MIKE DURBIN
FOUR POINT
ROSEWOOD AND CURLY MAPLE
WITH OVERLAPPING BOXES,
BRIDGED POINT, COPPER RINGS
AND SNAKEWOOD INLAYS
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Here's a real beauty of a cue by a cuemaker whose work is in high demand - Mike Durbin of Illinois. His cues are used by some of the top players in the country, and for good reason. They look good, and play even better.
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This one came out of a private collection, so although it is not new, it's close to it. I can see no sign of it ever being played. It is in mint condition. It is a four point design, with a butt sleeve and points of rosewood going into a beautiful curly maple nose, with inlays of snakewood in the butt sleeve.
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One of Mike's often-used designs is the overlapping boxes inlay pattern in the butt sleeve. Most cuemakers don't do it often - if at all - because it is time-consuming and difficult to do. But Mike does it frequently, and well.
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In this case, he uses snakewood in the boxes, with a really pretty veneer pattern surrounding each box. Although the veneer colors are heavy black, thin white, heavy red, thin white and again heavy black, the dominant color shows as red. All appear to be separated with black paper. He then uses the same veneers to frame the points.
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In the base of each point, and in each of the four large boxes in the butt sleeve, he inlays a white elforyn pattern consisting of two spearheads, pointing in opposing directions, with a very stylized "x" in between.
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To add to the great look of this cue, he uses veneers to bridge the points, and to great effect. Again, something that takes extra time and work, and is not done in most cues.
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He adds a complex copper ring pattern at all locations - at the butt cap, above and below the wrap, at the joint, and on the ring collars of the shafts. These are difficult to build, and especially, to polish so that they show well when finished. And finally, wraps the handle with a beautiful brown elephant ear wrap, that complements the copper perfectly.
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In the picture above, you get to appreciate the full impact of all this work. The striking effect of the veneers, the beautiful snakewood, and the overall effect of all this work together.
In the picture below, you can again see the beauty of the veneer work, and the very pretty effect created by the curly maple.
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These veneers are all tight and sharp, accentuated by the use of black paper between the various layers. Again, extra work for the cuemaker, but well worth the effort.
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To counter-balance the white butt cap, he uses elforyn for the joint as well. And with the copper rings, it looks great.
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The points are long, sharp and even.
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He includes a nice set of joint protectors made from ebony and maple, each with a single copper ring.
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He builds it with his standard 3/8X11 steel pin in a flat-faced joint. This cue is 58 inches long and weighs 19 ounces (Butt: 15.3, shafts 3.7). It comes with two of his premium maple 13mm shafts with elforyn ferrules and Triangle tips.
This is a really sharp looking cue with lots of value-added features - snakewood, bridged points, copper ringwork, special joint protectors (added at a cost of $300), AND a custom built 8 inch ebony extension by Durbin. And all from a cuemaker who has a long waiting list for new orders, with very few of his sticks available on the secondary market.
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PRICE
$3650 PLUS SHIPPING
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