Tips on making cues

[RogiBear]

I'm going try and make some one-piece cues this summer. I already have the shafts ready, ie turned and tapered down close to final specs. Just have to splice and finish them.

Does anyone have any tips for, splicing, ferruling and finishing?

Thanks in advance

[jim evans]

depends on tools you have,centre the butt assuming you have because you say turned shaft,mark the shaft were splicing will go to put a piece of tape round shaft to mark ,plane shaft as close as you are comfortable with ensuring the centre at bottom is equal,get past that stage then ask again lol

[RogiBear]

Ok, I have the generic tools that everyone would have plus a small bandsaw and a bench-top sander. The two planes i have are two old stanley wood planes, one large one small which i have replaced the blade on both. No the best but trying to keep this on a budget atm while i'm sussing it all out. Out of interest have to tried cutting and then sanding the butt taper for the splices rather than planing? i'll get back to you in about a months time then lol. Not much confidence it doing it, spent a while getting the shafts ready and dont want to mess them up

[jim evans]

your better planing thick off than sawing

[bigandyg]

I used to practise on brush shafts so not to waste good ash,right enough they were made of ash as well not todays rubbish.

[RogiBear]

I'll let you, how it goes. Starting on the worst shaft aesthetically this weekend.

[raymo147]

Being able to clamp/hold down the shaft your working on is massive.
A must really.
Need to have free hands a very sharp blade helps.

[scottd9993]

clamp down, sharp blade and make sure plane is cutting truly square. this will make your life sooo much easier. let us know how you get on!!

[RogiBear]

Cue No.1

First cue finished, not too bad for a first attempt I think, was expecting it to be worse!! Pics below

The splices aren't too bad but for some reason the front splice ended up being a few mm shorter than the others, must be something to do with the planing down. Used Iroko for the butt splices, it looks better in the flesh and had quite a nice grain pattern. Just wanted to use something inexpensive for the first go.

Had a few difficulties rounding the butt accurately as I couldn't get access to the lathe I used for the shafts. Uni said no (one for the shopping list I think) I also haven't bothered weighting it so it is naturally weighted at the minute.

Current spec:

58", 9.5mm tip, 28.5mm butt, 13.5 oz

I welcome any comments and tips etc

Adam

[Maverick54]

very nice mate. Out of interest what lathe were you using to tun the shafts?

[RogiBear]

Cheers. I borrowed the CNC lathe at uni which is huge, can't remember the make etc. Tapered from 30mm to 10mm

[RogiBear]

Having said that, it might have been a harrison

[RogiBear]

Could anyone recommend a lathe suitable for cue making. I know standard sizes are too small but some can be adapted.

[Maverick54]

Is it easier to make a one piece cue than a 3/4? Just wondering if lining up the shaft splices on a 3/4 with the butt splices is a problem due to the joint? Doing my head in just thinking about it ha ha

[RogiBear]

I think that most will start making with a one piece cue purely down to the joint. Most will not have a lathe to hand to make sure the joint runs true. I personally don't think it would be anymore difficult to make a 3/4 just a bit of a pain.

As for matching the butt splices with the shaft. The way I would do it is to fit the joint first and then mark for the butt splices so they coincide with the shaft. However I could be completely wrong.