The following post was “borrowed” from the great pool magazine
On The Break

It deals with treating people as we would like to be treated. The golden rule. Written by room owner Craig Rittel we think that he espouses a worthy sentiment and agree wholeheartedly that one should practice these basic manners when playing pool and in life.

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A Common Subject that Greatly Effects the Game We All Love
(January Issue 2004)

Hello, this month let lets take a look at a subject that many times gives our sport a black eye in the eyes of the general public, and also in the eyes of new league players and that is a lack of Etiquette while participating in pocket billiards. Our sport and especially league play should be serious, but also something that is enjoyed beyond just winning matches and trophies. I truly think the average league player uses their time during league play as a form of stress relief, and relaxation after a hard days work. Keeping this in mind, these same people do not want to deal with un-conscience or conscience negative behavior, poor sportsmanship, or bad habits that effect fair play.

Lets start with the obvious, what is difficult about being courteous to your opponent and your opponent’s team. When another team comes to local establishment for league play, they should be treated as guests. This simply means treat others, as you want to be treated. Make the other team feel at home, help keep the noise down during play, help stop other patrons not involved in league play from becoming a problem and from getting in the way. Be fair while winning a match is very important, winning by intimidation from patrons either observing or playing during league play is un-acceptable and should not be tolerated by league operators or by team captains. A good example of this occurred recently during league play here in Washington State. A player from an opposing team was asked not to smoke a cigar because it was making another player sick. The players reaction to this was to not only continue to smoke his cigar, but to act as if it was a joke and to antagonize the situation further by intentionally blowing smoke in the direction of the other player. What did he have gain by this behavior? Additionally how was this situation perceived by others on both teams? Last how should conduct unbecoming be treated by and why are no actions taken by league operators against individuals and teams who behave in this manner on a frequent basis.

Below are listed some of the more common actions that show poor etiquette during play.
1. Spitting in the chalk
2. Placing the chalk upside down on the table or creating a mess on the table by other means.
3. Removing the chalk form your cue tip on the floor or furniture at your local establishment.
4. Standing at the Table and chalking your cue when it is your opponents shot.
5. Walking away from the table with house chalk when your time at the table is over.
6. Placing items on the table such as drinks, food, or your backside.
7. Standing near the table when it is no longer your shot or intentionally standing and making movements in your opponent’s line of aim.
8. Consciously trying to distract your opponent, by noise, by talking to them, or by other means designed to break their concentration during play.
9. Intentionally being late for your match
10. Sand bagging
11. Intentionally causing damage to house equipment, pool tables, racks, cue sticks and other items provided by the establishment owner.
12. Any form of unsporting behavior, such as, slamming the rack down on the table, throwing things, foul language due to a miss or a loss, or intentionally antagonizing other players either through intimidation or unprofessional behavior.

In closing, I think most players want an environment where they feel comfortable and where they can enjoy this sport. I also think that league operators should take a closer look at policing league play. If these behaviors are truly made unacceptable and actions are taken to deter unprofessional behavior things can change. All players have to do to make this happen is band together and make you voices heard, there is definitely strength in numbers and numbers are on your side.

Please have a wonderful Christmas and an even better New Year!!!!!!!!!!!! And keep your stroke in tune.

Last, anyone who has additional information regarding this subject can contact me at manwon@comcast.net or at 1-253-512-6898 from 9am until 7:30pm M-F or from 11am until 7pm Sat.

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Manwon, Craig Rittel, can be found most days posting on the forum at www.azbilliards.com where he is an example to us all.

In an attempt to get to a more positive place and stop talking about case makers and people I don’t like I thought I would spend a little more time on people I do like.

Rusty Melton is a relatively new case maker who is a rising star in the business. He is a “good ole boy” from the Show Me state of Missouri. And show us he does with his traditional design heavily tooled cases.

Rusty started out in the tradition of many case makers doing fairly simple envelope style cases. These are generally in a teardrop or lemon shape with the leather sewn backside to backside. While this is still a labor intensive process it’s much easier than doing cases where the seams are closed backside to frontside. Many case makers start out this way because it’s a faster way to get a case done.

