Re-Tapering a cue?

[the nugget]

Hi fellas, is it possible to re-taper a cue successfully without removing the ferrule, such as thinning down the last 7 to 9in of the cue. Not wanting to change the ferrule size but the cue over the bridge is quite a thick taper and really doesnt suit, Have any of you done this, any contributions from trev, andy,etc would be appreciated.

[stejohn]

It is possible, absolutely no need to remove the ferrule - i have just tapered the shaft and ferrule down on a cue i have and i'm really pleased with it. You will need to measure the shaft at ferrule then every inch or 2 down to where you want it tapered too so you can keep checking your progress. Its useful to have an idea of what thickness you want at different points before you start. I started with 120grit wet/dry papaer and started where the shaft needed most taking off, then worked out from there up and down. You have to keep rotating the shaft and moving up and down so its tapered evenly and you don't end up with a flat spot. Just a little at a time and keep checking your measurements.

I then worked through the grits 240,400,800etc to get it super smooth.
Obviously the shaft will need oiling/grain filling depending on what your left with.

Terry Davidson gave me some good advice, as i was taking the ferrule down i started of with a file, i believe Terry also uses a file to take down the shaft but for me i found i had much more contorl with the wet/dry paper.

Steve.

[mattyshinobi22]

in my opinion i wouldnt do it, had a wooldridge cue re tapered once to my fav cue at the time, a trev white. The cue came back with a little more whip in the shaft than before and didnt feel the same. had to sell it on

[bigandyg]

The danger is getting the shaft a smaller diameter than the diameter of the ferrule.

[raymo147]

Yep most makers would do this with a very sharp plane with the blade really shallow!
I use a no7 plane which is a jointer plane!
Much longer sole on it!
Can be done with sanding also!
Aslong as you don't go too thin and end up with the cue as Andy described!
Patience is the key!

[Skye]

My buddy recently had his cue re-tapered. After it was done, the cue felt whippier then before. Felt odd

[the nugget]

in my opinion i wouldnt do it, had a wooldridge cue re tapered once to my fav cue at the time, a trev white. The cue came back with a little more whip in the shaft than before and didnt feel the same. had to sell it on

As its not my regular cue id be tempted to do it as its quite a chunky cue, tis a 27yr old powerglide purist plain ebony/ash one piece in near mint condition straight as arrow, same as the cue you outbid me on the bay last nov i think! Problem is its 10.1mm at the base of the ferrule and gets thick quite soon all the way past the bridge area, just doesnt feel comfortable over the bridge to what im used to. Maybe thinning it slightly might also give it a bit of flex as it feels quite stiff also. The thing is its in such good condition id hate to go through the bother of reworking it and maybe not getting on with it at the end of it all.

[mattyshinobi22]

thats it, being in original condition for so long, is it worth ruining if ya dont like it after alteration?

[the nugget]

Yep most makers would do this with a very sharp plane with the blade really shallow!
I use a no7 plane which is a jointer plane!
Much longer sole on it!
Can be done with sanding also!
Aslong as you don't go too thin and end up with the cue as Andy described!
Patience is the key!

Yes id re-tapered a playing cue 20yrs ago as a kid when i had to re-ferrule it, the ferrule job was perfect but i ended up overdoing the taper. This left the cue too thin for too long from the ferrule back and playing-wise it went from med-stiff to really whippy. Twas unplayable after that so i know the pitfalls now, thanks fellas for the info on whether and how it can be done.

[the nugget]

thats it, being in original condition for so long, is it worth ruining if ya dont like it after alteration?

True and also coz i play with the chamfer down this cue has as all good cues have the chevrons/arrows on the face with the badge up, whereas my regular craftsman pro-ash i had made with the arrows forward while the chamfers down. So really prob shouldnt ruin an original just for the sake of tinkering.

[the nugget]

Anyway for what its worth i measured the taper of the cue and here goes from ferrule to 12in, every inch along!
10.1 at base of ferrule, 10.65(1in), 11.1(2in), 11.54(3in), 12.03(4in), 12.70(5in), 13.12(6in), 13.61(7in), 14.01(8in), 14.33(9in), 14.69(10in), 15(11in), 15.36(12in).

Im no expert on tapers but would this be described as a thick taper, normal taper or what?

Ive played with 10mm ferruled cues many a time but the shafts on other cues were not as thick so soon for so long. Any opinions on this?

[stejohn]

Yes that is a thick taper to give you an idea of the cues i measured
........................................4".......8 ".......12".......16"
Craftsman.......9mm.........10.8....12.6.....14.3. ....15.6
Glover rep.......9.2mm.......11.5....13.1.....14.7.....16 .2
J/Owen...........9.5mm ......11.2....12.8.....14.3.....15.5
Glover before...9.7mm......11.4....13.2.....15.3.....16.8
Glover after......9.5mm......11.2....12.8.....14.5.....15 .8

The glover cue i have was too thick and very stiff for my preference so i tapered it down and not only did it feel better for me it played better aswell.

[snookergr]

in my opinion i wouldnt do it, had a wooldridge cue re tapered once to my fav cue at the time, a trev white. The cue came back with a little more whip in the shaft than before and didnt feel the same. had to sell it on

same thing happened to me ! the cue had SO MUCH spring it threw the CB off line A LOT and I sold it right after it was re-furbished !

[narl]

same thing happened to me ! the cue had SO MUCH spring it threw the CB off line A LOT and I sold it right after it was re-furbished !

If anything whippy shafts when using side tend to not throw the cueball off as much, so i don't see why it would start throwing off plain ball shots. Musta been tapered to spaghettii proportions to throw the ball off with centre striking.