I was brought
up in Brigeport, Connecticut. I started playing pool in my early
teens but at that time I never took it seriously. After high school
and college, I started working as a machinist in a large corporation
in Connecticut that made medical products. I started to play pool
again but I needed a cue. I went out and bought my first two-piece
cue stick. Some of the players on my team had joint protectors made
of plastic on their sticks. I had an idea to make fancier joint
protectors made of aluminum. The next day I went to work and wrote
a program to make fancier joint protectors out of aluminum, and
began making them on a C.N.C. lathe. Well, these joint protectors
came out so good that the pool league players began placing orders
for them. Then I received requests from local pool rooms to display
them in their showcases. Soon, I purchased a small lathe, made some
modifications to it, and began doing some cue repairs. After about
three years of doing repairs, things were going so well that I experimented
with making shafts.
In 1995, my
family and I moved to New York (Rockland County). In my first week
in Rockland County, I did some research and made a list of all of
the local pool rooms. I visited each of the four local pool rooms,
and three of them needed immediate repairs service, and immediately
gave me some cue repair work. About a year later, one of the pool
hall owners asked me to make him a custom cue. I did some research,
ordered some bird's-eye wood and started to make a couple of cues
with rings and stitching. These cues turned out great and were well
liked by many of the local pool players. I guess you can say that
this is how my cue business began.
At first, I
started selling simple cues. Then I purchased some more machines,
and began taking custom cue orders - based on design, color, inlay,
etc. Everything on the cues I build is made by me except the tip
and rubber bumper. I also like to use exotic woods for the forearm
such as coco bolo, ebony, rosewood, bicote, etc. I feel that with
the density and hardness of these woods, you really get a solid
hit and feel. One thing I do different than most other cuemakers
is that I use different metals to make the collars, pins, and other
components so that you will always have a perfect balance without
taking anything out of the woods. For example, if you order a cue
with ebony and ivory points, you will get a solid ebony forearm.
My cue finish is a 2 part DuPont clear coat. My standard wraps are
made with Irish linen. Shafts are made of a rock hard maple that
takes up to six months to cut. Currently my standard ferrules are
linen based with LePro tips. I am in the process of doing some research
on some different materials for new types of ferrules. That's the
way I am -- constantly doing research to make the best cue for the
money - both in appearance and gameplay/hit.