Rusty’s tooling started out a little rough and his finishing was not quite as nice as more established makers. But in the past two years he has emerged as a world class cue case maker.

He and I have had a few conversations about case making and I am proud to say that he has taken several of my suggestions to heart, especially where the cue protection is concerned. As you all know this is my personal obsession and I am always very pleased when I see one of my colleagues taking it seriously as well.

He went from this which are tubes covered in a rough fabric with no padding;

To this which shows soft fabric backed by foam rubber;

That’s a man who really cares about his customer’s cue investments!

Then he took things a step further and started doing the type of seam work that is honestly the toughest and hardest to do in this business. Very very few case makers will do seams this way and it speaks huge volumes about Rusty’s dedication to his chosen craft that he has volunteered. Because honestly folks, most people just care about the decoration and as long as there are a bunch of pretty flowers on it they could care less how well the case is made or what effort the case maker put in constructing it.

Now doesn’t that make a much nicer impression than the teardrop shape?

So let me express this in terms of work as to the difference. Pushing the needle through two pieces of leather that are back to back and you can see the holes takes a couple hours to sew the seam by hand. Doing the blind seam as in the two pictures above takes about a day just for the seam. But the result is way nicer.

Go here to see more of Rusty’s work. Rusty’s Case Gallery

I won’t tell you how to contact him but I am sure if you like his work you will find out how to find him.

I hear his list is getting long so you might want to get on it before it’s up in the range of the SouthWest cues waiting list.

If you’re the kind of person who likes to impress your friends then here is a template for an pool story that’s ambiguous and unverifiable enough to seem almost credible if told just right.

You might need to do a little research and fill in the blanks according to your age through. It obviously won’t work if you use “Minnesota Fats” and you’re 23.

So feel free to copy/paste the story below and insert the person of your choice. The more well known the player is the less likely that they will ever deny your story as it’s likely that with a story like this they wouldn’t have remembered it even if it really happened.

—————start here —————————————->

One thing you don’t understand is I refrain from naming names or exactly what happened with people I respect. The young (insert famous player here) I played was a little bit obnoxious so I finally told the story. On that particular night and that particular table I owned him. You can name a lot of names but there isn’t a single world champion much less player of the decade that you can say that you beat like a drum at any time in their career playing even.

I know exactly where I played (insert famous player here) including the name and location of the place, I know the time of night we played and I know roughly the year. He was already well known and expected me to know him when he said his name. I didn’t know and wouldn’t have cared. I competed with champions by the handful several times every week in other competition.

(Insert famous player’s name here) won the flip and three games before I got up. He never won another. That is pretty thoroughly owned in my book.

<—————————-end here—————————–

So there you go people. Use this story in your emails, blogs, newsgroups other than AZ and other billiard sites (although even on those sites a certain percentage of the readers might believe you anyway)

Obviously you can change it around a little but don’t add any details like how much you played for, what the game was, who else was there or any type of detail that could trip you up. On the internet you never who might come along and say that they were there that night and you weren’t. So keep it vague and you will impress all your non-pool playing friends into thinking you were the man back in the day. And then be sure to tell them that you never “went pro” because there was more money in the backrooms and that will be the icing on the cake. Tell them you made more money by staying undercover and they will treat you with the reverence reserved for ex-cia or a retired mobster.

Sometimes you run into trolls on the internet. Rather than engage them with words which is a never-ending pit of quicksand – just award them a troll badge.

Take your pick of these depending on which one fits best.

This question was asked by a person on the AZB forum:

“Why wouldn’t every manufacturer include a tighter fitting padded inside?…it only makes sense IMHO…”

Mr. Justis responds, “Mainly because it offers nothing more than a catalist (sp) when mixed with chalk dust to damage the cues finish. Over time, excess friction combined with chalk dust can turn the cues mirror finish to one full of micro scratches better known as haze, not purple either. Why take a chance when it can be avoided.”

