What is up with this cue?

[willtyson]

Hi guys, another ebay find: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ANTIQUE-PE...#ht_500wt_1287

Wondered if anyone knew what on earth is up with the butt of this cue! :snooker:

[Acrowot]

If you read the advert, then you will know what it is. The butt has a cork covering on it. You can clearly see it is cork. Suppose it is to stop the cue slipping ..... just one of those things!

[willtyson]

I had seen it was cork, but I have never seen a cork butted cue before. I was wondering if anyone could shed any light on why they would do that and if it's only seen in older cues or if makers still make cues like this today? Wouldn't the cork break quite easily if you were to knock it as well? Thanks for the reply Acrowot :snooker:

[poolqjunkie]

It is still used today by some US makers but not very popular. The idea is that cork can absorb sweat and also provides friction.
The cork can be wrapped in two ways as far as I know--one is done like a tennis racket handle, and the other way is to wrap and glue a single piece of cork around the cue. Since the cork wrap will be glued on the wood on the handle, as long as the glue is intact it should not just break. But it may chip off especially if it is too dry. If you knock it it may help to absord some impact and protect the wood underneath.
You can also dye the cork wrap if you like. For example you can dye it to brown or even black to match the wood on the butt of your cue.
From the pictures it looks like the seam of the wrap is right in the front where the badge is. To make the wrap level with the cue an indentation needs to be cut to account for the thickness of the cork. I would imagine the cork in the old days came in thicker pieces than the cork wrap cut by the more advanced technology today so the undergrove might be quite deep.
I have seen a snooker cue with a crok wrap and it was made by a Canadian snooker maker called Glen Sullivan who passed away many years ago. This wrap was done like the wrap on a tennis racket. I have seen quite a few US pool cues with a cork wrap but they were all done with a single piece of cork wrapped around the butt.
I am not sure how this one is done as the wrap is also covering the wrap which is quite interesting.
Because the butt of a cue is conical, not cylindrical, to cut the wrap to sized the top and bottom ends need to be curved. If the ends are not cut precisely the seam will not close precisely when the wrp is put on the cue.
You will not have this problem if you wrap the cork like a tennis handle but with this method you cannot hide the seam. A good cue maker can hide the seam and make it almost invisible when he wraps a single piece of cork on the handle.

[willtyson]

Very interesting post! Didn't know anything about that before :snooker:

[jim evans]

hi will thurstons made some of them i have 1 in my collection early 1900 i beleive they were first made

[willtyson]

hi will thurstons made some of them i have 1 in my collection early 1900 i beleive they were first made

Nice, did they make many? How much would you say that cue would be worth? :snooker:

[poolqjunkie]

hi will thurstons made some of them i have 1 in my collection early 1900 i beleive they were first made

How is the wrap holding up after all these years?
Any chip off the cork?
Just wondering how they wrap the cork on the flat and then do the badge...Do you have any pictures, please?

[jim evans]

here you are airin not that good but i supose after 100yrs jpg[/IMG]as you can see a crack some chips out tried to show the seam

[willtyson]

It doesn't look it that bad condition, is it badged ? :snooker:

[jim evans]

hi will yes its badgedits got the leather pad on base which was used for long shots in the 1900

[willtyson]

After a little detective work I was able to find this, which looks a little like yours Jim: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140684522260#ht_500wt_1287

[jim evans]

they moved to catherine st london in 1814 dont know when they moved to leicester square 100 upper might know that,just found it they moved to leicester square 1901 and catherine st was demolished so my cue predates 1900

[willtyson]

Yeah, I imagine it was later? :snooker: