Tag Team Pool Cue Case

Vaughn McMillan

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
36,054
Location
ABQ NM
Thought I'd show a few pics of my latest flatwork project. It's a pool cue case that I made for Pete Simmons. I made a similar case for myself last year, and Pete saw pics of it then. A while back he asked me if I'd be willing to make another one, as he wanted to give one as a gift. I told him that when I made mine, the woodworking was comparatively easy, but getting a good lacquer finish busted my chops. Using his shrewd negotiating skills, he talked me into making another one, but to sweeten the pot, he offered to do the finishing and interior flocking.

In the end, I made the case, the velvet-upholstered inserts, the interior divider, and a matching plaque to go inside. (Pete's going to do some type of laser magic to the plaque.) He's going to flock the dividers, apply the finish, and attach the hardware. I wiped it down with mineral spirits and took a few quick snapshots before crating it up to mail to Pete.

The case is made of jatoba and quilted maple, with purpleheart pinstripes. The top and bottom are about 5/16" thick and solid...I decided against the veneer and substrate idea.

DSC_1299 TC 800.jpg

Here's a detail shot of a corner, showing the box joints and pinstriping. (And the lid really does line up with the bottom...they were skewed a bit in the pic; there are no hinges on the case yet.)

DSC_1301 T 800.jpg

The divider will be flocked in black (so I didn't bother cleaning up all the yellow glue). The 1/4" ply I used for the dividers is a bit wavy, but it'll straighten out once it's got pool cue pieces in place.

DSC_1297 T 800.jpg

Here's a (pretty poor) detail shot of the plaque that'll go inside. The top layer is a piece of Timeless Timber birdseye maple. Pete had a piece on hand, so he sent it to me to slice on the bandsaw...for this as well as other projects. It's some pretty stuff, and the pics don't do it justice. The remaining layers are jatoba, purpleheart, another jatoba, and some plain maple.

DSC_1307 T 800.jpg

When my part was all done and ready to send to Pete for completion, I had to figure out a way to box it up for shipping. Instead of spending all afternoon Sunday looking for enough cardboard to make a decent box, I went to the local mini-borg and picked some cedar fencing and 1/4" ply. A few minutes with the pneumatic stapler and some wood screws (so the top can be opened) and I had a crate in about 15 minutes. I stretch-wrapped the case and floated it in about 2 to 4 inches of foam peanuts. It should survive the ride. The guy at my local post office was impressed. :p

DSC_1312 T 800.jpg

I met Pete at SMC, and he's a member here, too. Last year we did several cutting boards together, where I made the blank board, and Pete used his laser to do superb wood inlays on the cutting boards. He has also done some very nice laser engravings of some wedding pictures and other assorted gifts for me. If you need laser work done, look him up. He's good people. :wave:
 
Very nice looking case Vaughn! I would have siad it looks like one of a kind, but you tell me that there are two of them. Also, no wonder the guy at the post office was impressed by your shipping box!
 
Thanks for the compliments, Frank. The first one does look similar ;) :

Cue Case 1 800 LR.jpg
Cue Case 2 800 LR.jpg
Cue Case 3 800 LR.jpg
Cue Case 4 800 LR.jpg
Cue Case 5 800 LRa.jpg

Pete still has some work to do on his, but I know he'll do it justice. :thumb:
 
Wow!

Wow - I knew this would be special and Vaughn has over done it again. Thanks.

The case is for my son. I recently thought he might be cooling off to pool somewhat but then he went and bought a slate pool table. This will be a perfect gift.

I will inlay his name and maybe an 8 or 9 ball into the timeless timber plaque inside the case. Why a plaque? We where going to make a small lidded storage box inside the case, but it would have been to shallow, the rest of the case is to beautiful to inlay anything and I wanted to get the timeless timber in there somewhere, so we went with the plaque.

I will post some pictures when I finish it.

Vaughn - THANKS again for a great job and a perfect gift!
 
You done good Grasshopper! Make me want to take up pool so I can have one. :)

I have been wanting to build a flyrod box. I don't need one, Just really been wanting to build one. Now I want to build a pool case too. :doh:
 
Flyrod Box

Jeff:

Last summer I teamed up with a friend and we built a very fancy flyrod box for another friend. I was somewhat like a very large silverware box. It came out great. His son loved it and we know it will be part of their family history forever. His Dad built the custom flyrod.
 
Very purty. Love the contrasting wood. Nice to have a hobby to build pieces for. Watch out for the one eyed pool shooter. Brian
 
OK you motivated me. I am making a big box for Christmas gift. Were did you get the hardware? Like latches and handles. I need to order some quickly.
I got my hardware at Rockler, although it's all pretty standard stuff. Lee Valley and others should have them, too. I used a piano hinge for my case, and the standard briefcase latches and handle. (I wen't with the much cheaper vinyl handle instead of the leather one on that page.)
 
Que Case

Got it finished in time for Christmas.

Vaughn did a great job - Thanks again!!!

The Timeless Timber as the background for the inlays is some special wood with real history but the off color maybe hurts the inlay look somewhat.

Why the 11 ball?

I would have done a nine ball but did not have any bright yellow wood for the inlay. So with a little bloodwood I did an 11 ball.

I have touched up and cleaned up the inside since the pictures and it looks great.

I know he will love it and always remember Dad and some guy in Calif who made it possible.
 

Attachments

  • quecase1.jpg
    quecase1.jpg
    34.8 KB · Views: 10
  • quecase2.jpg
    quecase2.jpg
    68 KB · Views: 11
  • quecase3.jpg
    quecase3.jpg
    36.1 KB · Views: 10
Awesome, Pete! I was wondering if I'd gotten it to you in time to finish before Christmas. Good thing you work fast. :) It came out looking great. :thumb: I'm guessing Alex is going to be very happy with it. The plaque came out great, too. I wish I'd known you were looking for bright yellow wood...I could have probably found a piece of yellowheart to slice up for you. Oh well, we'll know that for the next time. ;)
 
Top