So let’s examine some of the interiors Justis offers to see if he practices what he preaches.

Let’s start with his Roadrunner cases. This is an simple “envelope” case which is made of one piece of leather folded in half. Justis provides a piece of suede leather for about three inches down at the top. The parts are not separated at all.

So it’s quite easy to see that Mr. Justis has no concern whatsoever about “chalk dust” causing damage to the finish of the cues placed in these cases. And he has made these cases for Black Boar, Szamboti, and many others.

Now let’s examine his Pro-Lite interior:

Mr Justis claims that a padded snug-fitting interior combined with chalk dust causes micro-scratches. He says that “excess friction” is the cause.

Friction occurs when two things rub against each other that is clear. Justis cases are made with a tight knit fabric for the first five inches and with thin nylon after that. Any chalk dust on those fabrics stays on the surface and does not filter through.

His cases are loose fitting so the cues slide and bounce freely.

Which means that they rub on that chalk a lot. The following are all pictures of Justis interiors I have collected over the years.

Notice the chalk dust that is INSIDE the butt cavities on these cases. I presume that this happens because there it’s not always easy to hit the shaft hole when inserting the shafts.

So that’s enough for you to see clearly that Justis cases attract plenty of chalk dust that sits on top of the fabric. So if Mr. Justis is correct that chalk dust plus friction causes finish damage then I wonder why he builds a case which allows the cues to move so freely on this chalk filled cloth.

Would you deliberately put some chalk on a piece of fabric and rub this on your cue vigorously? No? Well what do you think is happening to your cues in a Justis case when you are driving down the road? The cues are allowed to slide and jiggle and get jarred. So they are sliding and rubbing against that chalk filled cloth.

But wait what about that snug fit that we provide? Isn’t Justis right that any chalk dust dust with a “snug fit” will be worse?

Well before I answer that let’s look at one more thing about Justis and how much he does not care about his customers.

He has advocated several times online that his cases can hold more cues than there are cavities. To do this one has to double up in some of the compartments. Which means that there will be a – wait for it – hold on – oh my – a tight fit!

Let’s recap what Justis said about cases with snug fitting interiors:

“Mainly because it offers nothing more than a catalist (sp) when mixed with chalk dust to damage the cues finish. Over time, excess friction combined with chalk dust can turn the cues mirror finish to one full of micro scratches better known as haze, not purple either. Why take a chance when it can be avoided.”

So I have to ask then why does he tell his customers that they can do this:

Seems awfully hypocritical in my opinion.

The fact is that Jack Justis does not care one bit about your cue. If you call him up and tell him that your cue was somehow damaged in his case he will call you a liar.

Case in point:
CLICK HERE TO SEE FULL SIZED IMAGE

CLICK HERE TO SEE FULL SIZED IMAGE

So folks now you have a little more information about Jack Justis. The truth is that he builds cases with as little effort as he can. He has put zero thought into whether his interiors are truly protective or not preferring instead to put all the responsibility on the case owner to be extra careful when using a Justis case.

I have been doing this for 20 years and have easily more than 25,000 cases on the market with padded interiors. In all that time there has been no such epidemic of people coming to me with “micro scratches” or finish hazing caused by our cases.

I personally believe Jack is snorting this chalk dust and then making the outlandish claims he does. But if he truly believes what he is saying then maybe he can account for the images above.

Something to think about when you are considering your next case.

Most of you know of the acrimony between case maker Jack Justis and myself.

Basically from my point of view Jack builds a case that is not very protective, not very well built and charges way too much for what is delivered.

Harsh words from a competitor. Well it ended up this way because Jack has always bristled whenever I have said that our cases protect better than his.

Sorry Jack, protection is why I build cases and I will stand on the soapbox and say that it should be why other case makers build cases as well.

And the cornerstone of my protection philosophy is being generous with the padding between the cue parts to reduce movement and the possibility of damage through accidental removal (cues falling out) and to prevent damage from cue parts clanking against each other.

So recently a person asked why all case makers don’t build padded interiors.

