What is the average price of a cue?

What can I customize on a cue?

There are many custom cues on the market, I want to make mine REALLY special. Any ideas?

I hear a lot about the need to have a good shaft, but I don't know what's involved in getting one. How do you make YOUR shafts?

I saw an oval ring pattern on some of the cues. How is that created?
Do you only use wood in the making of your cues?

I tend to play on large tables and don't wish to lug around a large cue extension. Do you have a solution?

What design elements do you use when creating a cue?

What joints do you put on the cues? Which is your favorite?

I am ready to buy a cue. What's next?

What is the average price of a cue?

The average price of a Miltonio Custom Cue with one shaft is between $450 to $650. Minimum cost of a cue is $300 with the exception of Sneaky Petes that go for around $200. The average cost of a Miltonio cue with two shafts, joint protectors and a 10" extension, varies between $750 and $1,200. Design elements, woods used and other options may bring the price of a custom cue to $2,500. All prices include shipping in U.S.A.

What can I customize on a cue?

Since every cue I make is a custom one-of-a-kind almost every detail on it can be made to fit your taste, style and request. Wood selection, colors, details, length, extensions, joint protectors, wraps and weight are all customized to the client's needs.

There are many custom cues on the market, I want to make mine REALLY special. Any ideas?

You may sign or write on your cue before the last coat of finish is applied. Or, you may desire the words "Handmade especially for ____________by Miltonio." Other special elements might include birthstones or other gems available for the player's secret benefit. Non-pool players might wonder what a ruby, garnet, emerald, diamond, topaz or sapphire, is doing hidden away, out of sight, on a joint screw. Pool players know the answer to that.

I hear a lot about the need to have a good shaft, but I don't know what's involved in getting one. How do you make YOUR shafts?

I carefully select kiln-dried, straight grain, "Hard Rock" sugar maple for my shafts. I look for slow growth, tight grain wood when possible. I buy it in boards, rip it into 1 inch squares, 31" long, then date it and hang it up. Every three months I turn it down a little on the lathe. Only after a year's time do I make the last cut and sanding to fit it to a butt. I want the shaft wood to do whatever warping it's going to do before the finish cut. If properly treated, after it's a finished cue, it should never warp again.

I saw an oval ring pattern on some of the cues. How is that created?

Sometimes different sections of a cue are separated by what I like to call "Saturn Rings". These are one or more layers of contrasting wood interleafed with veneer. The layers are glued together as in a sandwich and inserted into the cue at a 20-25 degree angle. As the cue is turned down, the effect produces colorful oval rings. Naturally, the cue itself is held together with a 3/4" solid wood spine through the rings.

Do you only use wood in the making of your cues?

I enjoy using wood wherever possible. I like some plastics but I usually prefer using wood. Some of my most beautiful butt caps are Manzanita Root or Spanish Olive.

I tend to play on large tables and don't wish to lug around a large cue extension. Do you have a solution?

If desired, I can make a removable rubber bumper for the butt of the cue. Simply unscrew it, temporarily, and replace it with a 10" to 12" extension for that once-in-a-while shot that is hard to reach. The rubber bumper can easily be replaced on the cue. Both the extension and rubber bumper will fit in your pocket. This way they'll be ready for use when necessary.

What design elements do you use when creating a cue?

Many designs can be made with rings, splices and contrasting woods. Joint rings can be made to look like a chain. Three thin rings of ebony and maple, very carefully spaced and sized, produce this effect. Other materials available for joint rings are veneers, nickel silver, brass and plastics of various colors. I have used ivory but frankly I prefer to see it on the animal. Personal design elements are sometimes requested.

What joints do you put on the cues? Which is your favorite?

Three sizes of joint screws are generally used. They are 5/16" X 18 pitch, 5/16" X 14 pitch and 3/8" X 10 pitch. I prefer the latter for its simplicity and strength. No female brass insert is used but the threaded wood is chemically hardened in a special way.

I am ready to buy a cue. What's next?

First, give me a call so we can discuss details. I will need to know what you are looking for, what your budget is and any special requests you may have. I start production on a cue when I receive 50% of the agreed upon price and the rest is paid just before delivery or C.O.D. All my cues are guaranteed perfect on arrival. If, for any reason, a customer is not satisfied, I will do whatever is necessary to make it right. If a customer is not satisfied after using the cue for 30 days, I will buy it back assuming of course, that it has not been abused.