Custom Cue

[Shawn Armstrong]

I don't care what skins and Keiths construction techniques are. I do not like the look of cnc inlays. Never have, never will.

Now for your comment about Black Boar cues. I have two, and neither of them are cored and the shafts are not soaked in nelsonite. If you don't belive me than you call Tony at Black Boar.

All I am saying is that all wood is not created equal.

Production cue or custom cue. Honestly I don't give a Sh$t who makes it. I buy a cue on how it plays. Unfortantely for me, if you read my proir post, I can't buy a production cue because of the specs that i like. 60"+ cue with Ivory ferrules and Old growth Maple shafts.

"Forearm- It became apparent after the first 30 or so cues, that Birds Eye and Curly Maple were extremely susceptible to warpage. Coring the forearm became the standard because it relieves stress in the volatile woods, it helps to control weight and produces a uniform product without using hardware to join pieces of wood together."

Taken directly from the Black Boar Cues website. Here's the link:

http://blackboarcustomcues.com/guarantee/default.asp?CTID=110&IID=2

 

[Poke N Hope]

Just a little clarification from my last post....Schon, Joss, Mcdermott, etc. as examples - do you believe that these companies buy crappy birdeye maple, or cocobolo, or ebony, or purpleheart, or, well you get it...? Is hand selecting your birdeye maple gonna really make that much a difference in playability, or is it cosmetic? I may be swayed on this, but if I play a production Jacoby that is all ebony, and a custom guy makes an all ebony cue that I think plays better....I'm betting it's because of how the two cues differ in build than the ebony used....

All I am saying is all wood is not the same in general terms. I am not saying that all custom cues and going to play better production. I do hold one exception, that is the wood used for shafts. Typicaly, but not in all cases, your high end cuemaker use a better grade wood for shafts. I like Old growth Maple with Ivory ferrules for shafts. Being using them for 20 years, Its just what I like. Please name me one production cue company that have old growth maple with Ivory ferrules standard.

 

[Shawn Armstrong]

Well, ebony, most likely.
Maple, maybe not so.
A few makers actually reject nice looking maple because they are just not right for some other reasons.

Most cue makers core everything now.

 

[Shawn Armstrong]

All I am saying is all wood is not the same in general terms. I am not saying that all custom cues and going to play better production. I do hold one exception, that is the wood used for shafts. Typicaly, but not in all cases, your high end cuemaker use a better grade wood for shafts. I like Old growth Maple with Ivory ferrules for shafts. Being using them for 20 years, Its just what I like. Please name me one production cue company that have old growth maple with Ivory ferrules standard.

What do you define as old growth maple? Do you want a shaft with lots of grain lines? I'd rather have slow growth northern maple than "old growth" maple, as the second is just a marketing ploy.

 

[JoeyInCali]

Most cue makers core everything now.

OUCH!
Some actually use hand selected maple (I am not going to convince you it makes a difference).
Not just cheap flat lams and reject shafts.
Some do not core at all.

 

[Poke N Hope]

"Forearm- It became apparent after the first 30 or so cues, that Birds Eye and Curly Maple were extremely susceptible to warpage. Coring the forearm became the standard because it relieves stress in the volatile woods, it helps to control weight and produces a uniform product without using hardware to join pieces of wood together."

Taken directly from the Black Boar Cues website. Here's the link:

http://blackboarcustomcues.com/guarantee/default.asp?CTID=110&IID=2

I am talking about the two cues I have. They are not cored. I do not like the way cored cues play. The two Boar cues that I have are over twenty years old and again are not cored. And again, the shafts are not soaked in nelsonite.

 

[Shawn Armstrong]

I am talking about the two cues I have. They are not cored. I do not like the way cored cues play. The two Boar cues that I have are over twenty years old and again are not cored. And again, the shafts are not soaked in nelsonite.

If it's BE maple or curly maple, it's cored. It's the only way he makes his cues. Ask Tony yourself.

 

[Poke N Hope]

What do you define as old growth maple? Do you want a shaft with lots of grain lines? I'd rather have slow growth northern maple than "old growth" maple, as the second is just a marketing ploy.

I guessing were talking about the same thing. Slow growth or Old growth, I really don care what you call it. I like my shafts to be dense in growth rings with tight grain and dead nuts straight spine.

 

[Shawn Armstrong]

I guessing were talking about the same thing. Slow growth or Old growth, I really don care what you call it. I like my shafts to be dense in growth rings with tight grain and dead nuts straight spine.

Hate to burst your bubble - you can buy them from Schmelke. Ask them to grade your maple shafts before they send them. Ask for shafts with no less than 15 growth lines. I get them for about $20 per shaft.

