I think that they were probably just thought as a way to border the prongs/forearm splice in cues. Its still amazing that this super inferior horsehide glue still maintains its bond after so many years. :wink:
JV
JV
Who invented veneers and why?
- Thread starter Shooter08
- Start date
That cue is awesome. Interesting thread often thought about where it started.
Keith in Colorado
Keith in Colorado
Veneering was popular in Europe from the 1600's on - those Italian boxes and tables you see and Italian and French furniture are great examples. It is associated with marquetry, which basically uses stacked and cut veneers to create designs, similar to a jig saw puzzle. The early marquetry cues from Europe I have seen date back to the 1800's and often show points with veneers as we know them, mixed in with other inlay techniques. Butterfly cues also use stacked veneers to create their designs.
The cue shown below is from Billiardcue.com and is just an one example from the 1800's - you can see their version of modern points and veneers on the wedge butt and the way they made the points. They used a wide variety of woodworking techniques to create the designs, including marquetry, intarsia (think Samsara), and re-sawing (which is fitting together different woods sawn into patterns, gluing them, and re-cutting them to form new patterns). The strip inlay in the 3rd picture from the left is an example of a re-sawn banding strip. These are made by stacking wood, gluing and sawing into strips, then gluing those up and re-sawing it from the other direction. The woman inlay is actually stacked veneers cut into a shape, the pieces are pulled apart and the "picture" is made by using different woods. Burning is used to create shading on the legs and some of the scroll pieces. That part of the cue is actually a full veneer that wraps the entire handle area, and the banding was used to hide the joint. To shade veneers, sand is heated up and spread on the piece. The lines for the mouth and eyes are knife or thin saw blade cuts filled with dark wood sawdust and glue.
Yes, something like this was very complicated and difficult to build - even with all these techniques. A great deal of things can go wrong in the process. All this was done with very simple hand tools, a few simple machines, and a ton of skill.
The cue shown below is from Billiardcue.com and is just an one example from the 1800's - you can see their version of modern points and veneers on the wedge butt and the way they made the points. They used a wide variety of woodworking techniques to create the designs, including marquetry, intarsia (think Samsara), and re-sawing (which is fitting together different woods sawn into patterns, gluing them, and re-cutting them to form new patterns). The strip inlay in the 3rd picture from the left is an example of a re-sawn banding strip. These are made by stacking wood, gluing and sawing into strips, then gluing those up and re-sawing it from the other direction. The woman inlay is actually stacked veneers cut into a shape, the pieces are pulled apart and the "picture" is made by using different woods. Burning is used to create shading on the legs and some of the scroll pieces. That part of the cue is actually a full veneer that wraps the entire handle area, and the banding was used to hide the joint. To shade veneers, sand is heated up and spread on the piece. The lines for the mouth and eyes are knife or thin saw blade cuts filled with dark wood sawdust and glue.
Yes, something like this was very complicated and difficult to build - even with all these techniques. A great deal of things can go wrong in the process. All this was done with very simple hand tools, a few simple machines, and a ton of skill.
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I'm glad someone else remembers this. Carpenters wood glue in the old days. It wasn't always two-part epoxies that everyone takes for granted now.
All the best,
WW
Titlist veneers rule.
Tex, likely not a half bad guess, specially when you consider this was made a few Centuries ago in Germany.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKikHxKeodA
Obviously for aesthetic purposes as I doubt there is any real advantage for points, veneers, inlays and such.
As much as I do love looking at various cues and techniques used in the construction, I actually prefer a well made Merry Widow made with the woods that I like.
If I were to pick a cue with points and veneers, it would still be fairly plain except for the colors of veneers that I like. A couple of different shades of blue with black to set them apart. And a few notched diamonds.
I would rather have a person put the time into making a great playing Merry Widow for me, cored with the proper woods and such, over fancy schmancy that doesn't play as well, but looks Fabuloussssssssssss. Coupled with 2 nice shafts in the diameter that I prefer.
Like, I am here to play a decent game of pool to the best of my ability over a fashion show and have other players fondle my cue and gush over it. If a bar Cue conversion can do that for me, I am just as happy as with anything else.
I have a Varney conversion with one of his shafts that does a most excellent job. But, it looks like I picked it off the rack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKikHxKeodA
Obviously for aesthetic purposes as I doubt there is any real advantage for points, veneers, inlays and such.
As much as I do love looking at various cues and techniques used in the construction, I actually prefer a well made Merry Widow made with the woods that I like.
If I were to pick a cue with points and veneers, it would still be fairly plain except for the colors of veneers that I like. A couple of different shades of blue with black to set them apart. And a few notched diamonds.
I would rather have a person put the time into making a great playing Merry Widow for me, cored with the proper woods and such, over fancy schmancy that doesn't play as well, but looks Fabuloussssssssssss. Coupled with 2 nice shafts in the diameter that I prefer.
Like, I am here to play a decent game of pool to the best of my ability over a fashion show and have other players fondle my cue and gush over it. If a bar Cue conversion can do that for me, I am just as happy as with anything else.
I have a Varney conversion with one of his shafts that does a most excellent job. But, it looks like I picked it off the rack.
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I'll take my full-splice Titlist butt over any Merry Widow that I've ever seen or played with. I'm not much for fancy cues either. I got a guy who has a standing offer to give me $1500 for mine and I won't sell it. Today at the pool hall he kept bugging me and coming over to look at it and he said, "I'll give you $1500 in hundreds or ones or any combination, but I want that cue".
It is very plain with just a wrap and no inlays. I had it made to look like an old original plain Balabushka.
The top one is mine. The one on the bottom is the original Balabushka.
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What, no big bag of quarters?
LMAO. We have Samoans outside washing cars, not machines. It's a bit harder to collect quarters over here.
Like Blue, I tend to believe they are only decoration. PJ might know. :smile:
nice post
thanks for taking the time
Although it wasn't specifically stated I think the poster was asking about stacked veneers in spliced points. This seems to be very different from other veneer uses including in marquetry cues.
Obviously there is a lot of history of veneers outside that matter.
My suggestion is that such veneers were likely originally used to more easily accommodate less precise wood splices made with less precise methods and machines. That they were decoratively dyed was likely secondary.
That is my thought anyway.
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Obviously there is a lot of history of veneers outside that matter.
My suggestion is that such veneers were likely originally used to more easily accommodate less precise wood splices made with less precise methods and machines. That they were decoratively dyed was likely secondary.
That is my thought anyway.
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Yep. Seeing how you put it that way, I wouldn't balk at owning a Titlist.
But that is an example of what I like. Simple with notched Diamonds.
I have a Balabushka Tribute. Wasn't very expensive but was built well and plays the same.
I have a handful of Tru Balance cues that need to be trimmed down a bit. Darn things are like Baseball bats.
I think mine is 1.24. It was trimmed down a bit from the baseball bat it was as a one piece. I have another conversion that won't fit in my Fellini or my 4X8 because it is way too fat.