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Posted by Dale Perry on April 29, 2014 at 10:49 AM under
• 0 commentsMy First Limited Edition in 1996
Riding back from the Super Billiard Expo in 1995 I came up with the idea for a limited edition of 50 cues, 25 each in two different woods. I selected Cocobolo and Ebony. Back then it took months to do an adv in magazine so I didn't publish the cues until January 1996. I could tell where the magazine was being delivered across the country by where the phone calls came in from. One day I sold 13 of these for $795.00, that was a good day in 1996.
Anyway the one in these cues walked into my shop about and hour ago, it is still in great shape, it is #9 of 25, it was fun to see it again.
# 9 of 25
Original Advertisement
Back of the adv, say's they sold out in May of 1996.
Current cues here : http://www.dpcues.com/category/35212772
DP
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Posted by Dale Perry on April 25, 2014 at 11:28 AM under
• 1 commentWho is Harley Bryant and What He Means To Me
I saw Harley the other day and spent an hour or so talking with him, it was time well spent. Harley is a legendary player from back in the day, he was probably past his prime the first time I ever saw him play and he played in another dimension then. I can't imagine what his money game was like back when it mattered, and btw, he can and does still play real well.
Harley grew up in pool room on 3rd and Main St. in Jacksonville, it was a tough place. I drove by it a couple times, but never went in. They played world class snooker in there and by all accounts Harley was right in the middle of it. Anyway in the 1980's he opened “the” and I mean “the” pool room in Jacksonville, it was called Harley's Rack and Cue. I played a lot in there, won some and lost some as is always the case I suppose.
When I started making cues I figured that Harley's was the place to be seen, but, I had enough sense to ask Harley first. So one Saturday in the middle of the afternoon,when I figured he would have time to talk I went in and showed him my work. This was my very earliest work, but I guess it was good enough. Harley looked me up and down and then at my work and told me I would could do whatever I wanted in his place. I offered him a percentage, I offered him a flat fee, I offered whatever I could think of, he wouldn't hear of it. He wouldn't and never did take a dime, nice guy.
In the late 80's no one in Jacksonville had a cue lathe except me, no one did cue repair except me. So on Saturday nights Kathie and I would show up at Harley's and get mobbed. We would take over a table in the middle of the room on the busiest night of the week, for free, and return last weeks repairs and take in another week's worth of repair work. Some nights it took and hour to get everything returned and the new work written up. It was amazing then and still is, Harley and I laughed about it again the other night. And yes I did sell more than a few cues in Harley's too.
What does Harley Bryant mean to me....well... without Harley's help I probably wouldn't be a full time cuemaker today, that means a lot !! DP
A few of my current cues http://www.dpcues.com/category/35212772
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Posted by Dale Perry on April 24, 2014 at 11:48 AM under
• 0 commentsWhat Happens When You Order a Custom Made Cue
Well....first we talk...then we usually trade emails...then we talk...we trade ideas...I guide you down the path to the cue you want using my years of experience. But I always keep in mind that we are building the cue you want, not the one I felt like building that day.
You get to pick the colors and the textures, old school design or brand new designs with cutting edge materials, maybe a leather wrap...who knows...you get what you want. I'm just here to help. If we do it right you end up with something special like this.
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Posted by Dale Perry on April 23, 2014 at 10:21 AM under
• 0 comments
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Posted by Dale Perry on April 21, 2014 at 11:43 AM under
• 0 commentsBoxwood Cue
Boxwood grows in Laos which is a very long way from Jacksonville Florida. I bought these pieces in 1996, I only bought 2 pieces so a Boxwood cue never made it into one of my brochures or advertisements . Back then I mostly built cues from my catalogs or brochures and couldn't keep up with that, so things like this Boxwood were sometimes bought and then ignored.
I found these pieces the other day and decided to build a cue, I was pretty amazed when I started cutting this wood, it was like fine grained butter in both color and texture. I've never seen anything quite like it, have a look.
They look dirty on the ends because they came sealed in wax and dust sticks to the wax.
Cored and a cleaning pass to make them round.
A cue is created.
Butt inlays are cut.
Points are cut.
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Finished, see the whole cue here, http://www.dpcues.com/product/EMT
DP
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Posted by Dale Perry on April 18, 2014 at 10:57 AM under
• 0 commentsWhy 14 Point Cues are Special or what is 51.1428
51.1458 is what you get when you divide 360 by 7.
There are 360 degrees in a circle, so if you want to make a 4 point cue you divide by 4 and get 90 degrees, a nice even number. 5 is 72 degrees, 6 is 60 degrees 8 is 45, 10 is 36, all nice even numbers.
We build cues metal working equipment that for the most part works on even numbers. 20 years ago there were no 7 point cues. Then I built a machine could divide a circle in to 51800 parts. That let me accurately divide a circle into 7 parts, suddenly I could build 7 point cues and get this little gap right.
If that little gap between the points is off just a little bit the cue looks really bad. Back then there were maybe 3 guys in the world that could make a 7 point cues.
A customer brought this page from a book that says you can't buy 7 point cues.
See a couple 14 pointer's here: http://www.dpcues.com/category/35212772
DP
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Posted by Dale Perry on April 16, 2014 at 10:35 AM under
• 0 comments
My Best Break Shot
1982-83, Val's Billiards, San Juan Blvd, Jacksonville Fl. table #9 sometime in the evening.
I was playing a walk in for 5 bucks a game, good money back then, it was a game I could easily win so I was free stroking. I made 6 on the break and had 2 hangers, most of the guys I played back them would have just reached for the rack, but no, this guy wasn't a player and waited for me to make the 3 balls.
I missed the ball that was not hanging and didn't get back to the table.
So I made 6 on the break and lost the game...I still have the scar.
DP
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Posted by What's on the walls at DP Custom Cues on April 1, 2014 at 1:50 PM under
• 0 commentsWhat's on the walls at DP Custom Cues
Limited Editon Advertisment
1st and 2nd Limited Edition Ad's, the first one was 1996.
Freedom and my first two brochures
The Rules
Lunch Area
Japanese Magazine Article 1996
Article in the Local Paper
Famous Poster
Another Poster
Door to my Inlay Room
Poster in the Shipping Room
She's In College Now
Another Local Newspaper Article
In the main shop, we don't enough fingers and toes to
do decimals without this chart.
Maybe not, but close
Thanks for looking around at the same wall I see every day.
DP
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