Re-taper or buy new?

[bolton-cueman]

I've had a 1 piece Northwest cue for the past 5 years - lovely cue, 59", 9.75mm - but for the past year I've really started to want a smaller tip, coming down to around 9mm.

The question is can I (well a cue maker) retaper my cue down to 9mm or would that totally change the feel of the cue or should I have a new cue made based on my current cue just with a smaller tip?

I've heard Kev has retired / jacked in making cues so I'm a bit lost who to go to to either alter my cue or make me a new one.

I know all the 'names' like Wooldrige / White / Osbourne etc but dont fancy paying £700 and waiting for 6 months to get it (kev did mine for £170 and did it in 3 weeks for me )

Any advice?

Thanks

[RogiBear]

I've sent my spare cue off to tony glover to get retapered along with a little maintenance about 3 weeks ago. I'm having it brought down from 9.2 to 8.5mm so I can try it out, should get it back any day now. He charged me £50 but probably would be less just for the taper. I've also had playing cue tapered down from 10 - 9.? before, it didn't affect the feel imo, but each bit of ash/maple is different. Certainly cheaper than a new cue!

[jaffa.johnson]

The feel really comes from the cue butt end / chamfer and finish on the cue.

No doubt the cue will react more with smaller tip.

If ur a confident 9mm is what u want, i would definately go with retaper.

[cally]

The feel really comes from the cue butt end / chamfer and finish on the cue.

You say what...........................

[prince07799]

How happy are with a 59in cue? you could take it down to 9mm and if you're not happy take a bit off the end to make it about the same size again, as for some one to do it Andy Travis is very good and has a quick turn around and will not break the bank

[jonnylovessn8ker]

Mate, I'll make an offer for your cue.
What are your email contacts? I can't send PMs because you haven't made enough posts to activate that function.

[gem]

I've had a 1 piece Northwest cue for the past 5 years - lovely cue, 59", 9.75mm - but for the past year I've really started to want a smaller tip, coming down to around 9mm.

The question is can I (well a cue maker) retaper my cue down to 9mm or would that totally change the feel of the cue or should I have a new cue made based on my current cue just with a smaller tip?

I've heard Kev has retired / jacked in making cues so I'm a bit lost who to go to to either alter my cue or make me a new one.

I know all the 'names' like Wooldrige / White / Osbourne etc but dont fancy paying £700 and waiting for 6 months to get it (kev did mine for £170 and did it in 3 weeks for me )

Any advice?

Thanks

If you are thinking about buying a new cue anyway I would just get that one reduced first and if it doesn't work just buy a new one.

I got Mike Wooldridge to fit the blackspin ferrule and re-taper and it is transformed. Well worth it and done inside a week.

[old school]

Coutts or Glovers are about as good as you can get for this sort of work .Depends where you live and if you are confident of not losing it in the post , personally if you live close to a good maker , visit them and ask their opinion as to whether they think it is worth the re-tapering risk .If there is not enough room in the shaft for re-tapering , then new may be the way to go.Kevin did like to use a slimmer taper than " normal " so be careful on the re-tapering issue or you could end up with too whippy a cue for your own personal taste i.e. cue ruined , for your style of play.

[bolton-cueman]

Coutts or Glovers are about as good as you can get for this sort of work .Depends where you live and if you are confident of not losing it in the post , personally if you live close to a good maker , visit them and ask their opinion as to whether they think it is worth the re-tapering risk .If there is not enough room in the shaft for re-tapering , then new may be the way to go.Kevin did like to use a slimmer taper than " normal " so be careful on the re-tapering issue or you could end up with too whippy a cue for your own personal taste i.e. cue ruined , for your style of play.

re the slimmer than usual taper...

a few people have said the very same thing, but were surprised at how 'thick' the shaft is on mine seeing as it's one of Kevs. It is quite a stout cue and is quite stiff so I'm hoping it can be tapered. But, like you say, I'm bothered about it changing the feel of the cue too much... I'll give Glover a ring and see whats possible

I have just emailed Jason Owen for a quote for a custom cue as I might risk having a new one made and just sell the NorthWest on to offset the new cue

Thanks for all the advice lads

[hotpot]

If youre gonna have it retapered id suggest not having it done below common specs or you could be losing a lot of money .

[tomeestrings]

Interesting !!! Has anybody asked if you use the cue for snooker or pool ?? Curious because I tapered my cue down to 9 mm for pool but prefer 9.5 for snooker and different tips !! Personally though , if your cue were mine I might be tempted to to take it down to 9.25 and see if it makes any real difference . Mind you , am I assuming that you are seeking more spin , screw etc ?? Have you tried other cues or tips ?? All I am trying to suggest is there could be other issues to address before you go down the more radical route of re-taper !!! Regards Tommy

[old school]

I have one more suggestion . In the past I have had some success in tapering ferrules ( thick walled ferrules ) reducing the diameter between 0.5mm & 0.7mm .The ferrule ends up very slightly cone shaped and because you only reduce the part of the ferrule closest to the tip you lose very little integrity/strength .The ferrule remains the same thickness at its shoulder where it meets the tenon on the cue shaft.If you are not confident enough to do this , then I can tell you that Tony Glover makes his own ferrules and I am sure he can create/manufacture a tapered ferrule of say 9.75mm at tenon end tapered down to 9mm at the tip end.This of course means that you would not have to re-taper the shaft and if you did not like the results i.e. 9mm tip , you can reverse engineer the cue by re-instating a 9.75 mm ferrule to take it back to its original specs.Give Tony a call and see if this is viable , hope this helps.

[tomeestrings]

Tapering the ferrule wouldnt have any dicernable difference except that it would take the player backwards trying to understand where the end of the cue is ??

[old school]

I personally see no downside to tapering a ferrule in fact it would give " bolton-cueman " the opportunity to try a 9mm tip on a cue he knows.The cue shaft being un-altered would react and play the same ( no taper change) thus giving him the chance to compare 9mm to original specs.I have tapered ferrules myself and have not noticed this change affecting my cueing or line of sight , after all we are only talking fractions of a millimetre here ( up to 0.75mm in this case) .Furthermore if the change down to 9mm does not suit then simply replace the ferrule with one made to the original specs , this would only cost about £10 and seems to be a safer way to try 9mm , than re-tapering the cue and less expensive than buying a new cue , which he may not even like.Tapering a ferrule allows " bolton-cueman" to try 9mm and revert if it does not suit , for very little money and very little risk.

[sanman]

aLthough have not tried it myself would it not be a whole lot easier to have the tip tapered that half mm or so.

I personally see no downside to tapering a ferrule in fact it would give " bolton-cueman " the opportunity to try a 9mm tip on a cue he knows.The cue shaft being un-altered would react and play the same ( no taper change) thus giving him the chance to compare 9mm to original specs.I have tapered ferrules myself and have not noticed this change affecting my cueing or line of sight , after all we are only talking fractions of a millimetre here ( up to 0.75mm in this case) .Furthermore if the change down to 9mm does not suit then simply replace the ferrule with one made to the original specs , this would only cost about £10 and seems to be a safer way to try 9mm , than re-tapering the cue and less expensive than buying a new cue , which he may not even like.Tapering a ferrule allows " bolton-cueman" to try 9mm and revert if it does not suit , for very little money and very little risk.