My cue making attempt

[golferson123]

top notch! do it your own way and find your own path, drill wise 10mm drill bit and get a extension welded on, ps jigs are the way to go

[staners1]

Awesome job, totally inspired me to have a go. Always wanted too just never had the courage 👍

[Cue crafty]

Here is a photomontage video of my attempt to make a 1pc cue.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7iFVzWYFjo

Cheers!

Just home from work and watched the video, feel so relaxed now!  Lovely to watch the process stages you obviously have great craft talent. Be nice to see the finished article and get an update when you play with it first time. Great thing is if it doesn't play great it's still a lovely item for anyone's snooker/pool room! Thanks.

[RunningSide]

Really liked the video so thanks for that.

Have you tried taping a piece of lead etc to the shaft and played with it then to see how it reacts? Might be worth a go to see.

Yes Shockerz, I actually did tape some lead weights (used in fishing) at earlier stage, and the cue felt ok (I'd say responsive, but a bit weird when weights were "hanging" under like gravitycue or whatever it is), but that was just very quick testing... I was too hurry to move on as I wasn't able to use very many days with this cue making exploring. I have no idea when I'll have a chance to try the next one!! When doing so, I want to do it without any rush and enjoy more of project. Also, I'll use wood glue for sure. No rosewood, but macassar ebony instead and olive wood again. I'll save my rosewoods to something else (as it turned out more dark oiled than I expected)

At first - before dreaming of the cue no. 2 - I need to get build some kind of finish layer of raw linseed oil and inserted those weights, and then I need to get feedback of that cue when actually played (if it is giving any)...

[RunningSide]

top notch! do it your own way and find your own path, drill wise 10mm drill bit and get a extension welded on, ps jigs are the way to go

Yes, I have now bought a long enough 10mm drill bit, but won't have a chance to do actual process for some time now. I have also some lead weights already (diam. 11mm which are easily taken down 10mm).

[RunningSide]

Just home from work and watched the video, feel so relaxed now!  Lovely to watch the process stages you obviously have great craft talent. Be nice to see the finished article and get an update when you play with it first time. Great thing is if it doesn't play great it's still a lovely item for anyone's snooker/pool room! Thanks.

Thank you Cue crafty for your nice words!

[Shockerz]

top notch! do it your own way and find your own path, drill wise 10mm drill bit and get a extension welded on, ps jigs are the way to go

Gun barrel drills are long but difficult to keep straight as you go deeper unless you gave a lathe.

[Shockerz]

Yes Shockerz, I actually did tape some lead weights (used in fishing) at earlier stage, and the cue felt ok (I'd say responsive, but a bit weird when weights were "hanging" under like gravitycue or whatever it is), but that was just very quick testing... I was too hurry to move on as I wasn't able to use very many days with this cue making exploring. I have no idea when I'll have a chance to try the next one!! When doing so, I want to do it without any rush and enjoy more of project. Also, I'll use wood glue for sure. No rosewood, but macassar ebony instead and olive wood again. I'll save my rosewoods to something else (as it turned out more dark oiled than I expected)

At first - before dreaming of the cue no. 2 - I need to get build some kind of finish layer of raw linseed oil and inserted those weights, and then I need to get feedback of that cue when actually played (if it is giving any)...

Great post and enjoying this as I am sure you are. Any reason for linseed oil or just your preferred method?

[vmax]

Thanks a lot for your tips vmax!! Can you name any wood glue that is suitable for the job with hard oily woods, please. I'm not very familiar with wood glues and glueing, so what should it say in the bottle? Would Titebond III work fine? Your suggestion Sir, please!

I use Titebond II, never had a problem with it, I also have a bottle of III but haven't tried it yet. For those dark oily timbers, wipe with meths or white spirit to remove any surface oil and when dry, about ten minutes later, wet a cloth with water and wring it out as dry as you possibly can, wipe that over the surface to be glued and glue straight away.
Wood glue works osmotically and this will allow the glue to penetrate the hardwood better by bonding with the water molecules and flowing into the timber, but the surface needs to be slightly damp, not wet as wet will dilute the glue.

[Ninja.cues]

Very nice cue and sure you will be really happy once you've got it weighed to you want.

For the lead, is not hard to make some usable wooden jigs for making lead shots.
I've made two, one at 12mm and one at 13mm for some older cues that may need reweighting.

Easy to make and when/of they get to big, I can make kne new ones and it's out of scrap.

[RunningSide]

Great post and enjoying this as I am sure you are. Any reason for linseed oil or just your preferred method?

Linseed oil is easy and not harmful any way and I have it. I may add a few very very thin layers of shellac, if I'm not satisfied with plain linseed oil... Not sure yet. One of my practice shafts (done three years ago) I did manage somehow to finish absolutely great, but can't remember anymore how I did it. I assume I've used little shellac in between linseed coatings as I was using shellac (did some french polishing exercises) those days. My target is to seal wood, enhance the look and colour, but leave the feeling of natural wood to maximum - and of course I want the shaft glide without sticking.

[RunningSide]

I use Titebond II, never had a problem with it, I also have a bottle of III but haven't tried it yet. For those dark oily timbers, wipe with meths or white spirit to remove any surface oil and when dry, about ten minutes later, wet a cloth with water and wring it out as dry as you possibly can, wipe that over the surface to be glued and glue straight away.
Wood glue works osmotically and this will allow the glue to penetrate the hardwood better by bonding with the water molecules and flowing into the timber, but the surface needs to be slightly damp, not wet as wet will dilute the glue.

Thank You vmax for these instructions! I appreciate a lot. When ever the time is right to have an another go for splicing (I have one more good shaft left), I'll do exactly you say here!!

[RunningSide]

Very nice cue and sure you will be really happy once you've got it weighed to you want.

For the lead, is not hard to make some usable wooden jigs for making lead shots.
I've made two, one at 12mm and one at 13mm for some older cues that may need reweighting.

Easy to make and when/of they get to big, I can make kne new ones and it's out of scrap.

Thanks Ninja.cues!

[Catch 22]

Awesome mate .

Love how we all have different ways to make cues . The spotlight idea is cool

[RunningSide]

Thanks Catch 22. Yes, It's quite common to me that I find me making things maybe a bit different... I always feel very unsure (when doing new things) at starting point and that is why I try to find methods which are convincing me that I may somehow succeed. I was so bad in wood working at school times, it was absolutely horrible. I messed up everything!!! Since those days, I've done many different hand crafting things and knowing nowadays that I may succeed, but still that certain uncomfortable feeling at starting point stays always in my heart.

It would be great to see some other methods too. Not really finding much information of snooker cue making. I really enjoy reading and watching how people solve different problems and how they use their hands and tools. How do you do different, what is your approach?