Cue making diary

[jim evans]

it does look like a rosewood jr,think ive got some of that as well ile have a look

[old school]

Jason, I do know that generally speaking a 3/4 is often made with a solid turned butt as opposed to four individual splices over the shaft of a one piece.The weight and balance of a cue,I believe is dictated more by having a solid butt,again this is something I appreciate.What I was suggesting was that if a one piece was made traditionally i.e. four splices over the existing shaft and this was left as a naturally weighted cue then balance might be between 15" and 18" and weght would probably vary between 14oz-18oz ,depending on timbers used eg rosewood ( light) ebony (heavy) and splice length.i.e longer splices putting the balance point further towards the tip and vice versa (short butt,back heavy).Timber density also comes into play.I realise you must know this and apologise for repeating it.I have recently had a cue converted from a one piece to a 3/4 at Glovers.The weight of the joint was nominal (1oz ish) being a 5/16" wood to wood brass joint with no brass disc faces.This hardly affected the weight or balance of the cue and was put in as a low joint ,so that I could remove the butt leaving an approximate shaft length of 48" for tight pub tables and it works really well ( I should point out this is not my first low joint experiment).So perhaps a cue of 57",9mm tip,14mm at 12" down (tapered appropriately )to a 29-29.5mm butt in say Ash,Ebony made as a traditional one piece,with a 7" front splice of x-timber,then jointed just above the front splice, as above might work out ( naturally weighted) at about 16-17oz and balanced at 16-17".Sorry for the long post, p.s. weghting and balancing is easier to alter on a one piece anyway,in my opinion.Thanks for putting up with me,no offence is intended at all.Good luck with your venture.Regards Mick.

[jaffa.johnson]

Badges are coming along, Stupree is doing a grand job and i have been ultra fussy with getting the best from his engraving machine. Think he has done brilliantly. Cant wait to get them on some cues.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]7027[/ATTACH]

Awesome looking badge.

Well done stuart.

[JasonOwen]

Mick, No probs, I quite like different challenges as it helps me think through the processes and might suss a problem before it pops up.

The only bit that was worrying me was that if I had to weight the cue with lead at around 7 inches into the butt then when it would be cut for the joint, the weight would at best fall out and at worst ruin Tony G's band saw blade.

[Stupree]

Hot off the press!

Jason's first batch of badges - Numbers 001-050

Badges have protective film so are not as sparkly as they will be.

Next up - Mr Evans!

[jrc750]

Excellent work mate, very impressive.......should keep Jason going for a couple of weeks eh

[Stupree]

Excellent work mate, very impressive.......should keep Jason going for a couple of weeks eh

Thanks mate.

I hope they last a little longer than a couple of weeks for my sake but I hope everyone keeps Jason busy by buying his great cues, but it is very little bother now to make some more.

[jaffa.johnson]

Thanks mate.

I hope they last a little longer than a couple of weeks for my sake but I hope everyone keeps Jason busy by buying his great cues, but it is very little bother now to make some more.

Great job mate.

[ashbash]

Ha ha ha ha, very good (i believe you can get cream for those Jason)

are you speaking from personal experience

[jrc750]

are you speaking from personal experience

No a friend of mine lol ...honest

[old school]

Naturally weighted cues are my favourite kind.No lead,no weights,nothing to come loose, just wood that feels natural and balanced in the hand.The benefits of low jointing a cue ( in my opinion) is that any weight in the joint is closer to your hand so you dont tend to notice it especially with the lighter joints that are now available (some older joints were horrendously heavy,in excess of 2oz,so that needed to be taken into account for balance purposes). A solid 3/4 butt to me feels like a greater density in hand,compared to an overspliced four piece butt i.e traditional one piece construction, so any weighting needs to be higher,pushing the balance point forward.Tony Glovers band saw would be perfectly safe if there was no artificial weight in the cue ,so by making a traditional one piece and then jointing it ( allowing for the joint having "some" effect,even if only negligable,on balance point) I believe a playable cue could be made with the specs I previously mentioned.These are of course only personal views and I am still thoroughly enjoying following your posts and blog on this forum and The Cue Guru website.Keep up the good work,it is much appreciated and valued by forum members.

[trevs1]

Old School.....

A naturally weighted one piece cue of the sort of dimensions you suggested earlier (9mm to 29mm with a taper of 14mm at 12" from ferrule) is unlikely to turn out at 17oz's, even with a joint weighing 1oz fitted to it. Practically all one piece (hand spliced) cues will have had some weight adjustment, because the timber alone would not provide sufficient weight to make the cue feel like a finished cue, but more like a pencil. As you rightly point out, timber does vary in natural weight, so a heavier shaft may well give a cue of around 16oz's or perhaps even a bit more if it was of a good sturdy shape and taper, AND, was made with timber of pretty extreme weight, but that would definitely be the exception and NOT the rule in one piece cues. Machine spliced one piece cues (especially ebony butt versions) are a little different in that the butt is solid timber, so, adding considerable weight to the overall finished cue. 16oz's to 17oz's or perhaps a little more is far more achievable for this sort of cue with no added (or artificial) weight.

Artificial weight does nothing to harm the feel and performance of any cue, and as I've already mentioned, in one piece cues is pretty much always a standard feature. I'd bet that there isn't anyone alive who could tell whether a cue did or did not have some weight added to it simply by using the cue. The most important aspect of getting a cue to feel right for any player is just that, getting it to feel right. The means of "how" that is done is fairly irrelevant.

[Inoffthered]

Old School.....

A naturally weighted one piece cue of the sort of dimensions you suggested earlier (9mm to 29mm with a taper of 14mm at 12" from ferrule) is unlikely to turn out at 17oz's, even with a joint weighing 1oz fitted to it. Practically all one piece (hand spliced) cues will have had some weight adjustment, because the timber alone would not provide sufficient weight to make the cue feel like a finished cue, but more like a pencil. As you rightly point out, timber does vary in natural weight, so a heavier shaft may well give a cue of around 16oz's or perhaps even a bit more if it was of a good sturdy shape and taper, AND, was made with timber of pretty extreme weight, but that would definitely be the exception and NOT the rule in one piece cues. Machine spliced one piece cues (especially ebony butt versions) are a little different in that the butt is solid timber, so, adding considerable weight to the overall finished cue. 16oz's to 17oz's or perhaps a little more is far more achievable for this sort of cue with no added (or artificial) weight.

Artificial weight does nothing to harm the feel and performance of any cue, and as I've already mentioned, in one piece cues is pretty much always a standard feature. I'd bet that there isn't anyone alive who could tell whether a cue did or did not have some weight added to it simply by using the cue. The most important aspect of getting a cue to feel right for any player is just that, getting it to feel right. The means of "how" that is done is fairly irrelevant.

Trevor, do you have any pictures of your workshop? Would be interesting to see...

Hope all is well with you.

[trevs1]

What do you want to see?

[jrc750]

I remember when Dan Shelton sorted out my loose weight problem on one of my one piece cues, he said without the weights the cue only weighed a fraction over 15 oz !!! Ash/ebony, 57" long, 9.5 ferrule, splices 19" long