Jack responded with an insinuation that padded interiors cause finish hazing and micro-scratches due to excess friction.

This is an absurd accusation on several levels.

A. Chalk dust does not get into the butt cavity of cue cases in any significant amount if at all.

B. Our cases hold the cues gently in place with very little pressure. Just enough to prevent movement.

C. Cases which hold the cues snugly have been on the market for 60 years with NO epidemic of finish hazing as a result.

D. High end cue makers transport their cues in flight cases with the entire cue surrounded by foam rubber with no cloth barrier. They do not have any finish scratches or hazing.

The fact is that Mr. Justis has to defend why he doesn’t provide the same level of protection as we do.

So he constantly makes up reasons that have zero basis in reality.

He says that common sense will tell you that an abrasive such as “chalk particles” will scratch the finish. This is probably true but how much does it take in what concentration? And what pressure level would it have to be applied to the finish to mark it significantly and visibly?

Mr. Justis has ZERO idea what the answers to these questions would be. Further to that he has zero proof of his assertions that our cases cause this damage.

But he knows that by making the unfounded accusation he can get a certain percentage of the readers to believe him just because he is “Jack Justis” and therefore must know this to be true.

The facts are that I have made cases with the same padded interiors for 20 years.

We have received tons and tons of praise in those 20 years. Cue makers love to use our cases, our dealer cases transport millions of dollars in cues yearly. Many collectors prefer to purchase our cases to store and protect their expensive cues.

So this insinuation by Jack Justis is 100% fabrication.

On AZ Billiards I have placed Jack Justis on Super Ignore because although it’s really my duty to combat his nonsense I don’t have the time and energy to do so. By now I have enough customers who are willing to testify to the protective quality of our cases so I don’t have to be the one who puts out the fires.

As well many more people are beginning to see through the Justis hype machine and question what the real value is that be brings to cue cases. Justis has enjoyed a good run and nothing I say is likely to diminish significantly the number of people who want to own a “Justis” case.

But for those who are more interested in overall quality, better protection, and a better value they at least have the facts to make informed comparisons.

Best,

John Barton
Case Maker

Well,

Hell has almost frozen over. Jack Justis recently switched his interiors to one which is more padded. He calls it the “Sport interior” I have no idea why he needs to name it unless he is offering two versions. What was the old version called?

But the point is that Jack has finally put some padding in between the cue parts. This is great for Justis owners lucky enough to have one of the new interiors.

And it’s validation for me that I finally have had some influence on getting Jack to provide a better level of protection for his customer’s cues.

Now Jack has said publicly that the way we build cases with our very protective padded interiors had no influence at all on the decision.

In fact he said that the Chinese supplier of his interiors suggested the change and he went along with it. Well maybe so and maybe Tinkerbell is real as well. The fact is that Jack’s customers and potential customers have been clamoring for the type of padded protection we have been offering for 20 years.

Last November I began selling a padded interior upgrade for Justis cases. To date I have sold around 80 pieces.

It’s a strange coincidence that only AFTER I began selling them that Justis finally changes his interior to add some padding.

But even stranger is Justis’ statement to me that they, the Chinese factory, had been working on this new interior for a year.

A year? It takes them a year to figure out how to put a little extra foam rubber between the cue parts?

Are you sure dear consumers that you want to trust your cues to people that incompetent? And don’t forget that Jack would not have made this change for the better on his own according to his own statements.

So the bottom line is that Justis case buyers will be getting a little better protection. That’s a good thing as something is better than nothing.

And I get validation.

Thanks Jack.

P.S. Jack is the padding also at the bottom or is the case still made with ultra thin nylon after the first five inches?

Many people have the idea these days that it’s not “classy” for one maker to compare their goods with another maker’s goods.

I have been accused of this lack of class many times because of my tendency to get on a soapbox and preach about protection and where I feel that my competition is lacking in that regard.

Then when I praise one of my competitor’s cases I am perceived to be insincere.

People just can’t understand that competitors can admire each other and still compete hard in the marketplace.

