Thread: Pool Cues (Work in Progress).

Tassie Boy - Thanks for your positive comments. When I was about your age, I somehow managed to talk my parents into getting a pool table. Its been a long journey from "pool player" to "cuebuilder", but its great to start a hobby when you are young. Especially when it can lead you to so many different places.

Al B / Auld - Glad you are enjoying the WIP.

Most of the hard yards on the first cue are done, and I probably won't go into as much detail (photo wise) as I finish off the others over the coming months, but I'll just post updates from time to time till they are all (hopefully) finished. All the techniques in finishing them off will be the same.

If anyone is interested in more cuebuilding information try googling my cuebuilding mentor (Dennis Dieckman - lots of good stuff on his website) or the cuebuilding association I am a member of (International Cuemakers Association).

Some of the work these guys are doing is just mindblowing. I'm just a beginner in comparison.

Cheers.

Pict 1 (and 2) Well, I have put my "mark" on the cue. From time to time, a cue developes a personality as it is being built, and as such deserves a name.

I have called this one the W.I.P cue, for obvious reasons.

Pict 3 - I have picked out a shaft for the cue. 85% of the turning has already been done over the past 3 or 4 years. When I put the shaft between centres, it was running true (by eye) which is a fairly accurate measure. However, I scribbled all over the shaft with pencil, and when I take the first (very shallow) pass, if there is any pencil left I can see if there was any warpage. The shafts, butts and any other wood I have turned in the past tends to hang from the rafters of my garage in between turnings.

Pict 4 - At first I put a coat or two of the thin super glue on the cue before I sigh it, so the ink doesent run into the wood. Then I put another very light coat on (trying not to smudge the ink). When/if this is accomplished, I may switch to the medium super glue. I put on one coat in the morning (before going to work), and then one coat in the evening.

The glue is drizzled on to the cue while it is spinnning slowly in the lathe. I use good old Coles "Blue and White" Brand serviettes to smooth the glue out on the surface.

As I would like to live a long and healthy life, I tend to go in with my respirator and goggles on, put the coat on, then leave the workshop for the day/night.

That stuff is pretty wicked.

Pict 5 - The plain jane side of the cue. The bubinga will come up nicely in the end.

Oh, I forgot to mention.

In picture 3 (above), it shows the cross-slide of the lathe.

It is now set up to follow the shaft cutting taper bar (which is just a pattern if you like). The cross slide on the lathe is spring loaded, and when the spring is released, it follows the taper bars by way of the height adjustable roller bearing.

The cue butt has a constant taper, and this could be cut just by offsetting the tail stock (an amount which is a ratio of the final length of the butt and the desired taper). But as you often start with a longer piece than you are going to finish up with, the constant adjustments would be a pain. So following a pattern is better.

The shaft is another matter. It is not a constant taper. A pool cue shaft only increases nominally for the first 8-12 inches (depending on design), then widens out to join the butt. This is so a player can use a "looped bridge", where they loop their finger around the cue, and thus stop it from jumping around under a power stroke and mis-cueing.

The black bar is the shaft taper bar, and it is (almost) infinately adjustable.

While more advanced cue builders than me would have multiple patterns for different butt and shaft tapers, I tend just to hand sand any variances a person may request. Now that I have the patterns set up the way I want them, I am lothe to adjust them.

Thats my cue building rant for the evening (as you can tell, not much to do in the shed tonight).

Cheers................

It's been an interesting journey Purple! Thanks for putting it all up here for us to follow - it's been quite an education.

Cheers TTIT. Glad you're enjoying the WIP.

Probably something a little different for the forum.

I'll bet most people didn't know how much work goes into making a custom one-off cue.

Pict 1 - Well, that shaft was only about 80thou oversize, so I was able to turn in down in about 8 passes of 5thou each. It hadn't really warped, but there had been some movement of sorts. It tool a couple of passes to get it true again.

In this pict (in the high res original) you can see the taper of the shaft. In the smaller version, it is not as evident.

Pict 2 - Time to part off the excess.

Pict 3 - Face off again (Ha Ha - Good name for a movie..) Sorry.

Pict 4 - Got to find the correct centre again. Ususally I can get this just by adjusting the work in the chuck one or two times, but it was being a pain tonight. Almost had me reaching for the Tally Hos. (No, not to roll one, but sometimes you have to shim the chuck with a paper to get it spot on).

Pict 5 - Drilled the new centre.

Still working on the shaft.

Pict 1 - Turned down the tennon for the joint collar.

Pict 2 - Test fit.

Pict 3 - Glue up.

G'day Purleheart,

Seeing the amount of work you put into your cues I'd think that for the serious pool/snooker player your cues would be worth the price.

Keep it coming. This WIP is moving along real beaut.

Tip.

If you know someone who drinks beer:eek: , and if they like to buy in bulk (for economic reasons ), the cardboard on the top of the carton (if they buy twist tops) has some little depressions in it, that are great for cutting up into squares and mixing a little epoxy in.

Nothing like recycling.

Pict 1 - WIth the shaft in the chuck (and centred) I turned the joint collar down a little (its still oversize). It is important to have it concentric with the shaft, as I am going to use it to chuck up the shaft to drill and tap the hole for the brass insert (and I want to get that in straight !!)

Pict 2 - The brass insert, the stubby drill bit, and the chuck. While the only way to get a true hole is with the boring bar, it is not always necessary. The stubby drill will run pretty true.

Pict 3 - This is the lathe pin that I will use to drive the brass insert into the drilled and tapped hole.

Pict 4 - Ready to insert the insert !! Notice there was some slipage of the shaft in the chuck (the dark "skid" marks). If I had turned the collar down completely, that would be a pain to sand out again.

Pict 5 - The insert is in, and the excess glue had been cleaned off.

Pict 2 Above should have read "The brass insert, the stubby drill bit and the tap".

Last thing, I drill the hole a little deeper than I need, so I can let any excess glue run to the bottom of the hole as it dries. I often still have to run the tap through the threads just to clean it out later though.

Originally Posted by Waldo

G'day Purleheart,

Seeing the amount of work you put into your cues I'd think that for the serious pool/snooker player your cues would be worth the price.

Keep it coming. This WIP is moving along real beaut.

G'Day Waldo. Thanks for watching my WIP.

Funny thing, in the USA (where pool is a huge sport), your cue is a way you express yourself (or your success, as either a player or a person). There is a very large market for fancy custom cues. In much the same way a person might wear an expensive shirt or watch, or buy a fancy car, pool players buy fancy cues just because they can.

In Aus, the pool scene is much smaller, and the players generally come from a more conservative (snooker) background, where the cues are simpler in design. This is slowly changing.

I guess the most important thing about a cue is that it "plays" well, the way it looks is secondary. That is why I spend the time with the dial indicator chucking everything up spot on.

As a fairly good player, I can say I make a fairly darn good cue !

Cheers.....

G'day Purpleheart,

No problems. Like I said, it's been great following your progress.

So, do you custom make for the local market, or for the US market, or is that something you're trying to crack into?

Originally Posted by Waldo

G'day Purpleheart,

No problems. Like I said, it's been great following your progress.

So, do you custom make for the local market, or for the US market, or is that something you're trying to crack into?

Its really just a hobby at the moment. And a hobby that owes me more than I am going to get back from it in the short term ($$ wise, not enjoyment wise).

But its a hobby that I guess in 20 years or so, I might have developed a bit of a name at it. Maybe so I can retire from the day job a bit early, and do a bit cuemaking to keep the dollars coming in.

US market would be good, Japanese cue collecting by rich business men is also a huge market. But I am in no hurry (a good cuebuilders motto !!)

Regards,,