I have come across some guys lately who were also table mechanics ( some still are) and machinists/wood workers who dabbled in cue making during the huge surge in pool starting from around 1986 into the late 90s. All of them were ardent pool players, which led them right into cue making interest. I have seen some of the cues that these guys made back then- some were very good in terms of many cue making aspects, and unique in appearance.
I have seen several SPs from house cues, jump cues made from house cues, and cues with segmented handles, points, veneers, fancy ring work, etc. Seems, from what they tell me, all they needed were some basic tools and a lathe, many used " borrowed time" on a lathe that was housed in pool hall back rooms, or other wood working/ machine shops in their local area.
Across the U.S. in that time period I imagine there were several hundred or more guys who were never officially identified as cue makers, but they did turn out cues for their personal use and/ or local pool room cue markets. I have found that most of these guys never signed their cues in any form, unless/until the demand got great enough for them to consider cue making as a more full time money making possibility. Sanko cues down here in SW Florida is one example, he is deceased now, and I come across " old-timers" down here playing with his signed cues- Sanko was a sailboat woodworker initially.
I can remember when living in CT. during the late 80s to late 90s several machinists who were all avid pool players started making cues from their homes- some went on to sign their cues as demand grew - Barry Cameron and Greg Kuharski come to mind; some never made enough cues to even think about it being a business, and some guys that I have met just had no interest in promoting themselves at all, and would not even print a business card- much less sign a cue!
