***My new ZEN cue***

MediocrityNC

MediocrityNC

Ring game?
Silver Member
While at the SBE this year it was hard to miss the beautiful cues Zen had on display. His inlay work and attention to detail was probably the most impressive thing I saw at the expo.

Lucky for me, Zen was invited to the ICCS and brought some more great cues to display. I stopped and talked to Zen for about 30 mins in which he explained how he constructed the cues he brought, and went more in depth about the ringwork and inlays in his cues. The cue I ended up buying from him is a BEM forearm and butt sleeve, curly purpleheart handle, and has some beautiful silver ringwork.

He explained how with this cue he cored the forearm with ebony to balance out the weight from the purpleheart. With the ringwork, he went through the whole process of how his wife actually did the area of the cues and that she did it by hand.....that impressed the $hit out of me especially after looking how precise and perfect it is! The cue came with 2 shafts which he sets (1) up for 9 ball and (1) up for 8 ball, which was another cool concept to me. Also, he guarantees his shafts for life. He said if one ever warped to let him know and he would replace it free!

After shooting with the cue that night I couldn't have been any happier with the cue! It moves the ball easier than any other cue I've played with, and has a hit unlike any of the cues I've owned or hit with.

Zen was a delight to talk to, and it was great to see someone with such passion and excitement about the art he makes. He never tried to sell me on the cue or make a pitch on them. He was genuinely excited about his work and that someone else took interest as well. I'm the proud owner now of the cue below, which I took some lousy photos of, but needed some quick to show it off to friends back home :D. Hope to have some better ones soon.

Thanks for looking,
Matt Fralin
 

Attachments

  • Zen(1).jpg
    Zen(1).jpg
    103.4 KB · Views: 1,173
  • Zen(2).jpg
    Zen(2).jpg
    97.7 KB · Views: 1,117
  • Zen(3).jpg
    Zen(3).jpg
    104.5 KB · Views: 1,113
Last edited:
Congratulations on your acquisition!!
That's a gorgeous cue and a beautiful weapon!

Zen is as humble as they come as a person and is always passionate about cue making and his craft. I'm glad to see him gaining more recognition globally. Truth be told, he is completely back logged here in China and has orders lasting him more than a year. But he's still insisting on spending time and money to visit the US cue show cos he wants the world to see that China is capable of making original and high end cues.

About the 2 shafts that you have. Actually the other shaft that is made for 8 Ball is actually Chinese 8 Ball. If you're playing regular pool just use the 9 ball shaft and it's great. The 8 ball shaft is firmer cos in China we have a completely different table for playing 8 ball where the cloth is that of Snooker Tables(Slower) and pockets are cut and sized like a snooker table but with regular pool balls. Playing patterns and strokes are completely different on those tables and stiffer or firmer shafts are recommended.
 
Very nice cue. I like the curly purpleheart very much. :)

Saw a few of the Zen Cues before. Work is neat and silver work is very good.
Very oriental style which is a very distinct feature for their cues.

Glad to see more quality cuemakers coming out from Asia and even happier to see Zen Cues at ICCS.

Marcel<---believes product quality is not related to where they were built.
 
Great cue, Matt....and story as well. It's so special to be able to talk with a cuemaker and witness the passion they have for their trade. That's one of the most compelling reasons to attend an ICCS event. Treasured memories like that.
 
that's a nice Beauty:thumbup:
hope to get one day a Cue direct from him:cool:
now enjoy the table time
Ralf
 
I just checked some pictures I took at Zen's shop during my last visit. Think I might have your sister cue's pictures just before final finishing.

null_zps3c62e42c.jpg


null_zpsc9568ee4.jpg


null_zpse854fb69.jpg


Plus another beauty I saw at the shop...

null_zpse37f0055.jpg
 
Thanks for the nice comments guys. Talking to him for the little I did, I know he would be really excited seeing these words about his work.

Jive, he did have the Mexican cocobolo with maple handle there as well that you have pictured. If my main playing cue wasn't Mexican cocobolo I probably would have picked that one up, but I had been wanting a cue with purpleheart anyway and the wood is eye catching in it. Thanks for sharing some better pics of it as well as teasing us with that amboyna one :D. And, thanks for the info on the shafts as well!

Everything Zen had there was extremely beautiful, and I think I'm going to go ahead and get on his list to have an inlaid cue made before the list gets any further out.
 
MediocrityNC said:
While at the SBE this year it was hard to miss the beautiful cues Zen had on display. His inlay work and attention to detail was probably the most impressive thing I saw at the expo.

Lucky for me, Zen was invited to the ICCS and brought some more great cues to display. I stopped and talked to Zen for about 30 mins in which he explained how he constructed the cues he brought, and went more in depth about the ringwork and inlays in his cues. The cue I ended up buying from him is a BEM forearm and butt sleeve, curly purpleheart handle, and has some beautiful silver ringwork.

He explained how with this cue he cored the forearm with ebony to balance out the weight from the purpleheart. With the ringwork, he went through the whole process of how his wife actually did the area of the cues and that she did it by hand.....that impressed the $hit out of me especially after looking how precise and perfect it is! The cue came with 2 shafts which he sets (1) up for 9 ball and (1) up for 8 ball, which was another cool concept to me. Also, he guarantees his shafts for life. He said if one ever warped to let him know and he would replace it free!

After shooting with the cue that night I couldn't have been any happier with the cue! It moves the ball easier than any other cue I've played with, and has a hit unlike any of the cues I've owned or hit with.

Zen was a delight to talk to, and it was great to see someone with such passion and excitement about the art he makes. He never tried to sell me on the cue or make a pitch on them. He was genuinely excited about his work and that someone else took interest as well. I'm the proud owner now of the cue below, which I took some lousy photos of, but needed some quick to show it off to friends back home :D. Hope to have some better ones soon.

Thanks for looking,
Matt Fralin
Click to expand...

I was there and I saw how she inlays the silver. It's very meticulous work, bend, tap, bend tap, bend tap, for hours until each one is done. Reminded me of my mom making rings.

Zen cues might be the only place on Earth where SouthWest cues are randomly strewn about like house cues. :-)

Actually I don't think it's normally that way but it was funny that when we were banging balls there were about four SouthWests to choose from. On top of making cues Zen is also a trusted repair/modification shop for SouthWest cues - people send their cues to them knowing they will be handled correctly. (except for letting me play with them)

They turn out some real nice work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top