02/16/10

     Having been playing pool since 17 years of age; Richard quickly fell in love with the game.  He had won numerous local tournaments by the age of 21.  His passion for the game grew more and more as he played.  When he was 18, he met a BCA instructor / retired cue maker by the name of Bob Neil.  He inquired about having a custom cue made by Mr. Neil.  At the time, Mr. Neil had retired from cue making but was willing to pass down his skills & techniques to a close friend.  Seeing Richard was so determined in learning the game, he agreed to teach Richard the art of cue making.  Richard jumped at the opportunity and was invited to Mr. Neil’s cue shop.  Immediately he was fascinated by the concept of turning a pool cue.  Having access to Mr. Neil’s equipments, Richard began doing minor cue repairs for a local pool room in Brooklyn, N.Y. while he honed his skills in cue making.  At the age of 19, while Richard worked for his family owned retail business, he began saving his earnings to purchase his own cue building equipments.  In 1996, with a single lathe, he turned out his very first cue.  Richard has been building custom cues for local players ever since, but only as a hobby.  In January of 2002, Richard became a full time cue maker.  He turns out less than 50 cues a year in his cue shop.  He now has some of the highest quality exotic woods and cue building machineries available.  While properly aging his exotic woods from around the world, and he pays extremely close attention to designs, details, and playability.  Richard turns out some of the highest quality pool cues at a reasonable price.

Left: Richard and good friend Tony Robles at Action Billiards in Brooklyn, New York

Right: Richard working on a custom cue