way you'd build all of your cues.


Cues should be completed by April 17 2009. Then sent to Eric Crisp for initial inspection


Any questions....please feel free to ask


Shawn

What kind of maple handle? Tiger, Birdseye, Curly, etc? Shouldn't the woods all be the same for all the cues?

Also, I feel the tip should be up to the cue maker too. It's too subjective for testers. Cue Makers usually have their own choice for a reason, and I feel someone might dislike the molavia mediums and thus give a false review of the cue. Just my thoughts on that.

I'm glad to see this is going off well. Can't wait to see the results!
 
LoGiC said:
What kind of maple handle? Tiger, Birdseye, Curly, etc? Shouldn't the woods all be the same for all the cues?

Also, I feel the tip should be up to the cue maker too. It's too subjective for testers. Cue Makers usually have their own choice for a reason, and I feel someone might dislike the molavia mediums and thus give a false review of the cue. Just my thoughts on that.

I'm glad to see this is going off well. Can't wait to see the results!


I and others involved have thought about it and agree that using the same tip will give put everyone on a level playing feild as far as tips go, they will be coming from the same batch donated by a cuemaker....Not everyone will like whatever tip we put on these cues, but I feel it levels the playing field.

The mape handle would be a lightly figured BEM. Cuemaker integrity is coming into play on these cues, but I do not feel this is an issue with these particular cuemakers
 
Looking good so far! We have a custom casemaker making a case for this particular event so the cues can be shipped in it for protection. The case will need to be evaluated as well.

The cuemakers that have responded and agreed to participate are getting on this since the cutoff for the cues to be built is April 17. Here is the specs for the cue to be built for this build off.


1. The cue will have a lightly figured BEM forearm and butt

2. Handle will be Maple or Purpleheart, wrapped or wrapless (up to cue builder) if you specifially build all your cues with PH then use PH.

3. Cue builder to decide to core or not to core

4. cue builders personal taper on shaft

5. Cue builder to use Molavia Medium tips provided by Duc Lam

6. Builder's to use black phenolic collars, buttcap

7. Cuemakers choice on ferrule, pin

8. Weight will be 19oz +/- 0.2oz

9. No ringwork, inlays, points, signatures or trademarks

10. have integrity & build the cue as if somebody had ordered it, the same way you'd build all of your cues.





Any questions....please feel free to ask
 
Last edited:
a9ballbr8k said:
ftgokie are you going to start a list?


yes, I am starting a list. There will be some requirements as you know....obviously someone with 2 post and 0 Itrader that joined in last month cannot be on the mailing list......Every person will have approx 5 days with the cues....then they will ship them to the next in line.....

Only reputable members will be able to participate obviously...and its nothing against the new members whatsoever...I will contact a respected member on here and get some names from him that are very reputable...

If you ant to be on the list send me a pm.....and obviously we cant have alot of people doing this...I am guessing 20 or so participants...so you can do the math...20 people, 5 days each...including ship time..we are looking at the end of the year when this would be over...

What I am going to do is I am going to Tulsa to Magoos when I have the cues.....I will let deadgearplayr, duane remick and any other AZ member in or around Tulsa who wants to shoot with them are more than welcome to do so, I will post that date when I get the cues....I would suggest you guys do that to...that way we can get more members to participate and get more feedback on the cues...

The tracking and insurance information would have to be posted on here when the cues are shipped, that way the cue builders, and everyone participating can track the cues...because obviously I cannot be held responsible for the cues once they leave my hands....
 
ftgokie said:
yes, I am starting a list. There will be some requirements as you know....obviously someone with 2 post and 0 Itrader that joined in last month cannot be on the mailing list......Every person will have approx 5 days with the cues....then they will ship them to the next in line.....

Only reputable members will be able to participate obviously...and its nothing against the new members whatsoever...I will contact a respected member on here and get some names from him that are very reputable...

If you ant to be on the list send me a pm.....and obviously we cant have alot of people doing this...I am guessing 20 or so participants...so you can do the math...20 people, 5 days each...including ship time..we are looking at the end of the year when this would be over...

What I am going to do is I am going to Tulsa to Magoos when I have the cues.....I will let deadgearplayr, duane remick and any other AZ member in or around Tulsa who wants to shoot with them are more than welcome to do so, I will post that date when I get the cues....I would suggest you guys do that to...that way we can get more members to participate and get more feedback on the cues...

The tracking and insurance information would have to be posted on here when the cues are shipped, that way the cue builders, and everyone participating can track the cues...because obviously I cannot be held responsible for the cues once they leave my hands....

I will be happy to serve as a host for the cues here in Maryland. We have numerous very good players in the area, and the cues could be made available to any AZBers for their demo/comments.

