floral pool cue case

[RustyMelton]

Hi all, Here's a couple pictures of one of the cases I've recently finished up. I thought it turned out pretty nice but would like to hear some other opinions. Thanks for looking and for any comments!

Rusty

[BradB]

That looks awesome!!! How did you finish the inside?

[RustyMelton]

That looks awesome!!! How did you finish the inside?

Thanks Brad, The case is built around a piece of plastic, so I took some foam backed material and made sort of a sock out of it with dividers for 5 pieces. I use these for 2 cue butts and 3 shafts. It's a pretty tight squeeze but the do fit snugly and no parts of the cues touch each other. Here's a picture of what the interior looks like, sorry it's not the best picture but it should give you an idea of how it went together. Thanks for the compliment and the question.

Rusty oh edited to say this was an interior from a past case but it's the same style.

Edited November 8, 2009 by RustyMelton

[Storm]

Rusty...This is a superb piece of work. I wish I played pool! Great carving and wonderful construction.

Storm

[RustyMelton]

Rusty...This is a superb piece of work. I wish I played pool! Great carving and wonderful construction.

Storm

Thanks Storm, I really appreciate the compliment. This style is sort of hard to sew up. The seam overlaps and you have to reach up it with the needle, there's a lot of blindly poking around involved, lol. But it makes for a nice look with the seam laying flat so I think the extra effort is worth it.

[Storm]

Thanks Storm, I really appreciate the compliment.  This style is sort of hard to sew up.  The seam overlaps and you have to reach up it with the needle, there's a lot of blindly poking around involved, lol.   But it makes for a nice look with the seam laying flat so  I think the extra effort is worth it.

Oh I understand....it was your first time...sometimes that means taking your time until you get the hang of it and all of the ins and outs.

[MADMAX22]

Great carving and love the color. Looks really good

[fuzzy]

That is awesome, love the tooling, really pops.

[hidepounder]

Nice job Rusty!

[BradB]

Thanks for the reply Rusty!!

[RustyMelton]

Thanks Guys for the great comments, it's always great to hear. It's funny looking at it I thought it looked pretty good but when looking at the pictures I see several things I wish I would have done, live and learn I guess. Oh yeah thanks for the chuckle Storm, I laughed half the night.

[JohnBarton]

Rusty Rusty Rusty, stop it. They are getting too good. I hope you are charging accordingly for work it takes to do that seam! We just did a case going through 12mm on three layers with blind seams on both sides and I don't think anyone in my shop wants to do that ever again.

My only comment is don't cover up your tooling.

Specifically I am speaking of the strap covering up what you did on the lid. Your tooling is too clean to just stick something over it. You have nice separation on all the other areas where it's tooled and then the top does not match in my opinion since the strap just cuts off the leaf.

[RustyMelton]

Rusty Rusty Rusty, stop it. They are getting too good. I hope you are charging accordingly for work it takes to do that seam! We just did a case going through 12mm on three layers with blind seams on both sides and I don't think anyone in my shop wants to do that ever again.

My only comment is don't cover up your tooling.

Specifically I am speaking of the strap covering up what you did on the lid. Your tooling is too clean to just stick something over it. You have nice separation on all the other areas where it's tooled and then the top does not match in my opinion since the strap just cuts off the leaf.

Oh John, why do you always have to be right. Just kiddin. I agree 1000 percent that I shouldn't cover up the tooling. I think of it everytime time but somehow forget it. But next time you know what..... I'll probably do it again, lol. But to my credit I think I may have remembered once. Thank you for the advice, I can use all I can get.

I'd hate to be the one to sew the three layers with the blind stitching, I bet there were some sore fingers around the shop. I made a envelope case the other day and used two pieces of 9 oz. and put a piece of 12 oz. in between the seams on each side to add a little depth in the case. Man what a job to hand stitch, I broke 3 needles in about 5 minutes.

Thanks again to all for the comments and advice!

[JohnBarton]

Oh John, why do you always have to be right. Just kiddin. I agree 1000 percent that I shouldn't cover up the tooling. I think of it everytime time but somehow forget it. But next time you know what..... I'll probably do it again, lol. But to my credit I think I may have remembered once. Thank you for the advice, I can use all I can get.

I'd hate to be the one to sew the three layers with the blind stitching, I bet there were some sore fingers around the shop. I made a envelope case the other day and used two pieces of 9 oz. and put a piece of 12 oz. in between the seams on each side to add a little depth in the case. Man what a job to hand stitch, I broke 3 needles in about 5 minutes.

Thanks again to all for the comments and advice!

Why do I always have to be right? It's a compulsion...... nah, it's just my opinion on what I like to see. If you go back through our cases you'll see plenty of designs where we covered up the tooling too so I am trying to break us of that habit as well.

Jim Murnak says it makes the tooled leather look like fabric when the tooling runs all around the piece without defined space. I feel like his view on it has a lot of merit. He said that tooling should look deliberately planned. I agree with that as it's something we do have full control over.

That said, yours rocks NO MATTER HOW YOU DO IT!!

I know that on here there is the ever running debate on whether to drill the holes or use an awl to punch them. I think that when you start going through leather that thick it makes more sense to drill. We put a needle in our drill and use that to make the holes. So maybe that sort of acts like a cross between an awl and a drill bit. It's still a pain to stitch through 12mm of leather but at least we don't have to punch the holes by hand as well.

[leatherman1457]

Rusty WOW that is a beautiful piece of work you have done here. I hope they paid you a real pretty penny for it because it is well deserved. Keep the great work and keep inspiring people to be as good as you. Gary

[Cecil]

Beutiful work.

[RustyMelton]

Yeah John you may be right about the drilling, either way it's a job.

Thank you Cecil for your comment, it's good to hear.

Thank you leatherman. I doubt I inspire very many around these parts, I'm the one that's always inspired here with all the fine work of you folks.

Thank's everyone for the nice comments, now I guess I better get back to work.

[8thsinner]

What a fantastic pool Q case.

I am not a tooler but in my humble opinion it's flawless.

Well done

[Cyrex]

That's just great work Rusty. As JB has said before, everything about your work is just perfect. Great planning, great design, and flawless execution.

Ok, out of personal curiosity... what kind of pool cue do you play with?

[RustyMelton]

That's just great work Rusty. As JB has said before, everything about your work is just perfect. Great planning, great design, and flawless execution.

Ok, out of personal curiosity... what kind of pool cue do you play with?

I've been playing with a davis blank cue that Dave Sutton made for me. We made a deal for a trade nearly a year ago and I really didn't know what to expect but I was extremely surprised by how well it plays. Before it I was mainly playing with a Barnhart, a Olney and a Deano. I've got way to many cues laying around that I need to be selling. I love the one you had in you avatar, was is a Murrell?