Comments:
The latest cue projects . . .
. . . are well under way. African Blackwood forearm and butt with Koa handle, . . .
. . . but it sure helps.
. . . and Koa forearm and butt with a mun ebony handle.
Both will have laminated maple cores. The mun ebony handle cue will be fitted with a matching mun ebony shaft; the plan for the other isn't finalized yet.
You don't need a hand-made cue to shoot pool . . .
Nice photos of the work in progress,
or should I say of the raw material. Looking forward to seeing the final results.
Best, Emmanuel
Best, Emmanuel
All three wood types are rare, with Hawaiian Koa . . .
. . . probably the scarcest. When finished these will be unique combinations.
Very exciting project.
I know nothing about cues, but I can easily understand how much pleasure having these made can bring.
Cool!
How long will it take from this stage to finish it? It looks like it will be a pretty cue to look at.
Normally it would take a few months . . .
. . . but Bob is currently nursing a sore knee and slated for surgery in early May, so more like mid-summer. There are several more projects slated before he retires next year.
I guess one of the big advantanges of the core-ing process is how quickly Bob can make a cue
The solid wood approach seems to take much longer to take down the butt. One of my cues on order is going over a year using a modern climate controlled curing process. It hasn't even been inlayed yet. By the time it's done it will be more than 20 months even with the 50 year old blank.
Making cosmetically perfect points in a spliced handle . . .
. . . might be the most time-consuming part of process. The amount of time required is precisely why Bob veered away from making full-splice cues.
Best,
Art
It a 1975 George Balabushka blank
So there is no time taken for splicing the points and veneers. They could be going extra slow not to crack the blank? If it gets damaged the project is over. There is no Delorean going back to 1975.
My other cue is using 40 year old stock wood. It is an 8 point with 8 more points recut and stacked. Not a true half splice Gus Szamboti/ George Balabushka technique. The 16 points are done but the cue has to get taken down over 4 seasons without climate control. He is old school builder that believes a cue to withstand cold snow, monsoon rain, hot dry summers, the cue has to undergo all these seasons in order to not warp and see if it will maintain its percussion instrument sound.
Both of these cue makers only use hand operated instruments. No automation like computers to automatically cut patterns in the wood. Everything is hand done with 100 year old wood working techniques.
Coring obviously makes the butt of the cue warp resistant. It's great to see handmade items as they are so rare. Hope Bob's surgery goes well
My other cue is using 40 year old stock wood. It is an 8 point with 8 more points recut and stacked. Not a true half splice Gus Szamboti/ George Balabushka technique. The 16 points are done but the cue has to get taken down over 4 seasons without climate control. He is old school builder that believes a cue to withstand cold snow, monsoon rain, hot dry summers, the cue has to undergo all these seasons in order to not warp and see if it will maintain its percussion instrument sound.
Both of these cue makers only use hand operated instruments. No automation like computers to automatically cut patterns in the wood. Everything is hand done with 100 year old wood working techniques.
Coring obviously makes the butt of the cue warp resistant. It's great to see handmade items as they are so rare. Hope Bob's surgery goes well
Super cool!
You’ve really gone down the rabbit hole of fine pool cues. Always a master, rarely a generalist.