Joe Porper Custom Cue w/ broken shafts

LucasBilliards

LucasBilliards

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi I am trying to find out what I should do with a Joe Porper custom cue that was made for my dad about 10 years ago. The cue was valued at that time in the $6-10,000 range. The cue is loaded, it is an ebony cue with ivory inlays, butt, etc and tiger stone(I think is what it's called) inlayed points. It's a wrapless cue with a beautiful curly maple handle. The problem is my moms house was vandalized and the shafts were both snapped in half. My father has passed away and I am now into pool and would love to be able to play with it or sell it to get a custom cue of my own made. My questions are whats it worth with broken shafts, how much would replacement shafts cost with matching ring work, and what's it worth if I had shafts made? I don't have pics as my mom keeps it but the cue is gorgeous. Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
LucasBilliards said:
Hi I am trying to find out what I should do with a Joe Porper custom cue that was made for my dad about 10 years ago. The cue was valued at that time in the $6-10,000 range. The cue is loaded, it is an ebony cue with ivory inlays, butt, etc and tiger stone(I think is what it's called) inlayed points. It's a wrapless cue with a beautiful curly maple handle. The problem is my moms house was vandalized and the shafts were both snapped in half. My father has passed away and I am now into pool and would love to be able to play with it or sell it to get a custom cue of my own made. My questions are whats it worth with broken shafts, how much would replacement shafts cost with matching ring work, and what's it worth if I had shafts made? I don't have pics as my mom keeps it but the cue is gorgeous. Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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This is a an easy fix. You can send the part with the ringwork to any cuemaker or cue repair person and have them make 2 shafts and reuse the old ringwork.

Obviously this would be relatively cheap and easy. Expect to pay $100-$200 per shaft.

If interested, I can recommend a couple cuemakers for the shafts.

With the broken shafts it is worth very little, and with the shafts you will maximize the cue value. I doubt the cue ever cost the $6K-$10K, but it is probably worth getting the shafts made.

I wish you the best of rolls,

Ken
 
Yeah maybe not, my mom could be mistaken on the value. $100-200 is not bad at all, I don't know why I was thinking at least double that to have them reuse the ring work. If you have any cuemakers you can recommend that would be great. That's exactly what I'm gonna do, I wanted to keep the cue for sentimental reasons obviously and now I can afford to. Thanks.
 
I recommend Scot Sherbine, Proficient Billiards -- www.proficientbilliards.com - $150 for a new shaft reusing your rings, and 10 day turnaround. If the budget is tight I suggest just getting 1 shaft made for now but saving the other part.

First though, can you post a picture of the joint? Joe had an unusual conical joint he used a while ago and it may be difficult for a cue maker to work with it because they won't have a tap for it.

I am friends with Joe and I sold some cues for him for a couple of years. He's still dabbling with cues but it's not his priority right now. He has moved to a new shop in Canoga Park.

If you post pictures of your dad's cue I might have some literature on it I can scan and send to you.

Chris
 
I'll try to get pics this weekend. I'm not sure of the pin but I know it's something standard because a shaft she has for another cue fits it. Thanks for the recommendation too. Look for the pics in a few days, if you have info on the cue that would be awesome. Thanks.
 
I have Had Scott refinish some of my cues. He has always been great to work with and done a great job. I highly recomend him.
 
It depends on whether or not you are going to sell the cue. If you're going to sell it I would send it to Searing or Kersenbrock. If you are going to play with it I I would just have a 314-2 finished by someone local.
 
Porper

Another cue maker that could do the work would be Ryan at Rat Cues. His restoration work is top notch and he's a really nice guy to deal with.

You can do a search for him on here and read tons of reviews of his work.

Ryan's profile page w/contact info
 
LucasBilliards said:
I'll try to get pics this weekend. I'm not sure of the pin but I know it's something standard because a shaft she has for another cue fits it. Thanks for the recommendation too. Look for the pics in a few days, if you have info on the cue that would be awesome. Thanks.
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He also used a 3/8 X 10 flat faced on his ivory jointed cues - which is standard, so you're probably fine.

