I'm not kidding,  we found these incredible pieces of Cocobolo in my turning room way up on a shelf under an inch of dust. These must of have been put away years ago for special cues because these are beautiful pieces.  It amazes me what I find in my own shop sometimes,  we put stuff away because it is so nice or special or rare and forget about it.  I found a piece of wood the other day that had 1996 hand written on it.






I'll follow these cues along on the blog.

If you don't play snooker you should.  Smaller balls, a bigger table and rounded pockets, sounds like a nightmare,  it's the most fun you can have with a cue in my opinion.  In college there was a room between home and college,  they had a snooker table that was often the only game going on,  but there would be more people waiting to get in the6 red ball,  4 handed , team game,  than were actually playing. I have waited hours just to get in the game.  In the morning's there was a group of old guys who played for hours on end.  In the afternoon the car salesmen and insurance saleman would show up and play when they should have been working.  I got play before and after class so I  played in bothday  groups,  then at night it was singles with a little action.  Anyway here is a link to a perfect 147 point run. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEWS7HYsBCE

You do what?  Part 2

I'm a Cuemaker, how the heck did that happen you ask , well......it's a long story.

In part one I talked about working as a banker and  I said I started building cue between the last two bank jobs.  Well... I started in ernest between the last 2 banks,  butthe story actually started with this article in 1986.



I played a lot of pool around 1986 and I saw this article,  I bought the magazine andI must have read that article a millioin times.  Over time I have proven that not a single word was useful for a professional cue maker. I don't know who "Tex Smith" was,  but he wasn't the type of cue maker I wanted to be.  But with article in hand I bought that first lathe and tried to make cues off and on for several years.  Finally between the last two jobs I had a month to get serious.  I bought a brand new metal lathe and fabricated a taper bar long enough to make a pool cue.  Back then you didn't buy cue making equipment you, built it.  Within six months I was sick of converting the single machine back and forth from tapering work to joint work,  so I bought another brand new lathe.  Now I was cramming all this stuff into a single car garage,  two metal lathes, the wood lathe, a table saw, and in a few months a manual panagragh.  I 'd open the garage door and spray cues with them hanging on the edge of the garage door.  "The first show"  next time.

20 years ago I bought a stack of Pink Ivory Wood,  this stuff is oh so rare and expensive.  Most of  it was Pink and not very nice, but there were these 5 or so pieces that were Red and a had a Curly Pattern.  I had never seen any before,  and I have never seen another piece.  So those pieces hung around,  last year I built some cues with those pieces and sold them,  using up what I thought was all I had,  but way in the back I found on last piece.  So I built a cue for myself,  I have very few of my own cues,  the last one I kept was the Artist Proof for my 10 year Anniversary Cue, that  more that 10 years ago.  I have been showing pics of the cue on facebook as I built it,  now it is finished, and I like it !!

t

Five Minutes with Shari Stauch

Shari is the Editor of Pool and Billiard Magazine, in other words she decides if that picture of you playing pool makes the magazine. I first met her in Texas at the very first American Cue makers Association' cue show. This week she is attending the Billiard Congress of America Expo in Chicago.

This the first time for the BCA Expo in Chicago, how do you like the new venue?

No it's not - we were here last year. It's very nice - rooms close to convention center, nice restaurants around, and of course this is my old stomping grounds so fun to see old friends and family.

Trade shows are all about new products, what is the coolest new thing you have seen?

Paul Gerni has an interesting telescoping bridge extension that fits in a cue case. Love the Aramith Fusion table - what's way cool about it is the ability to lower it from pool table height t o dining height through clever spring loaded legs… a GREAT option for the dining to pool conversion top.

There are a lot great cue and table makers in the Chicago area, have you seen a lot of industry people even if they aren't displaying at the Expo?

We have - it's like "old home week" here… Think the best "celebrity sighting" though had to be Jim Bakula, former BCA and Brunswick Billiards president. He came for a visit and at 78 years young any of us would swear he's still in his 50s - looks amazing and is upbeat as always.

How is the concession stand coffee?

Sucks :) But there's a Starbucks between the hotel and conference center walkway so it's all good :)

You're in Chicago, are you going to make it Buddy Guy's place?

No.

Shari says: In summary - not many bodies at the show, but exhibitors still happily writing orders from those attending!

More show pic's at https://www.facebook.com/PoolandBilliard

This maybe the nicest cue I have made so far this year.  It has an amazing piece of Cocobolo, real Ivory and what I think is a nice design.  I will include two shafts and joint protectors, shipped for free.

http://www.dpcues.com/product/KCI

A long time ago I watched Johnny Archer help Allison Fisher with her nine ball break.  The were both at the BCA Trade Show in Vegas.   He was very patient and she was very attentive,  seems to have worked to for her.  Short Video of Johnny Archer helping an unknown person with their break. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffkl-zp96N8

I cut up a lot of wood and sometimes you find special pieces.  I made 2 cues with really unusual and rare piecs of Bocote. 

The first has a Bull's Eye pattern just above the wrap,  I centered it in the middle of the cue for maximum effect.   http://www.dpcues.com/product/OTB

The second on has a pattern like birdseyes,  it is both wild and beautiful.  I have never seen a piece like this.  http://www.dpcues.com/product/BEB

You can put stuff in cues, turquoise, silver, gold etc, anyone can do that,  but to have really rare pieecs of wood is another thing,  this is the stuff collectors look crave.  I have priced these cues so that a player can buy them.

Birdseye Bocote

You do what?

I'm a Cuemaker, how the heck did that happen you ask , well......it's a long story.

I was born, raised and still live in Florida. I was a C student in most classes, in any
shop class I did better. I loaded trucks, lived at home and made it through the local
college. I got a degree in Business/Accounting. Along the way I borrowed a home
work assignment from a girl in class, the honey moon was a cheap cruise to Mexico.
30 years later she packs and ships your cues, we have a daughter that helps. During
college I became a 3-5 hour a day, 365 day a year, pool player. I'm sure I bought
the local pool hall (Val's) one hour at a time.

Accounting, really? Yeah...., I needed an elective and they talked about money in
there. I didn't have much money but I sure wanted some. Jobs, well, finally I found
a job as an Assistant Internal Auditor at Florida National Bank. Every bank I ever
worked at is gone now.... Assistant Auditor, Auditor, VP, CFO, 5 banks in 8 years,
every one sold or merged out from under me. I started trying to make cues between
bank numbers 4 and 5,  I started with this lathe.

I'm doing a series of custom cues with Domino's, what do you think ??