Fancy Pool Cue Rack

I just finished this pool cue rack for my coworker. He has an expensive Brunswick pool table, and wanted a custom rack to match, so I did him a favor. It’s made from African mahogany, which is a chore to work. It rips out with any cut, even peels off when you remove tape or glue, and is soft enough to dent easily (though it sands well). But I do like how the wood looks after it’s finished. There is a hinged piece (using a shipwright-style wooden box hinge) that folds down to hold one shorter cue, for playing in tight spaces or weird shots. I also routed a slot for the bridge stick’s head to nest into, and the shaft is aligned with the other cues when they are all placed in the rack. The dovetails on the top box are hand cut (cheated a bit with the bandsaw on the tail side, though), as are the bridle joints connecting the rails to the horizontal supports. The rack is meant to be wall mounted, so I have a french cleat mounted to the back of the box, and another made for the wall attachment.

This was my first real attempt at marquetry, and it came out decent. I used a geometric pattern I found online, and it took me a few attempts before making a descent one. I cut the veneers myself on the bandsaw, and cut the marquetry with the double bevel technique on the scroll saw. I alternated the grain direction between pieces to make a neat reflective effect when the light hits it correctly. The background veneer is walnut, the foreground is the same African mahogany. Inlaying the marquetry piece into the top box was a little messy so the border isn’t perfect… oh well.

I used 4-5 coats of finish. The first coat was a tung oil / poly mix, the rest of the coats were satin wipe-on poly.

Here are the build progress photos (warning: lots of pictures):

http://imgur.com/a/3vsX0