Spalted/Stabilized Black Cherry and Beech with black cherry burl and maple diamonds…

Auction is for BUTT with JOINT PROTECTOR

Interesting things about the cue:

First, true character.

Some people rub you wrong. They’ll say something odd or you’ll catch them with a strange look and you’ll wonder what sort of character you’ve run into. Then after a couple lines about their dog, property rights, or the Constitution, you’ll know there’s nothing wrong. You just ran into a person who doesn’t give a shit how they rub you, and in all, that’s a fine person to know. Because they’re true and you’ll always know where you stand.

This cue’s that person.

The third image shows a whitish area under the finish, up near the pin. This is not a flaw in the finish. Stabilized wood often has different colors than you’d expect popping up. Usually I’ll use a colored pen or mica to make the color match something sassy on the cue. I decided against doing that in this case because I didn’t want the visual interference that random locations and shapes of color would cause, as they would detract from the inlays.

The resulting whitish patch looks out of place amid all the brown, and I had to study it with a magnifying glass to be sure it wasn’t a flaw in the finish. It is not. The underlying wood is white. I’ll spend a whole day refinishing a cue for a real flaw, but not to cover up true character. The white marking stays.

There’s also a bit of unexpected character — black glue lines — around the purple inlays set in black cherry.  It’s interesting… each diamond is perfectly cut, as is each recess the diamonds fit into. In the future I’m going to test other glues to see about getting a cleaner look. When I had the cue in hand, finished, studying the inlays, I didn’t see the glue lines and the purple pops the way I’d hoped. So this is a cue meant to be enjoyed in hand.

What I Love: the gnome on the forearm, the way the black cherry burl diamonds set in dark purple almost makes me feel like I’m looking through windows at the burl, as if under the dark purple it is all black cherry burl. It’s a neat visual effect.

Woods Used: Black cherry, beech, black cherry burl & beech inlays, joint protector: ash, apple, black cherry burl

Collar Material: Tomahawk

Butt Length: 29″ (including bumper)

Butt Weight: 13.2 – 15.2 oz. (drilled and tapped to add up to 2 ounces)

Glue Date: 10/23

Full Core: hickory

Pin: stainless steel 3/8-10 pin

Collar Diameter: .84″

Butt Diameter: 1.275″

A word about shafts:

I build shafts out of ten species and carbon fiber. My advice is this: if you have a shaft you love to use, buy this butt to match that shaft. If you’ve heard of a famous shaft that you’d like to try, buy that shaft to match this butt.

However, if you’re into the art of it and want to have fun, try something new, and make your Character Cue fully badass, consider one of my ten species or carbon fiber with a like-wood decorative ring.

Read about the different species here: https://charactercues.com/comparing-10-shaft-wood-species/

Shafts: (with decorative like-wood ring)

• Carbon Fiber — $450
• Purple Heart — $400
• Maple — $350
• Birch — $350
• White Oak — $350
• Cherry — $350
• Walnut — $350
• Sassafras — $350
• Ash — $350
• Hickory — $350
• Black Locust — $350

Like Wood Joint Protector: $75 each

Like-Build Extensions:

3 -6″ — $250
7 – 12″ — $300

To add a shaft, joint protector or extension, please email me at Clayton@CharacterCues.com.

I’ll set this page up to reflect the cue as you want to purchase it, and password protect it for you until you do so.