Billiards Speak

This cue is completed. Click here to look at this cue.   Serial Number SN-TS085 is part of the Tiger Shark series. Click here to see about the series. This cue is made with solid core construction. Click here to see why this cue is different. The butt sleeve and forearm are Macassar ebony. The ringwork consists of a yellow trim ring, an ebony ring with 24 maple stitches in it, followed by the last yellow ring. The butt cap is Delrin. Delrin was the typical butt cap used by cuemakers like George Balabushka and Gus Szamboti. Delrin doesn’t require a finish so the butt cap won’t chip. The joint collars are double black linen phenolic.

The sharks and the Gaboon Ebony backgrounds are all inlaid. The 2 Tiger Shark inlays in the butt are made of Elk Antler. No Elk were harmed for the making of the cue. The Antler was shed. The 2 Tiger Shark inlays in the forearm are made from figured Bubinga. The Tiger Shark inlays are engraved with detail markings. It comes with one 13mm RAVEN tapered hard rock maple shaft and one 14mm RAVEN tapered Ash shaft. Ash isn’t commonly used for American Pool cues shafts but it is the shaft wood of choice for British Snooker cues. The wrap is black textured leather.

Serial number 00033 has been sold.  Look at SN-33 This cue was originally built with a purpleheart handle. Althought quite solid, it was on the heavy side so it has been rebuilt on a solid laminated core. The original forearm and butt sleeve were used in the new construction. Serial number 00033 is very ornate. It has a total of 66 inlays of genuine elephant ivory and web turquoise in a 3, 6, 9 pattern to create a unique character. It features a highly figured Canadian curly maple forearm with a Gaboon ebony butt sleeve. The forearm has been stained brown to highlight the beauty of the wood. The 4 floating points are also Gaboon ebony. Each point is detailed with 9 rectangular web turquoise inlays. The center of the butt sleeve has 3 alternating differentiated ‘augmented diamonds’ of ivory and web turquoise. The upper and lower butt sleeve contains 6 horseshoe shaped inlays of ivory and 6 of turquoise that are interwoven. The butt has matching nickel silver rings throughout and a double black linen joint collar and butt cap. The stitch rings contain 60 dashes of silver and 60 rectangles of maple. The handle has been wrapped with a black baby gator pattern leather. It comes with 2 RAVEN tapered ‘Old Growth’ hard rock maple shafts with matching ring work.