Butt & Joint Protector: $775

I made my second limited edition batch in response to a request that I do more out of non-dyed stabilized wood. All of the Beatitudes butts began as a single piece of spalted wood long enough to be both a forearm and butt sleeve. Some were long enough to also offer an extension as an add on, if wanted. The Beatitudes Limited Edition have product numbers from LE149 to LE156. The grain in each contiguous piece is aligned even when the pieces are not contiguous, as when there is a ring set or handle in between. All of the designs were dictated by the wood itself, as my cuts were placed where I could get the straightest sections to work with.

Woods used in the batch: Oak, maple, apple, walnut, yellow birch, black birch burl, black cherry red rot, and of course, all on shagbark hickory cores. I harvest rotting wood from around where I live in western PA, dry it to zero percent humidity, and stabilize with Cactus Juice resin. The resulting material is significantly more dense than the original wood was — that’s why I can use a soft wood like walnut or cherry and have it produce a hit like hard maple or some other dense wood.

BLESSED IS THE PURE features the very interesting-to-me yellow birch paired with black birch burl. The rings are white Tomahawk — the only butt of the bunch.

Why is yellow birch interesting to me? The knots seem to always have flashes of gold, like banners or sashes in the breeze. The gold on this one is more like electric.  There also tends to be a flecking effect visible under a finish. Some of that is evident on the butt sleeve. The images show one coat of thin CA to bring out the color. Once the butt is turned to final size, sanded, and coated with 2 coats of thin CA and 25 coats of medium, those flecks will offer a sense of depth.

I used epoxy to glue the butt instead of my normal Gorilla Glue. The burl section had a miraculous blowout while I was coring it. A big chunk blasted out the center. It was so bad I had a hard time extracting it from the lathe. But black birch is a mighty wood. The burl section held together, except the part that obviously didn’t. I flipped it around, cored it from the other end and had a handle. I used epoxy because I found a brand I love that has super strong bonds and mixes thick. That enabled me to pack the burl section with epoxy — more than I thought. I didn’t plan on this being the last fill, only the first, and it’s a good thing because I didn’t put in nearly enough white mica. I’ll end up digging some out with a Dremel and refilling with pure dazzling white epoxy before finishing.

–Clayton

PS… Want to add the best wood shaft on the planet to your order? I’m on a quest to build the best low deflection wood shaft on planet earth. Check out my reasoning and progress here… and maybe grab one of the first 30 along with a prototype shaft for testing and feedback: https://charactercues.com/product/black-burchowdy/

Monthly payments. No interest. No automatic bank draft.

Woods Used: Spalted & Stabilized Hormtown Yellow Birch, Black Birch Burl

Butt Length: 30″

Core: Shagbark Hickory (firm hit)

Collars: White Tomahawk

Probable full cue natural weight: 18-19 oz.

Pin: 3/8-10 mod; radial, or QR

Glue Date: 6/19/25

Earliest Finish Date: 1/26

CAFETERIA STYLE: email me at Clayton@charactercues.com if you’d like to purchase this butt with any of the following. I’ll protect the page for you and change the listing and price to include the items you’d like to purchase. To discuss on the phone, email first. 🙂

Butt $700

Carbon Fiber Shaft $450 

Purple Heart Shaft: $400

Wood shaft: (any species, w/ matching ring) $350

• Maple
• Birch
• Ash
• Sassafras
• Walnut
• White Oak
• Hickory
• Honey Locust
• Beech
• Cherry

Matching wood joint protectors: $75 each

Extensions:

• 3-6″ Simple: $250
• 7-12″ Simple: $300
• 3-6″ Like-Design: $450
• 7-12″ Like-Design: $500