You don’t think anything of two professional players who play like they hate each other when they compete and then after the match they hug and go out to dinner.

But if two case makers compare their respective products, or better said if I compare mine to a competitor’s then I am said to have no class.

Let me ask you as a consumer whether you would prefer to have no information whatsoever and have to just buy with nothing to go on or would you prefer to have something to start with?

I prefer to have something to go on. For me that starts with the manufacturer’s claims, why do they claim to be better? When they claim a competitor is inferior then I go and check out the competitor’s information and try to see if the claims have any merit.

In the world of pool however you as a consumer don’t have the luxury of being able to find many good reviews of products. You don’t find any Consumer Reports style, dissect and report type of reviews. What you find are personal testimonials given by people who bought the products and very very few of those will ever be negative no matter what the product is.

Someone who spends $800 on a Justis case will NEVER EVER say it’s bad in any way as long as they hope to sell it someday. The same goes for Murnak, JB Cases (ours), Swift, etc….

So here I stand as a maker of cases knowing that my product is superior in protection and build quality and I am supposed to just go head to head in the “looks” department and the “reputation” department only because it’s just not “classy” to dissect my competitor’s cases and show that our construction and protection is far superior?

On what planet does that make sense? There is a reason it’s called competition. We are competing for your business. As such we SHOULD be competing with each other to offer the best product for the lowest amount of money possible. If a product’s deficiencies are kept secret then it means that you the consumer are not getting the best value for your money.

IF the billiard industry really did have a Consumer Reports type of body who would thoroughly review cue cases as to their construction and protection and fit and finish vs. the price charged then some case makers would find that they ended up with a negative rating.

But luckily for them and unluckily for me there is no such independent body to do reviews. So it falls to me to dissect my competitor’s cases and show you exactly how they are built so that you may understand exactly what you are paying for. That some people see this method as lacking class is too bad. To me it’s classless to charge very high prices for insufficient cue protection and shoddy construction.

To me it’s in poor taste to cut corners and use marketing “gimmicks” like giving away cases to professionals while insisting that they “chose” the case. Professionals will take every free product thrown at them. In my life I have given away cases to the world’s best players. You don’t see me splashing their names all over to influence my customers into thinking my cases are good because so and so uses them.

So I compete hard when it comes to laying out the details of what we make vs. the competition. If we do it better then I want you to know it and to understand WHY we are better. And it’s not enough to say it, I have to SHOW it because no one else will.

At the end of the day however I can admire a lot of what my colleagues, who are also my competitors, do. That’s why I can praise their work on some aspects and condemn it on others. Now if I happen to talk bad about a case you are in love with then it’s no different than if I talk about your girlfriend or your wife. Love is blind and you will be upset with me for putting down what you love. I get that.

But it’s not going to change and the cue case is not your girlfriend. A high end cue case should be a well made piece that protects your cue to the highest degree that is possible within the type of case it is. You might love yours and think it’s well made when it’s really not. If I expose that it’s not I understand that I am not going to be your favorite person. But as someone who has to think of my bottom line and the families I have to support I am duty bound to show why my case provides better protection and is the better built case.

That’s how competition works. If you choose to ignore all the good things I have to say about your case and focus on the criticisms instead then that’s on you. For me it’s all about being able to appreciate all the good things my case making colleagues do while also being able to point out the things that I feel we do better.

Thus, you dear consumer, can better see how our respective cases stack up, you can go out and look a little deeper at our cases as well our competitor’s cases and you don’t have to rely on just the exterior appearance and other people’s gushing reviews of their new baby.

Sincerely,

John Barton
Case Maker

It has come to my attention that some people are spreading the idea that a case which is sealed or otherwise hugs the cues and does not allow a free flow of air around the cue is somehow able to warp the cue.

This idea is patently false.