Joe
 
Bamacues said:
I will be happy to serve as a host for the cues here in Maryland. We have numerous very good players in the area, and the cues could be made available to any AZBers for their demo/comments.

Joe


Thanks Joe...was going to pm you to see if you wanted to participate....guess im 2 slow..:thumbup:
 
My friend Gene, who doesn't have an accound on AZBilliards and lurks all day because he's bored says...

"Lets do this...Reply in the thread and have everyone in the LA area meet at hollywood on a Sunday and we can all try em out and save on shipping and time."
 
Safety said:
My friend Gene, who doesn't have an accound on AZBilliards and lurks all day because he's bored says...

"Lets do this...Reply in the thread and have everyone in the LA area meet at hollywood on a Sunday and we can all try em out and save on shipping and time."


We cant have 50 people involved in the shipping process for obvious reasons...5 days per person, then shipping...20 people would take till the end of the year.......what i would like to do is get some people in all parts of the country, send them to 1 person....and they announce when they will be at a local pool hall and have as many people come to try out as possible......that way we can get as many people involved in this as possible.......so yes...I am looking for a very well known member with excellent rep to be host for the cues...i am sending someone on here who has some stand up people he does buisiness with and see if he can guide me to some names of people in the major cities...still workin on that list though...so dont count yourself out...let me know
 
OK guys.....its now official

7 cue builders are participating in the build off. You guys are gonna be amazed at some of the names of the cue builders involved!!

JB Cases is donating a custom case just for this build off so the cues are shipped safely. Everyone testing the cues out will evaluate the case also to give John some constructive feedback..I am sure it will be a great case though....Thanks JB Cases!

Deadline for the cues to be finished is April 17, because of the SBE coming up the cue builders and casemaker are working their tails off to meet this deadline so were gonna help them out and push it back a cpl weeks.

Here are the requirements of the cues and all builders have agreed to these specs so we can get as close to the same cue as we can. The builder is going to have to work his magic to get the best hitting cue so he can have AZ bragging rights! :thumbup:

1. The cue will have a lightly figured BEM forearm and butt

2. Handle will be Maple or Purpleheart, wrapped or wrapless (up to cue builder) if you specifially build all your cues with PH then use PH.

3. Cue builder to decide to core or not to core

4. cue builders personal taper on shaft

5. Cue builder to use Molavia Medium tips provided by Duc Lam

6. Builder's to use black phenolic collars, buttcap

7. Cuemakers choice on ferrule, pin

8. Weight will be 19oz +/- 0.2oz

9. No ringwork, inlays, points, signatures or trademarks

10. have integrity & build the cue as if somebody had ordered it, the same way you'd build all of your cues.


Cues should be completed by April 17 2009. Then sent to Eric Crisp for initial inspection

A BIG thanks goes out to Eric Crisp for volunteering his valuable time for the initial inspection of the cues and case!

Once we have had people try the 7 different cues out, we will auction all 7cues and the case off as a package deal. Man, wouldnt it be SWEET to win That package deal!


Also...I am going to try and get the cues and case down to the Galveston World Classic on Sept. 11, 2009 so we can have a larger audience to participate on giving feedback on each cue and the case.
 
Last edited:
We are going to need to come up with what we will grade these cues on

like construction, looks, feel, playability

If you guys have any ideas on what you think should be graded......please let me know.....trying to get up a list so we can grade all the cues.

Also, we will be judging the case from JB Cases....so we would need to come up with things we will be grading on that also

If anyone can make up a sheet to grade the cues and the case.....that would be wonderful as well.....like something in Excel that will automatically calculate the diff fields so we can get as good of feedback to the cuemakers and so everyone on here at AZ can see the results also...
 
Cues are being built...bump to the top to get this out there for all to see.

I have started a list of possible people to have the cues sent to as testers. I will be sending the list to the cue builders for their approval before the cues are finished. So if you guys (and gals) want to get on board....send me a message and I will add you.

Now OBVIOUSLY, we cannot send the cues to someone who has 0 ITrader and only a few post...UNLESS a very reputable member will vouch for them...And sorry international guys, nothing against you...but with the way the delivery system is, I feel the cue builders (and us testers) would be taking unnecessary risks by shipping them to and from overseas...sorry guys I hope you understand that its in no way a bad mark on you guys overseas.

We would like to get some people in and around the major cities and towns so other AZ'ers close by can meet you and more people can test the cues out.

So if you want to get on the list as a possible tester....please send me a message, the list is filling up fast.
 
ftg
i wanted to get in on the cue build ,but could not log in lastnight.
is it to late to make a entry.
 
Back
Top