 

[Poke N Hope]

If it's BE maple or curly maple, it's cored. It's the only way he makes his cues. Ask Tony yourself.

I don't need to. I went to Tony's shop in College Park Maryland and had him make them to my specs and specifcally requested not to be cored. Again, THEY ARE NOT CORED.

 

[Poke N Hope]

Hate to burst your bubble - you can buy them from Schmelke. Ask them to grade your maple shafts before they send them. Ask for shafts with no less than 15 growth lines. I get them for about $20 per shaft.

Why would you think this would bust my bubble? I'll pass on the Schmelke shaft blanks. I not saying they are not good. I just like to see the wood in person before I buy it. I have done this with all the custom cues I have bought that were made for me.

 

[Shawn Armstrong]

I don't need to. I went to Tony's shop in College Park Maryland and had him make them to my specs and specifcally requested not to be cored. Again, THEY ARE NOT CORED.

Seems funny to me that you'd want a maker known for his superior construction techniques to do something he feels takes away from the integrity of the cue.

And don't tell me you can feel the difference, because you can't. That's been proven in the past.

 

[Shawn Armstrong]

Why would you think this would bust my bubble?

Because you can buy a 60" spliced cue with slow growth maple from Schmelke, a production maker. If you wanted to send them the ivory for the ferrule, they'd install it, too.

 

[Poke N Hope]

Seems funny to me that you'd want a maker known for his superior construction techniques to do something he feels takes away from the integrity of the cue.

And don't tell me you can feel the difference, because you can't. That's been proven in the past.

You must be assuming that the forearm is BEM or curly maple. Your wrong.

So you are telling me, never meeting me or knowing who I am, that you can tell me what I like and dislike! Come on Shawn, I know we don't see eye to eye on somethings, but that going a little to far.

 

[SPINDOKTOR]

Thus my reasoning to not exclude Production cues. Technology is hard to beat, and the most technologicaly advanced cues on the market are going to be production based cues.

I use a older Ray Schuler, that I traded for here on AZ, the shaft material is proboly par for the period, and shows alot of sugar, yet it is a ton better than any new Snow white shaft I have tried. IMHO the shaft material is just better, and the playability shows this. Not to mention the shaft is alot more resitant to knicks and dings.

The newer shafts you can dimple with your fingernail and they surely do not play the same... not to me. More spin? hardly... better hit? no way, and some say the quality of the wood doesnt matter? I say BS.. while I agree you may get away with using cored material, ultimately if the quality of wood was there there wouldnt be any need.

SPINDOKTOR

 

[Poke N Hope]

Because you can buy a 60" spliced cue with slow growth maple from Schmelke, a production maker. If you wanted to send them the ivory for the ferrule, they'd install it, too.

Can they provide a custom taper that I like?

 

[Shawn Armstrong]

You must be assuming that the forearm is BEM or curly maple. Your wrong.

So you are telling me, never meeting me or knowing who I am, that you can tell me what I like and dislike! Come on Shawn, I know we don't see eye to eye on somethings, but that going a little to far.

Poke, you came forth after I said that cue makers core their wood saying that Black Boars aren't cored. What you should have said was that your Black Boars aren't cored. All of Tony's cues that are made from figured maple are cored. He usually cores his exotics, too, for weight reduction.

I'm just telling it like it is. A whole bunch of people got together and tested cues with every imagineable configuration to see who could tell the difference. The consensus was that no one had the ability to tell if the cue had a particular style of joint, beit wood to wood or stainless, radial or 5/16-14, etc.. They also found that the cue voted to have the best hit was a Viking hustler that wasn't spliced.

Coring doesn't change the hit of the cue, from what I've noticed. It helps with weight reduction and stability. That's what I was getting at. In case you didn't notice, I gave you rep for your comments, so the whole "not seeing eye to eye" doesn't play in my sandbox.

 

[Shawn Armstrong]

Can they provide a custom taper that I like?

The only way to find out is to ask. They're made with a 13" pro taper. Do you like longer or shorter?

 

[Poke N Hope]

Because you can buy a 60" spliced cue with slow growth maple from Schmelke, a production maker. If you wanted to send them the ivory for the ferrule, they'd install it, too.

If or when I get ready to get a new cue, my preference would be to go to place that I don't have to supply them with material to make the finished product.

 

[Poke N Hope]

The only way to find out is to ask. They're made with a 13" pro taper. Do you like longer or shorter?

12-13" taper. However, pro taper nowadays is a big variable. It's another term that is widely used and is not standard. A 13" pro taper from Schemlke will most likely be different than say a 13" pro taper from Mark Bear.