Thanks for the post Von,
First of all Ray did not make these blanks and to state such a thing would not be truthful. He worked at Ed Boado's shop in 2002 as Ed was trying to re-build the company with a new cue maker. Ray came to work one Monday and the entire shop had been cleared out. Case closed.
Ray mostly only worked on cues that had floating point inlays and the few point veneer cues he made were 4 pointers with shorter points than the Omegas blanks I bought. He did not make veneered 5 point cues. Even today Ray does our CNC inlay stuff as I build all of our point cues with the veneers.
Here are some pics of a few of the Omega DPK blanks I purchased. If you compare them to any other Omega DPK pictures online you will not be able to say they are not OMEGA DPKs. Look at the 5 point veneers, the boxed rings and ivory inlay contour designs. The one light colored cue even displays the Omega DPK flared butt cap which was discontinued by Omega at some time in the 90s. Another thing is that Ray has never met Mike or David as they had left Omega between 7 & 9 years before Ray got there. He was not their apprentice. Ray is a tool and die engineer of over 40 years.
As far as the shafts are concerned our company recreated the Omega DPK Parabolic Tapered Shaft by plotting the Geometry on the CNC and made our taper bar for cutting our shafts on the table saw shaft cutting machine. These are the shaft we make for our cues. Yes they were made this year in my shop, and yes they resemble the Omega shafts because were are talking mathematical geometry not an opinion. As far as the pin is concerned it has the exact geometry as the Omegas because we used a Omega pin as our template by profiling the contour on a optical comparator. Before I ever saw these blanks our company has been using this fantastic shaft taper geometry and the 3/8 x 14 truncated pin as we feel it is the best combination in the business because of David Paul Kersenbrock's cue making creative genius.
Just for the record, I have not receive any PMs concerning these cues at all and I have sold 5 finished cues for an average price of $ 1900.00. Everyone of the buyers is ecstatic about their cues and love the hit, fit and finish. No one is bending anyones arm nor am I saying these cues were finished by Omega nor were the shafts made by Omega. I do agree with you that this is only an interesting back story and these cues won't ever be worth the value of the Omegas made and finished in Waconda. At an rate this is a great opportunity for a player who wants an Omega Cue to get a bargin with great playability.
I am very lucky to have learned the art of cue making from Ray and my good friend Darrin Hill. Ray has taught me the engineering and cue building techniques he aquired in the Omega Shop. All of our custom modified cue making equipment and tooling was produced from the process control procedures that Ray observed while at Omega. I love Omega Cues and since they are no longer in business we feel there is a nitch opportunity for us to produce cues that have the stiff hit playability that made Omega Cues as stand out company. When Ray first advised me about using this pin configuration with the specific parabolic shaft taper he said, "When people start to play with our cues thay will sell themselves". He was absolutely right as I have sold over 30 cues in the last year without any advertisement or website. When people come my shop in the back of my Pool Hall and ask me to build them a cue requesting a conical or coke bottle style shaft geometry with a pro or super pro tapered shaft, I tell them that they need to see another cue maker as we only use this one shaft taper. They can have the shaft any where from 13.25 mm to 12.50 mm in tip end sizing but if you buy our cue you will get this taper only. I have not lost one sale with this philosophy.
After this ebay auction is over I will take yours and Tim's advice and market these cues as Esoteric Cues made from final dimension blanks built by Omega DPK. I do appreciate you taking the time to weigh inand give me your valued opinion and suggestions concerning the marketing of the gems.
Again, thanks for your thoughts and suggestions,
Rick Geschrey
Here are few of the other cue blanks we purchased from the estate sale in Northern Illinois
Some of these blanks have a 5 digit numbering system ending in 93 or 94 which we assume reveals year built as 1993 or 94
The Tulip wood cue reveals the Omega Butt Flair and Omega Boxed Decor Rings. The butt flair feature was discontinued by Omega in the early to mid 1990s
Note: The ebony cue with the silver Omega Boxed Rings is not finished. The sealer used shows up with more gloss on the ebony!
Note: Ivory inlays within the points show 4 point star and arrow head style inlays. We also have cues with oval style inlays in the points.
Do You Still Think These Blanks Are Not OMEGA DPK?
