‘Works of art’: Hanover Park artisan crafts world-class pool cues that cost up to $10,000

Tim Prince discovered his life’s passion more than 30 years ago, by accident.

The Hanover Park resident was a high school drafting student attending a competition at the Illinois Institute of Technology. During a break, he and some classmates wandered into the student lounge. Spotting an open pool table, they started playing.

Prince was hooked. From 16 to 20, he spent about five hours a day at a pool hall.

“If I wasn't working or at school, I was out playing,” he said.

What started as a hobby soon revealed an unexpected talent Prince has since perfected.

Prince, 50, is considered among the nation’s leading pool cue artists and craftsmen. For decades he has been creating bespoke cues — that sell for between $1,500 and $10,000 — out of his home workshop.

About a year after discovering the sport, Prince purchased his first cue for less than $30 from a big box store. Several years later he bought, on layaway, his first good pool cue for about $200.

Around that time, the one-time apprentice carpenter turned tool and die maker made his first cue.

“I was playing all the time and I was collecting cues,” he said. “I thought they were works of art.”

Unable to afford a high-end version, Prince decided to create his own. Friends took note and asked him to make cues for them. His side business was born.

He makes his cues out of ebony, maple, rosewood and burl wood (a patterned type of wood characterized by swirls and knots), much of which he purchases overseas. Once the wood arrives, it sits in his shop for a year until the moisture content falls to between 6% and 8%.

Art deco designs — done in silver and copper, some with abalone, mother-of-pearl and turquoise accents — are his trademark. On average, each cue takes about two years to build; some take up to three years to complete.

While he reuses certain design elements, Prince says he tries to keep his cues one-of-a-kind.

A friend sells them at trade shows and Recollection Cues offers some of them online. Mostly he relies on word-of-mouth to attract customers.

“To order a cue, you have to know me,” said Prince, who continues to work full-time as a machinist, a job he's had for 30 years.

Some of his customers established a Facebook group titled Tim Prince Cue Fans, which has 271 members.

Asked if some customers purchase his cues purely for the artistry, Prince responds like a true sportsman.

“Every cue is made to be played with, but more expensive ones are art,” he said, referring to diamond and gold-encrusted cues for which some artisans charge more than $100,000.

Overall, Prince says today's pool cues are superior to their predecessors thanks to better machines and glue and high-quality wood.

While a custom cue from a craftsman like him might intimidate an opponent, it probably won't improve that player's game.

“A good player can play with anything,” Prince said, adding that the game is 90% mental.

It's all about angles and geometry, said Prince, who practices on the table he keeps in his workshop to keep his skills sharp. He also plays in a weekly league and participates in local tournaments.

Whether they play with a custom cue or one provided by the venue, he encourages people to take up the sport.

“Every time you break the balls on a pool table it's a different game,” he said. “You're always playing a new game you've never seen before.”