Dennis Swift is a leather crafter located in Island, Kentucky (near Owensboro). He is well known for making the "Widowmaker" brand cases. He also has made the TAD tooled leather cases, as well as custom cases for a number of other dealers and distributors including Mueller's.
Dennis was one of the first to make what is now the conventional tube and leather hand tooled case. Dennis' cases are easily recognizable for his tooling and curved pocket (invariably with a 9 ball rack tooled on it). Most of his cases are unmarked. some carry the imprint of "FOX HOLLOW LEATHERCRAFT". His early cases carried the lettering SWIFT stamped on the bottom in block letters (see photo) but this hasn't been done for at least 15 years.
He first got the idea for a leather case over 20 years ago, when he saw that Dave Bollman had made a case for himself. Dave was a professional golfer as well as a pro pool player. He made a case for his cues with a shoulder strap, similar to a golf bag. Dennis went home and made one. Soon, his pool playing friends began asking for cases. he sold a few and used the money to buy supplies and tools.
Nick Varner, the famed professional player from Owensboro, was a cue and case dealer and sold a lot of his cases for many years in an exclusive arrangement. This put Dennis on the map.
Should you wish to order a Dennis Swift case, call him at 270-486-3135 for pricing and designs.
