handmade ??? probably not !!!

[itx]

Yeah...........bet you don't Trev!!!

[perpetualboredom]

What a ridiculous statement!!! It is natural for 1 of the determining factors when deciding a price for any product would be the cost in producing it. The value of the cue will be determined by the cost of materials and labour so a cue made in England will obviously cost more than a cue made in Thailand. My dad is from Afghanistan and my mum is from England so I have seen and suffered a lot of racism so I find your statement above not only ridiculous but also a bit insulting personally. There is a lot of racism around the world including on this forum but valuing a cue on where its made is not racist at all in any sense of the word

Rob - the cost of producing anything has little/any impact on it's value. I wasn't planning to have a debate on economic principals... but if it cost ford £30k to produce a Fiesta would you buy it?

Point being people talking about "thai" cues.. so if Trevor was in Thailand making these cues they'd still have less value? But if a Thai gent was in the UK producing UK cues these cues they'd be more valuable? Where an item was made shouldn't make any difference, it's either good, bad, indifferent, or whatever. My point in that people who make the decision that instantly something made in the UK is better, or something made in Thailand is inferior are either 'snobs' or have some kind of prejudice - you really can't argue any other reason for it.

[Terry Davidson]

Not sure I understand any of this so I must be dense. I have bought AT cues and they appear to be well made and the price is lower than other cuemakers. However, it does appear from the badge which says 'handmade' and then 'Sheffield' that the inference is they are handmade in Sheffield?

Than again I have ordered custom cues from both MW and DC. I paid 800+ for both of them with extensions. I know the DC cue was made entirely from a square block of ash as Dave sent me many pics showing the progress of the cue, one of them being with 8 sides and one of them being the raw shaft.

I didn't get anything like that from MW but I assumed as Mike has a workshop and a helper that his custom cues are all 100% handmade in his workshop but I don't know this for certain and I have been told Mike used blanks from Thailand. If this is so then I feel I overpaid for my MW cue but not for my DC cue.

Is that not the case?

Terry

[Dave Walton]

If its because the splice lengths look short compared to the ebony square around the sd joint is may be the camera angle that looks deceiving? Very hard to tell from this pic i would have thought?

Look at the splices, short and spliced top and bottom first as Dave Coutts mentioned earlier are signs of Thai cues.

[Maxsys]

there is basicaly a way of proving without doubt if a cue is a thai cue or not, but sorry to tell you this guys it involves planing out a whole splice of the origional ebony, something that is difficult to replace perfectly because of the way they are put together !

i am willing, at a cost to myself to chop up this cue, and show the results with a diagram to explain what im saying, but realy that would put me to an even lower low that i am already

Do it, one way or tother this needs to be sorted for all, you have made your bed lie in it.

[crispian jones]

Do it, one way or tother this needs to be sorted for all, you have made your bed lie in it.

ive made my bed lie in it ? what the heck have i been doing here you muppet ! you not started the "is crispian a cu@t thread yet"

[RogiBear]

Rob - the cost of producing anything has little/any impact on it's value. I wasn't planning to have a debate on economic principals... but if it cost ford £30k to produce a Fiesta would you buy it?

Point being people talking about "thai" cues.. so if Trevor was in Thailand making these cues they'd still have less value? But if a Thai gent was in the UK producing UK cues these cues they'd be more valuable? Where an item was made shouldn't make any difference, it's either good, bad, indifferent, or whatever. My point in that people who make the decision that instantly something made in the UK is better, or something made in Thailand is inferior are either 'snobs' or have some kind of prejudice - you really can't argue any other reason for it.

I have to say I don't fully agree with this. In this case wages are far less in Thailand than in the uk so why shouldn't they pass those savings on? Ie uk cues should cost more purely down to the wage for the cue maker

[Neil Taperell]

I have to say I don't fully agree with this. In this case wages are far less in Thailand than in the uk so why shouldn't they pass those savings on? Ie uk cues should cost more purely down to the wage for the cue maker

Or due to the lack of quality ash .

