TIM PRINCE
BIRDSEYE MAPLE
WITH EIGHT EBONY POINTS
AND ELABORATE INLAYS
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Here is another amazing cue from master cuemaker Tim Prince of the Chicago area. Tim is a career tool and die maker and an expert machinist, and his work has always been meticulous and very tight. However, in recent years he has grown from being a highly skilled machinist into a skilled cue builder and true artist. This cue is an example of the kind of find work he's doing these days.
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Tim's inlay work is very distinctive and easily recognized. He is an expert at taking lots of small, delicate pieces and building them into full designs - letting your brain form the larger images.
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There is over 300 inlays in this butt sleeve alone. The slots and individual pieces are cut by machine, but each is ultimately put in place and individually glued by hand. The time alone put into this cue is hard to imagine.
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It's an eight point cue - four long, four short - all of veneered ebony into a birdseye maple forearm.
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The butt sleeve is ebony loaded up big-time with copper and silver inlay.
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All the work - from the clean veneers to the finely detailed inlays - is meticulously completed. Every detail is perfect.
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One of the things I love about the design of this cue and several others he's built lately is the way he bridges the short points and then lays them over the long points - the opposite of the way they're traditionally built and something hardly anybody ever does. It makes for a very unique look.
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In each of the short points he inlays one white LBM spearhead, and puts two in each long point. He also uses the same white spearhead shapes in the butt sleeve.
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The veneer colors are also unique -black, orange, purple, orange and finally natural maple next to the ebony points. They blend together with striking effect.
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Here's another look at the intricately laid inlay pattern in the butt sleeve - truly unique and dazzling to behold.
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As much as I've been impressed by the craftsmanship and designs of Tim's cues, I'm equally taken with their hit and playability. They hit firm and solid and have great balance.
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His points are long, sharp and even. And his ring patterns are always exquisite and extremely detailed. In this cue they are formed from curved pieces of copper and silver surrounding small white LBM crosses, or notched diamonds. And, there are six sets of these throughout the cue.
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He uses a nicely peppled piece of black leather for the wrap. It feels good and has nice grip, and, it looks great.
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He builds it with his standard 3/8 X10 steel pin in a flat-faced joint. It weighs either 18.9 or 19.5 ounces depending on which shaft is used. The butt weighs 15.5 ounces, one shaft weighs 3.4 and the other is 4.0. It is 58 inches long. It comes with two of his premium maple 13mm shafts with Sabre-T ferrules (which play great and are very stain resistant) and Ultraskin tips.
This is beautiful cue that hits a ton and will make someone a terrific playing cue.
PRICE: $6750 plus shipping
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