Could anyone please tell me about Will Hunt

[poolqjunkie]

I would like to know more about Will Hunt, and his relationship with Robert Osbourn.
There were Will Hunt cues, Hunt and O'Bryne, then now Hunt and Osbourn. What is the story behind these various partnerships? He is the only one I know who has all these different names.
I also see green plate, red plate, black plate and such with Will Hunt's cues. I can understand that the black plate is supposed to be the best of his work, and the red plate is inferior than the green plater and the black plate; unfortunately, I cannot really comprehand the difference(s) in quality since there are four levels--just exactly how much difference is there? Are they all supposed to be built by him, or does he only build the black and green plate? Are they all supposed to be built with the same spec, or do the black and green plate supposed to play better...
Does an older Will Hunt usually go for more than a Hunt and Osbourn because they were discontinued? But then they were both built by him with just a different partnership, isn't it?
I am sorry I am just simply really confused. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[dollarm360]

There was an intresting article about thier partnership and making tables back in the days . I know they changed the name of thier company ect , Dont know the details but will try to find them

[The Doctor]

Right let me try and explain. I know both Will and Robert very well so i know the history.
First it was Hunt & O'Byrne, who made cues in late eighties early nineties. That company went bankrupt because they could not sustain a lease on a shop in Elephant and Castle.
After this, Will made some cues himself, hence Will Hunt cues, unfortunately Will has a lot of trouble with his back and was forced to stop making cues for a while.
Robert Osbourne Worked for Hunt & O'Byrne for a time and then started to make his own cues when they went out of business.
After a while Will started to help Robert out in his workshop under Robert Osborne Cues. Now though it is a partnership and only they both work for the company and are the only ones who make any of their cues.
The difference in cues is as follows.
Red plate cues are pre-turned and hand finished with specially selected timbers(as you can see on the website)
Green plate cues are Totally hand made from a square piece of timber and are all hand planed to specification.
Black plate cues are as Green plate, but buyer can specify grain pattern and type of arrows. and are the very finest hand selected timbers. I.E. blemish free maple and evenly spaced and straightest grain ash.
The difference in Green and Black plate cues are probably the same as a Parris Traditional and an Ultimate that looks like a Traditional(Ronnies cue)
I hope this helps.

[Cyril]

Good post mate.

[bongo]

Do/did they have a website?

[gingerale]

http://www.robertosbornecues.com/uk/

[The Doctor]

No bother.
No O'Byrne refers to a Mr J. O'Byrne who was the partner of will hunt. not 100% sure but i think he moved to stay in Australia.

[ADR147]

No bother.
No O'Byrne refers to a Mr J. O'Byrne who was the partner of will hunt. not 100% sure but i think he moved to stay in Australia.

i believe so - but he was the backer rather than the cue maker i think.

[ch147]

As a general collector of modern cues, I picked up an old Red-Plate 2-piece centre joint Hunt and O'Byrne which is about 25 years old. I was aware it was the "lower end" of the H&OB quality spectrum but wanted the name in my collection anyway. I have to say the cue plays absolutely fantastic and has become a bit of a favourite of mine after I knocked in a 70 break with it after about half a dozen games with it. It's confusing but funny that my fully specced Parris Professional 3/4 hand-spliced suddenly does not feel quite as good as this old machine-spliced thing. Just goes to show I suppose that H&OB are definitely quality, plus you never know what might suit you till you try.....