Before discussing the science I will discuss the common sense evidence.  From the 40’s until today there have been cue cases in use which seal the cavity, these include Harvey Martin cases, Gina Cases, Fellini cases, Centennial Cases, It’s George, and GTF Cases to name a few.  Other cases which hug the cue and surround it with fabric, i.e. cutting off airflow are the plethora of soft cases out there and the O’Neil suitcase style cases.  I have been active as a player since I was 12 years old.  That was in 1980.  I didn’t however start taking an active interest in my equipment until I was 16 years old.  I made my first cue case when I was 22.

During my time as a pool player and a case maker I have come across no epidemic of cues being warped when kept in sealed or well padded cases.   So common sense tells us that the case is not the culprit when a cue warps.  Everyone has some story about a cue warping and usually they are looking for anyone to blame other than themselves and the cue maker.

The fact is that the largest factor in whether a cue will warp or not is due to its construction.  If the wood itself was not properly dried and seasoned then it’s likely to warp.  If the cue is put together with loose tolerances which allow huge moisture swings through the end grain then it’s likely to warp and develop noises.   It’s not magic, a pool cue takes time to build it properly and that includes cutting the wood a little bit at a time and allowing it to move, then cutting it again, allow it to move and so one until it reaches the point where it won’t move any more.

Cue makers who follow this procedure have very few issues with warpage.  Cue makers who don’t and try to take shortcuts often have cues that are prone to warping.

Now, of course the situation can be made worse by the way the cue is handled once it leaves the cue maker’s shop.  If you subject the cue to extremes of heat and cold then the wood will expand and contract and moisture will work with the heat and cold against the wood.  In this situation any cue case is better than no cue case just for the insulation factor alone.  If the case goes further and wraps the cue in a dry cloth then that’s another layer of protection.  If the case is sealed and protects further against more moisture getting in then so much the better.

Now, some people will contend that if you put a cue up “wet” i.e. put it in the case in an already moist environment and seal it up then that moisture inside will act on the cue negatively.  This contention is unproven and goes to the heart of the matter than NO ONE KNOWS what happens to pool cues in cases in regards to moisture because no one has ever studied it.

Going back to the fact that sealed cases have been in use for more than 60 years though I have to say that the evidence points to NO PROBLEM.

Now, SOME case makers will contend that their case is “better” because the cues are held loosely and allow airflow around the cues.  This is malarkey.  First of all there is no significant airflow happening in their case when it is closed.  If the case is not sealed then of course latent moisture can evaporate out of the case if the opening is UP.  If the case is laying on its side then the moisture condenses at the uppermost part.  There is normally not enough heat applied to create a convective atmosphere.  But let’s look at the flip side of their argument.  Since they contend that their unsealed loose case allows airflow then doesn’t that mean that it allows air (and moisture along with it) IN to the case as well?  So if one were to go from say an 8% moisture environment to a 50% environment wouldn’t the case which is allows so much airflow be inviting the moisture INTO IT?

The fact is that in just about every situation where high end equipment is to be stored it is stored in form-fitted cases which restrict airflow.  A lot of those cases come with gaskets to seal the case and make it air and water tight.  This applies especially to guitar cases where the very best of them have many barriers to moisture.

So please don’t believe the nonsense when someone tries to tell you that a cue case which hugs your cue is bad for it.  60 years of continuous use of these types of cases proves otherwise.

Ok, so now let’s add in one more myth to bust.

Some people have the idea that a padded interior adds too much pressure to the cue and can warp it.

This is not true for the cases we build.  Our padded interiors hold the cue gently at the top and bottom and have zero padding in the center.  When the cues are placed into our cases the foam at the top and bottom conforms to the shape of the cue and holds the parts snugly but not tightly.  There is no chance whatsoever that any pressure is applied to the center of the cue parts and thus no chance that warpage can occur.

While it’s certainly “possible” that a cue case “could” be built which theoretically could have so much foam rubber through out the case that the parts could get bent in the middle, and here I am referring mainly to the shafts, I feel that such a case has never been made to date and probably never will be made because it would quite apparent to the case maker that it was not practical to use.  In my 20 years in the business I certainly have never seen any case which would apply enough pressure through the center to harm a cue.

So I count this myth as busted.

While we are at it though why not go for three?

