Vintage butterfly cues

[Cuebuddy]

They are raining in on me!

Its kind of crazy but I keep finding vintage butterfly spliced cues. Not a bad thing but odd.

I think I will convert a few to two piece cues....I used to want to keep them un-cut but now I have them stacking up on me and would like to do something with them.

My latest is a Walnut into Birdseye butterfly joint cue. Its not the most colorful as far as veneers go but the walnut and BEM make up for it, Birdseye maple all the way to the black ferrule!

Odd that I keep finding vintage butterflies when I am not looking for them.

Pictures if anyone cares

 

[Brain71]

I'm interested. Would love to see them. Wish I could come across some. I have a couple of house cues from the '20s.

 

[Texas Carom Club]

Id like to see em
Interest here,

 

[Cuebuddy]

I'm interested. Would love to see them. Wish I could come across some. I have a couple of house cues from the '20s.

I will try and take a few pictures ASAP, the snow is relentless this year and we may get a break this weekend.

 

[Chopdoc]

I have a thing for them. Always hunting them.

Rieper, Katz, Brunswick, Saunier Wilhem, Luscher, Briggs, National, and others interest me. Especially mid-century and earlier.

Landed a cool one recently with a Hoppe ring in darn near mind condition. I think it's a National from a blank made by Katz but not 100% sure yet.

Post some pics of your finds! :smile:

.

 

[HQueen]

I like them. IMO one of the strongest ways to construct a cue. Beautiful as well. I have done a few conversions and have built several as well.

Show us the pictures when you can.

 

[Kid Dynomite]

I like them. IMO one of the strongest ways to construct a cue. Beautiful as well. I have done a few conversions and have built several as well.



Show us the pictures when you can.

I did not know it was the strongest!

Here is mine!

https://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=302240&highlight=School

I love the cue! Best player in the stable!

Kd

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[Cuebuddy]

Well none of my latest butterfly cues are very fancy but that makes them easy to convert if I am so inclined.
The Walnut into Birdseye cue I picked up yesterday is very straight but short at 56". The length is not a concern because I can add on to the butt. This cue is plenty fat so I can turn out a hundred years of nicks and dings. The cue is very dirty and I suk at taking pictures so the figure of the wood will not show well but should get better with the French polish finish that I prefer.

 

[Cuebuddy]

Another very old cue that I recently found in a antique store in Leadville CO. This cue has a crack in the shaft near the tip so I don't mind cutting it either. It is very straight and has some nice Rosewood on the handle but was textured(stippled) in the grip area, it would be nice to keep that grip if possible.

 

[Cuebuddy]

Last one for tonight....more to follow:wink:

This cue is one I have been hunting for for 20 years and is very rare. I thought at one time that I would just fake one by buying a label and placing it on one of my many plane Jane butterfly house cues, I still may do that because the real one I bought is in such poor shape but I am very glad to have an original.

Here is my Brunswick Keen shot that I believe to have a horse hoof ferrule. I am not sure about the ferrule material but I have read that hooves were used in the late 30's.
I have also collected a few pictures that show other period correct cues with this strange cream colored material on their ferrules.

This cue is warped and filthy (so am I) but like I said I am lucky and glad to have it on the wall...what a character.

 

[SBC]

That Keen Shot is from the 50s, not 30s.

Here's a double butterfly Brunswick frin the 1930s that I converted.

Also have a mint one piece butterfly Brunswick Hi Run cue with what looks like tulipwood butt.

 

[ideologist]

You can't call it the strongest, a 4-point prong has so much more gluing surface. With modern adhesives, the classic fullsplice blanks are unbreakable by human hands.

The butterfly is a gorgeous method, simpler, but it offers a distinct beauty.

 

[ideologist]

The curly B Keen Shot is 1939-1944 era. Nice cue, I've had a few and they are sweethearts

 

[Cuebuddy]

Correct!
From the little info that is out there the cues were made in the late 30's and first seen in the 41 catalog. Very short run of the Keen shot and Hi-run cues.

 

[Cuebuddy]

That Keen Shot is from the 50s, not 30s.

Here's a double butterfly Brunswick frin the 1930s that I converted.

Also have a mint one piece butterfly Brunswick Hi Run cue with what looks like tulipwood butt.

Your Hi-Run is rare and cool. It certainly looks like Tulip, I am missing a Hi-Run in my collection but I have seen more of them then the Keen Shot cue so there is still hope.

I have a few double butterfly cues that are so straight and pristine that I can't talk myself into changing their perfectness
Thanks for the pics of your cues!

 

[HQueen]

One of the strongest ways to build a cue. Not claiming it is the strongest but it probably is. Additionally there is more than one way to build a butterfly cue. A full length core with the outside veneers is much more solid than any full splice. 24” long veneers/solid wood glued up on a 29” core is a whole lot of gluing surface.

I can provide pictures if necessary.

 

[ideologist]

One of the strongest ways to build a cue. Not claiming it is the strongest but it probably is. Additionally there is more than one way to build a butterfly cue. A full length core with the outside veneers is much more solid than any full splice. 24” long veneers/solid wood glued up on a 29” core is a whole lot of gluing surface.

I can provide pictures if necessary.

A fully cored butt with the grain opposed is definitely the strongest way to adhere wood, a definite modern improvement. I was referring to the antique styles like butterflies, prongs, and tenons.

The old Hi-Run cues pictured are charming, and a nice way to dress up a cue rack

 

[HQueen]

Agreed. All beautiful and make great players.

 

[Cuebuddy]

A strange cue for sure.

My next butterfly cue was found in the Pacific Northwest and it is a very odd cue to say the least. Maybe pt109 can shed some light on its crazy assortment of woods.
The snooker cue is made from a variety of hardwoods, I believe it to be at least 100 years old.

Orme and Sons made snooker tables from the mid 1800's to around 1935. They also made a few cues, this cue has a Ash shaft spliced into Macassar Ebony and Gaboon Ebony on two of the points. The third point looks to be Thuya burl but I suppose it could be something else completely, just a my guess. The last point is the strangest, it looks to be a Walnut point on the top and bottom but it has a piece of burl wood spliced into it in an angular fashion. I guess it could have been a repair but something tells me it was not.

 

[Cuebuddy]

Cheap Italian house cues

Most collectors have seen these pop up now and then, I bought two in Denver for $8.00. I thought I would just add them to my wall hangers but decided to make jump cues out of them. They are light and colorful and would be cool looking if done right.