Is Robert Osborne Right?

[jonnybeast]

Good on him for selling his cues in bulk. Who wants to work forever?

[arbitrage]

How much is he trying to sell them for ?

in HK, they are priced at HK$4200-4700 retail for the cues in the pics, no exts included. exchange rate is 1 pound = 12.6 HK$. apparently, he is only selling to trade agents too.

[Deepscrew]

Www.auldandjones.com

Not sure where the jones part came from, must have an apprentice. Usual uk prices on there though.

[jim evans]

if kieth had a good name before when did his cues start too be not as good ,i know some of you have had cues off him and made by him so what went wrong

[arbitrage]

Www.auldandjones.com

Not sure where the jones part came from, must have an apprentice. Usual uk prices on there though.

But now, thanks to a chance meeting with old friend Bob Jones in Park Gate Royal British Legion, Auld has set up shop again in a fully fitted out wooden Nissen Hut heated by a log-burning stove just round the corner from his home in Locks Heath.

Jones, a keen wood turner, offered Auld the use of his workshop. Keith Auld said he was "absolutely amazed" when he saw it. It's fitted out to the gunwales," he explained. "It's bigger and better than any workshop I've ever had in my life. "That joy countered the feeling of horror and disgust when I gave it up. I'm making cues better than I've ever done. "He said 'Keith, you can have it for as long as you like'. "He's a gem. I've made him a cue as a 'thank you'."

[poolqjunkie]

auld has jumped onto the china express too.

How is our old friend Keith doing so far on the China Express?:-)
I seem to recall when he first came to the forum he mentioned that he was doing a lot of business with customers from the Far East and that was almost three years ago.

[arbitrage]

How is our old friend Keith doing so far on the China Express?:-)
I seem to recall when he first came to the forum he mentioned that he was doing a lot of business with customers from the Far East and that was almost three years ago.

not too sure, but i haven't seen many of his cues around either in primary or secondary market. i think he just started the partnership with jones not too long ago so i assume this is one of the 1st batches under "auld & jones".

[trevs1]

if kieth had a good name before when did his cues start too be not as good ,i know some of you have had cues off him and made by him so what went wrong

No one knows whether Keith had a good name before Jim, it was Keith who told eveyone that he did when he first posted here.

When he initially came along to this forum, he was pleasant enough, and appeared helpful and willing to offer advice and support to people. However, that soon changed once anything he said was questioned, and in no time it turned into a really nasty little spat.
There were those who he seemed to aim his comments at more than others, but eventually he did turn some of that attention towards me, and fabricated all sorts of assumed garbage over what equipment I used to build the cues I produce, such as CNC machinery etc. If only he knew just how agricultural my gear is, and what level of hand work it involves, he'd realise what a fool he was.

He did send some cues to a dealer I also supplied a few cues to in the far east, and of the first batch he ever sent there, all but one of them were returned. This dealer actually called me to ask my opinion on what he should do, as he felt the quality was so poor. I advised him to return them. The thing is though, by mistake, he sent them to my address and not to Keith. Obviously, when I received these cues I opened them believing them to be for me, as every other package delivered here is. What I saw after opening these was a bit of a surprise, as they all had Keith's name badges. It was very interesting to see what the standard of quality was from this self professed "master craftsman". Let's just say they weren't great. I took some pics of these cues to send to someone who was very keen to see his work, and, who was aware of this mistaken delivery episode. I still have these images.

We heard that Keith was ill some time later, and he disappeared off the radar completley it would seem.

I never had any personal issue with Keith, but, the way he got over a number of things was astonishing. Some of his anger I could understand, though he did kind of set himself up for a lot of that by going on about how magnificent he was as a cue maker. Personally, I think anyone who answers or responds in an agressive manner needs to be treated with caution, because there's usually something behind it they do not want you to know. whether that's true of Keith I couldn't say, but it was an ugly time here for sure.

[jim evans]

cheers trev thought people on forum had been dealing with kieth for a good number of years not just a few

[Neil Taperell]

I bought a cue from him when he had a shop in Wimbledon about 22 years ago . My first handmade cue . I liked it and it played ok .

[poolqjunkie]

Keith Auld is supposed to be one of the first cue makers making custom cues in the UK in the early 80's, according to him. Unfortunately, I have never heard of him until he started posting here on TSF and do not really know anything about him until then.
According to him, he taught Robert Osborne how to make cues. He also said at one point he was invited to the Far East to give classes on cue making. Whether that really happened I do not know.

[Neil Taperell]

Keith Auld is supposed to be one of the first cue makers making custom cues in the UK in the early 80's, according to him. Unfortunately, I have never heard of him until he started posting here on TSF and do not really know anything about him until then.
According to him, he taught Robert Osborne how to make cues. He also said at one point he was invited to the Far East to give classes on cue making. Whether that really happened I do not know.

Robert worked with him for only 3 months !! Not quite enough time to teach him how to make a cue Robert told me that he hardly learnt anything from Keith .

[poolqjunkie]

In the early 80s there were not that many custom cue makers, is that right?
Probably just Keith Auld, Will Hunt, then John Parris...may be Garrison as well?
What was it like back then?

[old school]

You could add Michael Dunham ( Classic Custom Cues) early 80s , Dave Brown ( Craftsman) 1985ish and Andy Gibbs .est 1984, Tony Wilshaw 1985 .Apologies to anyone I missed ( MW when did you start ? ). oops nearly forgot Robin have been making cues for over 30yrs, that puts him in the 80s, sorry.

[poolqjunkie]

Thanks for the info, old school. Appreciate it. Yes, i forgot about Classic Custom Cue,:-)
I do not know Craftsman has been around that long. Was Dave trading under the Craftsman name already...in the 80s?
Wonder how long Dave Coutts been making cues, was it in the 80's as well, or later?
Anyway, if my memories serve me correctly, Keith Auld mentioned that he was the only one besides Willl Hunt who was making cues at one time (or may be he mentioned John Parris but I am not sure). The reason why I remember him saying that was because I was quite amused to read him saying when Jimmy White was looking for a 3/4 cue in the 80's Keith only had one piece cues in stock but luckily for Will Hunt there happened to be one in his shop, then Keith went on to say if he had a 3/4 cue back in the days he would have been as famous as Will Hunt--or something to that effect.
It also lead me to wonder if Hunt was the first one to make 3/4. It was later pointed out to me that probably Hunt was not. Classic Custom probably had it before Hunt.
In a youtube video I saw Jimmy playing with a cue with a joint that looked almost identical to the white maple joint used by Classic Custom cues. I have always wanted to know if that was indeed a Classic Custom Cue.
Anyway...really going off topic here, sorry:-)