Membership Levels:
Cue-Maker: Members with at least two years experience in making quality cues on a regular basis and are currently hands on cuemakers.. (see guidelines below)
Cue-Manufacturer: Must have been in business manufacturing cues for at least five years and have at least 5 employees.
Cue-Repairman: This level will include those who primarily repair cues and possibly build extra shafts and occasionally do lower level cuemaking.
Apprentice: This level is for those who have less than one year experience in repairs and two years in cuemaking or who have not supplied examples of quality work for determining they have earned the title: Cuemaker or Cue-Repairman.
Supplier/Merchant: Suppliers are those who sell products pertaining to cue making or the cuemaking industry. Merchants are those who manufacture or sell other billiard related or non-related items.
Associate Member: These are members who just want to support our association and participate as non-voting members. Examples are Authors, Cue Collectors, Pool Room Owners, Magazine Editors and any one else who is interested in cue making.
Cue-Collector: These are members who want to be known as cue collectors. Their collections can be extensive or just starting out. Lifetime Limited Cue Collectors membership is $100,
The member’s contact information will also include a section indicating the starting price of the cuemaker’s cues.
Example: Cues starting at $275. Year they started and year they joined the ICA.
Requirements for membership:
We welcome part-time as well as full-time cuemakers.
We also welcome both American and International cuemakers from other countries.
We welcome members of other organizations like the BCA, American Cuemakers Association, etc… Provided it does not create a conflict of interest.
We invite all levels of cuemakers to apply and all accepted members will have their full contact information on the ICA web site.
CUE-MAKER and CUE-MANUFACTURER MEMBER APPLICATION GUIDELINES:
An applications must be approved by the board of directors. Because we are developing relationships with our industry suppliers, we require permission to do a credit check with them about prospective members. Pictures of cues must be submitted for approval, along with application and application fees. We prefer the cue being presented to have one or more of the following features: inlays, points, butterflies or fancy wood splices. If the pictures are not enough for the ICA to render an opinion of the quality cue that you build, then it may be required that you present an actual cue. This could be done at a show in person or by other prearranged means. Below are areas of detail that the common cue buyer will normally inspect in your cue. So we suggest you give special attention to these areas on the cues you present. We do understand cuemakers do things a little different for various reasons and we will therefore judge the over all quality of the cue instead of focusing on any single area.
- Any linen wraps should be flush with the finish at both ends of the wrap groove. Linen should have no gaps in the wrap and should be pressed and polished.
2. Leather wraps should not be raised above the finish. (For those who choose to round over the finish and leave the leather lower so it can’t be lifted, keep the lip to a very bare minimum.)
3. Shafts and butts should roll straight individually, as well as when together.
4. Any Flat bottom, Veneered or any “V” groove or butterfly points should all be very close to equal in length. We make more allowance for butterflies than V-points on equal length.
5. Attention should be given to tight fitting inlays with no large glue lines.
6. Finish should be smooth, without ripples or runs.
7. Special attention to fit and finish, especially at the joint where the butt and shaft meet.
8. Make sure the second shaft fits as good as the first - The joint pin should be installed very centered (concentric).
- When a ball is struck by the tip or the when the shaft or butt are gently tapped in the palm of the hand the cue should not have any unusual rattles’ or buzzing’ sounds.
For those who have less than two years of cue building or one year cue repair experience and/or can’t produce samples of quality cues or repairs in picture or actual cue form we have an APPRENTICE MEMBERSHIP.
APPRENTICE MEMBER APPLICATION GUIDELINES:
- All Apprentice Members must either own or have access to cue building or cue repair equipment. They must be actively involved in cue repair or cue building and striving to develop quality skills.
- Apprentice Members must state clearly that they are Apprentice Members in any advertising or statements made using the ICA logo or ICA name.
3. Apprentice Members will be listed on the Members page under the Apprentice Members heading.
4. Before upgrading their membership to Cue-Repairman we may require samples in picture form or actual cues to inspect the work.
5. Pictures or actual cues will always be required for upgrading to Cuemaker membership.
6. Minimum time as an Apprentice member will be one year. They can stay an Apprentice for as long as it takes for them to feel comfortable trying to upgrade membership level.
7. Apprentice members will have the same access to discounts and forum privileges as all other members. Having experienced cuemakers willingly sharing information on our cuemakers forum will help Apprentices achieve their goal of quality craftsmanship much faster.
CUE-REPAIRMAN APPLICATION MEMBER GUIDELINES:
- Pictures, references or actual examples of cue work may be required.
- Pictures should show close ups of your tip, ferrule and wrap work.
- Repairman Members must state clearly that they are Repairman Members in any advertising or statements made using the ICA logo or ICA name.
Repairman Members will be listed on the Members page under the Cuemakers and Repairman Members heading. - Pictures or actual cues will always be required for upgrading to Cuemaker membership.
6. Minimum time as an Repairman member will be one year. They can stay a Repairman for as long as it takes for them to feel comfortable trying to upgrade membership level. - Repairman Members will have the same access to discounts and forum privileges as all other members.
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MEMBERSHIP FEES: At present our Cuemaker, Cue-Manufacturer, Cue-Repairman, Apprentice, Associate and Supplier/Merchant membership fees will be:
LIFETIME LIMITED MEMBERSHIP $250
After the first year there will be no more membership fees unless you want to make changes to your listing on your Members page listing, or cuemakers forum. Any changes to the listing will be done on a donation basis to help finance the web site upkeep. As long as you stay within membership guidelines you will never have to pay anymore cash dues for the lifetime of the organization. We desire a group of active members. Your activity will be considered your desire to continue membership. To stay active we would like for you to post at least once a year in our private cuemakers forum or vote in our Hall of Fame or other elections. If you are unable to do either of these things a simple letter or email stating your wishes to keep membership active will be okay. This response will let us know you are still with us and active in the cue industry. Two years of inactivity may be considered your resignation of membership. The reason participation is important is as we grow in active members we will have more clout to try and secure discounts, not only on cuemaking supplies, but also on things like hotels, rental cars, health insurance and so forth. If you cease to meet ICA membership requirements your membership may be terminated without any refund.
To sum it up the initial membership fee is for your first year dues. After the first year your goodwill and activity in the association will be all you owe the association, unless you want to make changes to your ICA website listing, membership level or forum status. These changes will be made on a donation basis.
A membership application can be sent by email or mail. Also, the first years dues of $250 must be included with application. dues can be paid by paypal, credit card or money order. If the application is rejected the first years dues and application fee will be refunded, and an explanation of why the application was rejected will be enclosed.
We reserve the right to refuse admission to anyone for any reason.
Members that do not conduct their business or themselves in a professional manner with customers, suppliers and fellow members will be subject to dismissal without any refund.
Any cuemaker that commits to a portion of a co-operative product purchase and fails to pay for and accept delivery of goods will be subject to dismissal without any refund.