Thinking about a custom cue, but not for looks.

F

Fastolfe

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hello again guys,

I have a question for you cuemaking pros: I'm sort of thinking about getting a custom cue made, but I'm wondering if it's the right approach for me. Here's why:

What I'm after in a cue is playability. I'm no specialist, but I suppose it has to do with weight, balance, straightness and hardness of the shaft, and straightness of the wood grain. I played for years with a no-name cue, and my current pool cue is a Meucci 97-5 that has seen better days, but that I'm very happy with. I'm not really buying into technical merits vaunted by certain brands, especially reduced shaft deflection and "power"; I have the feeling that, as long as one is used to one's cue, and the cue is decent, the cue's playing characteristics simply become second nature for the player.

As for looks, I just don't care what a cue looks like at all. But being a gunsmith, I had the idea of getting a cue with a plain butt made of walnut, with engraved steel inserts, reminiscent of a gun stock, which is what got me thinking about getting a custom cue in the first place. I don't even need linen, as I use aftermarket rubber sleeves on all my cues.

So my question is this: if I got a cue made by one of you guys, would I get a better "tool" for the job of playing, so to speak, or is it mostly a question of decorations, finishing quality, and collector's value? In other terms, am I better off grabbing a walnut blank in our gun shop, turning it myself on the lathe, making a threaded piece compatible with my Meucci's shaft threads, inlaying steel rings to balance it, getting it engraved and checkered in-house, and slapping my Meucci's spare shaft on it?

Before everybody starts hitting on me, please understand that I'm not being disrespectful here. I realize the time and sweat that goes into making a fine cue such as the beauties you guys create. My question is more "would a custom cue with simplistic feature be of value for someone who's already happy playing an old low-end Meucci cue". Any thought?
 
most people go the custom route because they're looking for a better playing cue and they're unhappy with the production cue options. it's all about playability. there're plenty of cue makers that post here that can make you what you're looking for.

i know a local guy named jim pierce that i'd recommend. he'll build you what ever you want for a decent price. i'd also recommend Jim Lee " "
 
i always say its better to spend ona custom then production. i think just about anything will play better then your current player. not bashing just not a fan. as far as engraving im not sure who the best would be in that catagory. as far as making your own there is a great deal that goes into cuemaking. much more then grabbing you own piece and turning it round. most makers wont use other wood. its not trustworthy.
 
I understand your concern... Going with a custom cue maker will achieve your goals. Here's why:
1. The woods will be top quality
2. Personalization of your cue 1 of a kind
3. balance, feel, playability will exceed others
4. 1 on 1 contact with the maker
5. Some production cues do play decent. How will you know yours will? It's a crap shoot at best.

Getting a cue to play exactly the way you want may take a few alterations to the shaft taper, cue balance, butt thickness, and so on... What production cue will do that for you. Everyone likes something a bit different.
 
Walnut is light, more than 10% lighter than maple. Just turning a piece of figured walnut round and putting a joint on it you would have to add about 3+ ounces of weight to get to a decent level. You could get to weight by coring the whole thing, which I think you should do anyway, with a 29" core of something heavier than even purpleheart.
The Oregon Black Walnut has great orange color to it that ages well and imo looks much better than Eastern Walnut. As for inlays, the butt could be sent to you somewhere along the building faze and you could install what ever you like.

Bob Danielson
www.bdcuesandcomix.com
 
Fastolfe said:
Hello again guys,

I have a question for you cuemaking pros: I'm sort of thinking about getting a custom cue made, but I'm wondering if it's the right approach for me. Here's why:

What I'm after in a cue is playability. I'm no specialist, but I suppose it has to do with weight, balance, straightness and hardness of the shaft, and straightness of the wood grain. I played for years with a no-name cue, and my current pool cue is a Meucci 97-5 that has seen better days, but that I'm very happy with. I'm not really buying into technical merits vaunted by certain brands, especially reduced shaft deflection and "power"; I have the feeling that, as long as one is used to one's cue, and the cue is decent, the cue's playing characteristics simply become second nature for the player.

As for looks, I just don't care what a cue looks like at all. But being a gunsmith, I had the idea of getting a cue with a plain butt made of walnut, with engraved steel inserts, reminiscent of a gun stock, which is what got me thinking about getting a custom cue in the first place. I don't even need linen, as I use aftermarket rubber sleeves on all my cues.

So my question is this: if I got a cue made by one of you guys, would I get a better "tool" for the job of playing, so to speak, or is it mostly a question of decorations, finishing quality, and collector's value? In other terms, am I better off grabbing a walnut blank in our gun shop, turning it myself on the lathe, making a threaded piece compatible with my Meucci's shaft threads, inlaying steel rings to balance it, getting it engraved and checkered in-house, and slapping my Meucci's spare shaft on it?
Click to expand...
If you're happy with your moochi, why even bother to ask? The beauty of a custom cue is that you get to specify what you want. And hopefully get the very best materials available.
If you want something different, that you can't get off the shelf, THEN you call on a custom cuemaker.
I make an oil finished "sneaky pete" for $225 that will play as good, or better than the $4,000 custom cues I have made. They just wont make anyone's eyes bug out when they see them.
FWIW, (sadly) my attitude towards cues is much the same as yours.... my personal cue is a sneaky pete, and I get *&#$ for it constantly when I'm out playing.... I just tell people I can't afford a nicer one. :grin-square:
 
My player is rather unattractive as well, but it plays the way I like it to play.

Walnut may be able to be used, but as has been mentioned, it may need to be cored, or combined with other woods to make it balance properly. Perhaps having the walnut you have in mind sent off to be 'stabilized' which is an epoxy impregnation under a lot of pressure. This ads quite a bit of weight to the wood, and God only knows how it would play, if it was not cored... Splicing it with an Ebony forearm might be interesting as well- then a single thin maple veneer to set the points off from the forearm.

Anyway, anything is possible; I think some blued steel rings might look cool, and a nice section of hand-checkering rather than a wrap would also be nice...

Add some Pearl inlay in strategic locations and I think it would be a really classy piece!
 
Hi,

You need to go to Valley Forge or somewhere where there is a lot of custom cues. Hit a bunch of then and then buy one. If you order a custom cue on spec. then you will only be able to hit that one cue before you buy.

Every cue maker strives for a consistency in the hit of their cues but because wood is very inconsistent the end result for each cue is not absolutely predictable.

If you are looking for a Meucci, you can buy one on the internet for less than one hundred dollars. Most guys hear won't build you a shaft for less that $ 150.00 and they are selling them for a fair price. Do you want green wood from China or seasoned stuff from an American Cue Maker?

Rick
 
Hi guys,

Thanks for your advices. I hear ya on the quality of the wood, it does make sense that it should play better than a production cue. Although I must say, my Meucci does play really nice, and we've been together for 10 years. Maybe I got one of the good ones, who knows...

I also understand that I should pick a local cue maker, or at least one that I can come visit and stick around of for a couple of weeks, so he can iron out small problems if needs be. Not sure if there are too many around my area, so perhaps I could budget a trip to the US in the price of the cue.

About the price, I'm usually a stingy guy, but not when it comes to craftsmanship. I myself work in a company that makes hunting rifles that carry a minimum price tag of 70,000 euro, with up to 2000 hours of work in each gun, so I know the price good handwork can fetch.

Re the walnut wood: the stock blanks we have are turkish walnut, cut at the base of the tree, and dried for a minimum of 20 years at 13% humidity. The turkish variety is quite dense and heavy already (we gunsmiths have to hollow stocks out to make guns lighter). But if it's too light for a cue, adding weight isn't a big issue. The sort of finish I had in mind is inlaid color-case-hardened steel openwork pieces, engraved with english-style scrolls. A bit like this here, only more intricate. One or two blued steel rings with an inlaid gold wire running in the middle would look great too. A scottish-style fine checkering would happily replace the wrapping, but the problem is that any ding would ruin it in no time. Also, I don't want any varnish on it, just linseed oil, a filler coat and elbow grease to make it shine.

I can work with steel and wood, and I know exactly what sort of butt I'd like in my head. Not to mention, I know who I'd choose for the engraving: he's really good and I can ask him friendly prices. So maybe what would work out is that I do the exterior of the butt, leaving wood at the front and at the back, then contact a cuemaker and give him the butt to mate a great shaft to it, core it and balance everything out. This way, maybe I could make the butt exactly the way I want, and still benefit from a cuemaker's experience to get a great cue. Do you guys ever work like this with your customers?
 
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What you are suggesting is highly unusual, so you definitely need to have a local cue maker to try and work that all out...

Or, ask everyone here if they can do what you want- but you have to let them choose the wood themselves (but you could provide some as it may be usable) and work closely with them on the details.

If you can get a detailed drawing of your ideas together, you may find someone who can do it.

There are a lot of great gunsmiths and custom makers here in the US who may work closely with a cue maker to create your dream cue....
 
Somehow this thread has changed from a plain jane players cue to a custom couple thousand dollar once in a lifetime project.... interesting.
 
bdcues said:
Somehow this thread has changed from a plain jane players cue to a custom couple thousand dollar once in a lifetime project.... interesting.
Click to expand...

If I am interested in doing the butt myself, it's because it would be on the cheap, as well as what I would like exactly. The wood costs me zero (they are rejects from Mauser stockmaking), the metal and the coloring cost me zero (we have a cyanide bath at work), the openwork pieces and their inlaying would cost me whatever time I'm willing to spend at the bench, and so would the checkering and finishing. The gold would costs maybe 20 euro for the amount I have in mind, and the engraving about 150 euro total from my friend who owes me.

So we're talking about a 170 euro butt + whatever a cuemaker would charge me to add a joint, a decent shaft, adjust the two flush, add a bit of weight in the back of the butt and balance the cue. The cuemaker's fee is the unknown variable in my equation, but I doubt the entire cue would cost more than 1000 euro. That's cheap for a custom cue I reckon. As for what the end result would look like, it'd be nowhere as dazzling as what you guys create, with points, rare woods, mother-of-perl, gems, irish linen and everything. Although it would certainly please my eyes, it would be rather plain jane...
 
Any idea what that Walnut weighs per cubic foot? A 1000 euros makes a couple thousand dollars and that walnut still needs to be cored, which is something that you do before the cue is to size and you have all your inlay work done. Otherwise your still going to have 2-3 oz's of weight just at the back of the cue and never going to balance it and the walnut is not going to play as well as it might have shot.
 
I love the look of Walnut, especially Circassian. I work with Walnut, building Duck Calls, like this one:

004-21.jpg


Juglans Regia would make a beautiful cue, if made by a master cue maker.
 
I measured the density of a piece of turkish walnut and it is a little over 0.7. I agree that it would make a beautiful cue, especially the sections we use here for luxury stocks, which have many waves and burls. The sections we use are closer to the center of the bark and seem a lot darker than on your duck call, but perhaps it's the photo that makes the color appear light. Nice work on that by the way!

I'll try to draw what I have in mind for the inlays and show it to you guys.
 
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