Well this cue maker finally retired, kind of

Steve klien?

I would say Steve klien. Since I went down to Texas and bought all 700+ 10 plus year old shafts and 4+year old shaft wood. And all his other woods and all his tooling
.veneers. Rings. Inlays. Old balabuska parts. Like the old phenolics. Etc. totally awesome stuff!!!! And wth the 300 or so shafts I have also. From her to end of time. I will always be able to offer 10 +year old shafts with the cues I build. As long as I keep my river of wood up. I'm so stoked. Lol. Thanks Steve :)
 
nevadarain said:
I really don't want to say as i don't think it is for me to disclose. The gentleman will definitely make it known soon, if he hasn't already. From what i gathered he has not made it known yet. And I don't want to put him in any compromising position by me prematurely disclosing as this is his business, his company and how he made a living for so many years. I think such information should come directly from him.
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so why make a post about it? Just curious as it seems weird to me.
 
nevadarain said:
I will not disclose his name because it seems like he hasn't made the news public yet. A a few days ago i sent an email to this individual interested in purchasing a brand new custom play cue from him. I specifically wanted to get this process started as being able to possess a cue from him would be nothing but an honor, based on the numerous amounts of praise I've read about him, and the incredible quality, craftsmanship, and imagination he puts into his designs. He emailed me back today and said he is semi retired. He plans to only make specialty cues, those cues I'm sure will be in the 5 figure price range. I'm glad he has his new life set up, from the description it is clearly incredible. I'm definitely happy for him, and sad at the same time. I mean, i don't even know why i'm sad, I've never met the guy, heck, I've never played with his cue. I guess that shows you the power that words have that others use to speak of this gentleman. He gets so much respect and praise amongst the pool community its like i already know him. Either way i'm going to purchase a collectible cue from him and I guess I'll have to just go ahead and get a play cue cue of his from cornerstone, recollection cues, j&j, etc.
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No more "Cogs" in the machine, huh??
 
nevadarain said:
I will not disclose his name because it seems like he hasn't made the news public yet. A a few days ago i sent an email to this individual interested in purchasing a brand new custom play cue from him. I specifically wanted to get this process started as being able to possess a cue from him would be nothing but an honor, based on the numerous amounts of praise I've read about him, and the incredible quality, craftsmanship, and imagination he puts into his designs. He emailed me back today and said he is semi retired. He plans to only make specialty cues, those cues I'm sure will be in the 5 figure price range. I'm glad he has his new life set up, from the description it is clearly incredible. I'm definitely happy for him, and sad at the same time. I mean, i don't even know why i'm sad, I've never met the guy, heck, I've never played with his cue. I guess that shows you the power that words have that others use to speak of this gentleman. He gets so much respect and praise amongst the pool community its like i already know him. Either way i'm going to purchase a collectible cue from him and I guess I'll have to just go ahead and get a play cue cue of his from cornerstone, recollection cues, j&j, etc.
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I know exactly who you're talking about, one of the greatest cue makers of all time. No one named here came even close to this man imo. His legacy will be around as long as there are people making cues!

He's not exactly quitting entirely, if you read carefully what he said above. He's just cutting back his production and focusing only on high dollar cues, which I"m certain there will remain a demand for.
 
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jay helfert said:
I know exactly who you're talking about, one of the greatest cue makers of all time. No one named here came even close to this man imo. His legacy will be around as long as there are people making cues!

He's not exactly quitting entirely, if you read carefully what he said above. He's just cutting back his production and focusing only on high dollar cues, which I"m certain there will remain a demand for.
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Jay just gave it away... it’s Eddie Wheat.
 
skins said:
Sorry false alarm..
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Quesports said:
Yessiree he had a real love affair with black wood. Wish him all the best he's a great guy!
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Thanks for pointing that out Skins! Tell the OLD painter I said Hi!!

I see now how my speculation could potentially be bad for a cue maker's business. So with that in mind I am out of the spec commenting. The thread should have never been started without supplying that info for the reason I mentioned. I do not believe the OP had any malice in his thread but it does lead to speculation which could be an issue.. Anyway my involvement is over.
 
Given some of the ages of these guys I'd be ordering now instead of later regardless. It was one of the leading factors in me ordering a cue last spring.
 
It could apply to Ernie
Dick Black
Bob Runde
Barry
Jerry R

all of these guys are getting up there
I know Barry isn't retiring but he is getting to the point he
doesn't make many cues

I remember when he first decided to take over the family business

people thought he might be relying on Gus reputation

Personally,i think Barry has added to it in a way to make daddy proud

Hercek seems like he just got started,time flies

We all need to be reminded how lucky we were
to know these guys.What a privilege it was to see and own
the pool cues.

We take for granted or as common place,what is in
reality the work of genius.

We should all be grateful to have lived at a very special
time for this game that we love
(at least when we are not hating it)
 
As far as these great cue makers not having apprentices to carry on their work I wonder if it is because they hesitate to teach someone everything they know then have them leave the company and become a competitor?? It would seem that some of these cue makers that have a 5-10 year waiting list could turn out a decent living if they produce more cues, unless that would dilute the market and devalue their cues. My local cue maker has something like 26 lathes, it has been awhile since I counted them but I think that is pretty close. He has each one set up to perform a different operation so he doesnt need to break down and re-tool every time he moves on to the next step. It seems like he can be pretty efficient.
 
If i were going to tender a guess from the description I would pick Bill Schick
 
Its Dennis Searing...wait hes been retired for years :rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1: :thumbup:
 
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