Mystery is solved!
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Unknown (vintage?) cue
- Thread starter ideologist
- Start date
Here are a couple more photos
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Pretty cool cue.It just seems to lack patina for a 30 year old cue. Is the wood unfinished? it looks to me like it was wrapped before it was finished. I like the Burton Spain style points. May be a john Davis blank? the shafts look to be made quite a while apart judging from the color,I'd say someone was making a Bushka "tribute" Kind of odd but looks like a fun one! there are some indications that the maker had some nice stuff laying around..Wrap...ferules...blank....tips...bumper...All quite recognizable. Hell if i know.
The wood had little to no finish on it. Can't tell if it was unfinished or someone messed with the finish.
The gentleman I got it from said he forgot he had it and it just sat in the closet. His memory was a bit foggy on everything, and I don't blame him. I rubbed some beeswax into the surface to seal the wood from any damage while deciding what to do with it.
Jensen, maybe. Looks like someone was going to refinish but something happened
" Maybe send pics to
Chad McClennan-
CAM CUES- OKLA...
Chad McClennan-
CAM CUES- OKLA...
It's one of the 8-32 socket head Allen screws
I missed the line about the shafts. They look identical, one just looks darker than the other. Hell if I know, as well. Cool specimen.
It's got some familiar "looks".. Top of pin is finished similar to Gus's. Shaft pilot tounges are very nice. Tips show some compression from a relatively decent amount of play yet little to no handling wear on the butt. Maybe as someone said it was in the process of a refinish?? The point height and base gap are off for Gus's or Burtons blanks. The butt cap screw isn't Gus or George... You got a mystery there. Looks like nice work though. Whomever made it used the right people for inspiration.:smile:
The cue looks has so many great features...I have no idea who made it. It definitely looks the part of an old school classic. Clearly Bushka inspired.
Is that a forstner bit groove I see in the butt cap?
Nice pilots.
It looks to be very well constructed...but unfinished.
My feeling is that it was not stripped but unfinished.
There is another point about it that looks unfinished to me. The pin is rough, not polished. Strange.
The shafts look very nicely done. Nice ferrule installation.
The compression of the tips, especially on the slightly darker shaft indicates some play...But I doubt it had much play because in that unfinished state it would likely look dirtier.
The KU bumper is in really nice shape. If the bumper was on the floor much there would be wear. Possible indication of the low amount of play. I know, indirect, but nonetheless evidence.
Alternatively it might have been "cleaned up" and stripped without completing the job...but I am leaning the other way, unfinished.
Obviously a really cool cue. Maybe somebody's early work? Possibly a hobbyist but we don't usually see work like that from such sources.
I do wonder what's under the wrap and what is in the A joint. A screw? Full splice? Other?
At this point the cue is an enigma...and a darn nice one.
If I have something like that sitting in a closet and forget about it l'll be needing my head examined.
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Is that a forstner bit groove I see in the butt cap?
Nice pilots.
It looks to be very well constructed...but unfinished.
My feeling is that it was not stripped but unfinished.
There is another point about it that looks unfinished to me. The pin is rough, not polished. Strange.
The shafts look very nicely done. Nice ferrule installation.
The compression of the tips, especially on the slightly darker shaft indicates some play...But I doubt it had much play because in that unfinished state it would likely look dirtier.
The KU bumper is in really nice shape. If the bumper was on the floor much there would be wear. Possible indication of the low amount of play. I know, indirect, but nonetheless evidence.
Alternatively it might have been "cleaned up" and stripped without completing the job...but I am leaning the other way, unfinished.
Obviously a really cool cue. Maybe somebody's early work? Possibly a hobbyist but we don't usually see work like that from such sources.
I do wonder what's under the wrap and what is in the A joint. A screw? Full splice? Other?
At this point the cue is an enigma...and a darn nice one.
If I have something like that sitting in a closet and forget about it l'll be needing my head examined.
.
The only thing about that cue that looks anything near old is the shafts, but they have fresh looking pilots & the darker shaft is heartwood so it would be naturally brown, anyway. The dark mineral stain barely visible in one of the pics gives that away. Something I have never seen on an old cue is mineral stained shafts, not even on cheap old house cues. A maker from a bygone era who produced this cue would have used aesthetically better shaft wood.
Next is the discrepancy of the white forearm wood and dark shaft wood. The shafts appear well used, minus the fresh pilots, yet the butt of the cue appears to have never been touched or exposed much to UV. Add in the visible lines from sanding or single point cutting and it's obvious the cue was not scraped smooth, a staple technique until most recent times. The wrap is also an issue. It's clean & new looking except at the last inch where it appears to have been saturated with glue, picked up some dirt/dust, and pressed tighter than the rest of the handle. Last but not least, the steel joint is polished but has no ledge behind it for finish. It's flush to the cue, meaning a refinish is almost certainly not the reason the cue is unfinished.
Overall it's a neat take on a timeless design, but IMO is a very modern attempt at making the cue seem old. I have tinkered with countless old cues and built hundreds of new cues over a span approaching 20yrs. Things on that cue jump out blatantly, screaming inexperience with a motive. I recognize many flaws & mistakes, as well as the lack of things only time can do to a cue. Minor & insignificant as they may seem, they clearly indicate a new cue made to look old. It's a cool cue, beautiful and classic in design, but not old. I'm not knocking the cue, just giving my opinion on its age. The maker should claim the cue, put on a modern finish, and accept credit for a job well done. It's a nice cue. Old it is not.
Next is the discrepancy of the white forearm wood and dark shaft wood. The shafts appear well used, minus the fresh pilots, yet the butt of the cue appears to have never been touched or exposed much to UV. Add in the visible lines from sanding or single point cutting and it's obvious the cue was not scraped smooth, a staple technique until most recent times. The wrap is also an issue. It's clean & new looking except at the last inch where it appears to have been saturated with glue, picked up some dirt/dust, and pressed tighter than the rest of the handle. Last but not least, the steel joint is polished but has no ledge behind it for finish. It's flush to the cue, meaning a refinish is almost certainly not the reason the cue is unfinished.
Overall it's a neat take on a timeless design, but IMO is a very modern attempt at making the cue seem old. I have tinkered with countless old cues and built hundreds of new cues over a span approaching 20yrs. Things on that cue jump out blatantly, screaming inexperience with a motive. I recognize many flaws & mistakes, as well as the lack of things only time can do to a cue. Minor & insignificant as they may seem, they clearly indicate a new cue made to look old. It's a cool cue, beautiful and classic in design, but not old. I'm not knocking the cue, just giving my opinion on its age. The maker should claim the cue, put on a modern finish, and accept credit for a job well done. It's a nice cue. Old it is not.
The tearout in the phenolic made me think that, as well as the clean pilots. Interestingly, the pilots are not a compression fit. The wrap is a little grungy in spots, that's the strange part. If they bamboozled me, so be it. It plays sweet.
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I doubt you got bamboozled. It's a really neat cue. If it were mine, i'd put a nice finish & new wrap on it, and play the hell out of it.
That's the main reason I thought the cue was unfinished. No room there for a finish to even up with the joint.
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