[throtts]

ive made my bed lie in it ? what the heck have i been doing here you muppet ! you not started the "is crispian a cu@t thread yet"

Haha,, " muppet ".

I think I will knock up me own stick in future. I will post pics...

[Dave Walton]

What a ridiculous statement!!! It is natural for 1 of the determining factors when deciding a price for any product would be the cost in producing it. The value of the cue will be determined by the cost of materials and labour so a cue made in England will obviously cost more than a cue made in Thailand. My dad is from Afghanistan and my mum is from England so I have seen and suffered a lot of racism so I find your statement above not only ridiculous but also a bit insulting personally. There is a lot of racism around the world including on this forum but valuing a cue on where its made is not racist at all in any sense of the word

Rob - the cost of producing anything has little/any impact on it's value. I wasn't planning to have a debate on economic principals... but if it cost ford £30k to produce a Fiesta would you buy it?

Point being people talking about "thai" cues.. so if Trevor was in Thailand making these cues they'd still have less value? But if a Thai gent was in the UK producing UK cues these cues they'd be more valuable? Where an item was made shouldn't make any difference, it's either good, bad, indifferent, or whatever. My point in that people who make the decision that instantly something made in the UK is better, or something made in Thailand is inferior are either 'snobs' or have some kind of prejudice - you really can't argue any other reason for it.

Id argue that if I wanted a quality built car id buy German, a watch id buy swiss, and a cue UK, nothing to do with prejudice, simply because in general the makers have more experience and put out a better quality product. If for example Trevor moved to Thailand and started sourcing his materials there and making his cues there I would expect his prices to drop as it wouldn't cost as much to do there as it will for him in Wales, however you'd still be paying for his skill so I suppose he'd be within his rights to keep his prices as they are and make a larger profit

[Terry Davidson]

Hey, this is getting ugly.

I believe that the British cuemakers who make their own cues entirely by hand produce a superior product and I'm willing to pay more for that superior product.

Nothing inherently wrong with Thai cues and their prices reflect that.

What pisses me off is if I pay a higher price for that better British workmanship but end up getting a Thai cue which was just finished in Britain and I believe I've been lied to in order to get me to pay that higher price. That is not bigoted, or at least I don't think it is.

Terry

[Maxsys]

ive made my bed lie in it ? what the heck have i been doing here you muppet ! you not started the "is crispian a cu@t thread yet"

Muppet? You don't even know me so grow up. I have not insulted you once, however you think its fine to insult me. You started this so either provide the proof that what you say is true, or go and make some cues, all this teetering around the edge is boring.

[throtts]

Hey, this is getting ugly.

I believe that the British cuemakers who make their own cues entirely by hand produce a superior product and I'm willing to pay more for that superior product.

Nothing inherently wrong with Thai cues and their prices reflect that.

What pisses me off is if I pay a higher price for that better British workmanship but end up getting a Thai cue which was just finished in Britain and I believe I've been lied to in order to get me to pay that higher price. That is not bigoted, or at least I don't think it is.

Terry

This could end up opening a big can of worms, Terry.

[crispian jones]

Muppet? You don't even know me so grow up. I have not insulted you once, however you think its fine to insult me. You started this so either provide the proof that what you say is true, or go and make some cues, all this teetering around the edge is boring.

it was sarcasm mate did i not sugest you started the thread yesturday ?

[Dave Walton]

Hey, this is getting ugly.

I believe that the British cuemakers who make their own cues entirely by hand produce a superior product and I'm willing to pay more for that superior product.

Nothing inherently wrong with Thai cues and their prices reflect that.

What pisses me off is if I pay a higher price for that better British workmanship but end up getting a Thai cue which was just finished in Britain and I believe I've been lied to in order to get me to pay that higher price. That is not bigoted, or at least I don't think it is.

Terry

Not bigoted at all mate