One prominent case maker has made the statement that a case with a snug fit can scratch the finish.  This is particularly repugnant considering that he makes an envelope case which fits the cue snugly.

So the myth we are busting is the idea that a padded interior can scratch the finish.

We use a soft cloth for our liner.  This is the same type of cloth which one would use to polish their cue.  Our liner is backed by soft foam rubber.  The act of placing a cue into our cases is like gently rubbing your cue with a soft cloth in your hand.  There is zero chance that our fabric or the snug fit can scratch or dull the finish on a pool cue.

Some of our competitors however, with the one who made this statement being the chief among them, use nylon to line their cases.   Now, nylon is not abrasive like sandpaper is.  But it is made of hard PLASTIC strands.  It is not the type of material which a sane person would willingly rub on the cue.  These case makers use this nylon in cases which have little to no padding and so the cue moves excessively, rubbing on the nylon, and banging against it and the other cue parts when the cue case is jostled about.  I am quite certain that most collectors would be appalled if I asked them to rub their cues with a piece of nylon.

This is what you find in a John Barton designed interior:

Not this:

Nylon is awesome material with millions of great uses.  Rubbing against your precious cue is not one of them.  Save it for the outside of the case and leave the inside to something soft and cushy.

So there you have it, three myths busted.  Not surprisingly these rumors are perpetuated by our competition who seems more interested in defending their less protective methods of making cue cases rather than simply providing the level of protection that their customers deserve.

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John Barton’s Criteria for evaluating a case.

This is my guide for evaluating the quality of cue case. I hope that it might be helpful to some of you when you are writing your reviews of cue cases and looking at cases in the future. I will try to keep it fairly short and light on the editorial comments. These are my personal preferences and how I feel a case should be built.

1. How well does it protect? I look to see if the cues are kept securely in a non-abrasive cavity. I prefer that the cues are kept snugly so that movement is reduced. For a hard case I check to see that it can withstand a decent amount of impact and pressure. I make sure that the cues are easy to remove and nothing can scratch them when inserting or removing them. When the case is in motion I want to be sure that no parts can touch or bang against each other.

2. How strong are the handles, straps and latches? From experience I know that cue cases are stressed in different ways than most other types of cases. Thus I look to see that the all the stress points are very secure and durable. I don’t want any excess movement when I am pulling on the handles, straps or latches.

3. How comfortable is the case to use? This is also known as ergonomics. Is is easy to insert and remove the cues? Are the handles comfortable to the hand? Does the case sit comfortably on the shoulder and not slip off? How is the balance? Is it easy to get into the pockets?

4. How well done is the fit and finish? For a tube case does the interior and exterior fit snugly together or is it loose? I don’t like a case that feels like a loose bag. Are all the edges finished well? Any errant metal pieces sticking out? Are the rivets well done or are they sloppy? Is the stitching straight and tight? Are all the parts lined up right? Basically I look for the little details that either tell me someone really cares or that they don’t.

5. How well done is the decoration? Anyone can tool leather. Not everyone is good at it. So I look at the tooling with a critical eye towards symmetry and execution. I want to see that the tooling was done with a steady practiced hand and that it was laid out to compliment the case rather than just to throw a bunch of tooling on the leather. I also value originality over using patterns from others. There are thousands of patterns available from Tandy leather and other sources. Many of these look great when put on a cue case. I like to see tooling that has been drawn from scratch to compliment the case and the theme rather than something that feels like a stock pattern. However I do give bonus points for taking a stock pattern and making it original by virtue of style.

For inlays, windows, overlays I look at the positioning, proportion and execution. Is everything lined up correctly?

That’s about it. Obviously my criteria is more stringent than most people’s and is based on my extensive experience with the subject since I make cue cases. 20 years ago I accepted many cases as well built and great that I wouldn’t now. I know that most consumers are unlikely to have much experience with a lot of case brands and especially with custom cases. Most people aren’t even in touch with true quality leather work these days. So by writing this I can give you my own insight as to what I look for and hopefully it helps you to better evaluate what you are looking at.