I still would like to see pictures of the cue. He made a number of cues with lapis points. Most were inlaid into ebony. He used tiger stone, lapis lazuli, malachite, and more.

Joe made some wild and crazy designs and won a couple of big awards at cue shows.

Chris
 
Finally got pics

I was finally able to get some pipcs of the cue. Any idea of value, the cue is not for sale, just curious. Also are the inlays called tiger stone?

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Any info would be great. I'm gonna be getting new shafts made hopefully by Feb. I cant wait to shoot with it. Its beautiful.
 
LucasBilliards said:
Hi I am trying to find out what I should do with a Joe Porper custom cue that was made for my dad about 10 years ago. The cue was valued at that time in the $6-10,000 range. The cue is loaded, it is an ebony cue with ivory inlays, butt, etc and tiger stone(I think is what it's called) inlayed points. It's a wrapless cue with a beautiful curly maple handle. The problem is my moms house was vandalized and the shafts were both snapped in half. My father has passed away and I am now into pool and would love to be able to play with it or sell it to get a custom cue of my own made. My questions are whats it worth with broken shafts, how much would replacement shafts cost with matching ring work, and what's it worth if I had shafts made? I don't have pics as my mom keeps it but the cue is gorgeous. Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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you could talk to joe himself ....I just had him install a kamui tip..so he's still doing the work ..call creative inovations 818-727-7966 and they will give you his number.....

really nice guy.
 
This cue is from a series of cues made by Joe, like you said about 10 or 12 years ago, that used various forms of stone. The thin white outline of each inset stone is real ivory, and the ring work are ivory diamonds and silver dots. This is the same ring work and joint as Joe was using for his Tuxedo cues at the time.

Although your picture doesn't show it, your cue should have an ivory joint and a 3/8X10 joint screw with the same ring work. The buttcap is plastic.

OK, this is completely by memory...which could be a little off.

I believe he made a total of 6 cues. I had seen or sold 5 of them - your father's was the missing cue. One was owned by me, one was owned by a player in Southern California named John, one was owned by a player here named Aaron. I know one was blue lapis lazuli, one was green malachite, there was a multi-colored Chrysocolla, then there was one that was made out of what I think he called Iron stone. I think Aaron traded his off. I don't know what John did with his.

The actual retail price was about $2500 to $3,000 per cue. The "street price" was $2,000 or less. I sold one new one to somebody in Switzerland for about $2000 and the Chrysocola one for new for about $1800.

I really don't know what the name of the stone is on your dad's cue, but Tiger or Leopard sure looks about right. Joe would never tell me how he made these cues. Seems it would be impossible to sand the stone after it was inlayed. If I recall, he said the stone was the real deal and not reconstituted. Plus cutting the inlay pocket perfectly with the ivory border would be really difficult. Your dad's is the only wrapless version I've seen. The rest had leather or linen. I always thought these cues were cool. Very rare to see real stone inlayed like this.

Joe's number at his new shop is (818) 436-2770. He might have a set of shafts for you too. He always kept extras of this style.

Chris
 
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Wow. That is a really beautiful cue. What a great thing to be able to play with a cue like that that was passed down from your father. Cherish and enjoy it.
 
pwd72s said:
My thoughts exactly...
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Thanks guys. I am very fortunate to be able to play with something my dad played with, the fact that the cue is beautiful just tops it off. I have to thank my mom too cuz she's the one that has been keeping it and she finally felt it was time for me to have it. The biggest compliment I've ever received about my pool game is from her telling me that I look just like my dad with a cue in my hand walking around the pool table. Now if I could just play half his speed I'd be alright.
 
Thanks TATE, that's exactly the info I was looking for. That's really cool, I didn't know anything about it other then my dad got it from Porper about 10-12 yrs ago. It's neat to know the details. You know your stuff. Thanks again.

BTW I called Joe today and left a message about the shafts so hopefully I can get them from him, that would be ideal.
 
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