cue making, repairs and help

[ADR147]

the 'made by bodily parts only' cue

first we go into the forest and break the ash from from the trees with our bare hands, then gnaw the shafts with our cuemakers teeth until we form a perfect shaft, before finishing off by polishing it between the crack of our a*** cheeks...

now that's a pure hand made cue!

mike can you make me one like that ? :

[poolqjunkie]

Thank you Mike. I do not think I would fancy a "made by body part only" cue anytime soon, but I will let you know when I do.

When you and others say "plane," what do you actually mean? Is there any picture of the plane? I do not believe I have heard any US pool cue maker ever mention using this tool? From my limited knowledge, the shafts are usually turned either on a lathe and cut by a router or a bandsaw with some template or by a CNC machine.

Thank you so much for taking your time to explain things here on the forum. It is much appreciated.

[Piruz]

Thank you Mike. I do not think I would fancy a "made by body part only" cue anytime soon, but I will let you know when I do.

When you and others say "plane," what do you actually mean? Is there any picture of the plane? I do not believe I have heard any US pool cue maker ever mention using this tool? From my limited knowledge, the shafts are usually turned either on a lathe and cut by a router or a bandsaw with some template or by a CNC machine.

Thank you so much for taking your time to explain things here on the forum. It is much appreciated.

You havent ever heard about this?

http://img2.timeinc.net/toh/i/a/buye...-planes-08.jpg

Hand plane is very old woodturning tool. I know pool cuemakers dont use these anymore, but they did back in the Middle Ages

[MikeWooldridge]

mike can you make me one like that ?

i did last time mate. didn't you notice the oil finish had an unusual smell?..

[MikeWooldridge]

When you and others say "plane," what do you actually mean? Is there any picture of the plane?

as you can see from the link piruz gave you, it's an 'old fashioned' hand tool. i still use this type tool a lot, but when i have to move a lot of wood i use an electric hand plane.

From my limited knowledge, the shafts are usually turned either on a lathe and cut by a router or a bandsaw with some template or by a CNC machine. .

that's true. but it's easy for them cos they only work on relatively short lengths of wood, around 29-30". anyone can stick that in a lathe and run it through a taper template. i'd do that all the time if i only made 2pc centre join cues.

[checkSide]

Hi Keith.

You made a cue for my Father years ago. Possibly around 10-15.

I remember meeting you when you visited to show him the cue during the process. Although I was only a nipper then!

He still plays with your cue now and loves it like no other! It has Keith Auld Cuemaker Wimbledon on the badge.

[poolqjunkie]

Thank you everyone. I must say I am surprised and impressed. I am surprised by how "primitive" the hand plane look, and impressed by the outstanding cues you folks are able to turn out with such tool. I cannot imagine the labor hours that is put in.

I suppose the shaft being so long does call for different measure, for one thing, the vibration may cause a lot of problems with a router on a lathe. But can't a special lathe with a long bed be made perhaps with a rest in the middle or something like that?

If you need to make a special taper, how do you do that with a hand plane. Say if I want the first 4 inches straight and then with a small increment thereafter and so on? Are you saying you do not put the shaft on a lathe, and just mount it on some surface and then shape the shaft by using a hand plane, and then turn it by hand as well?

Sorry if my questions sound really ignorant. Thank you for your patience.

[ADR147]

i did last time mate. didn't you notice the oil finish had an unusual smell?..

VASOLINE ?

[keith auld]

Hi Checkside - Nice to know someone still remembers me ! Yes they were good days in Wimbledon until the personal side fell apart ! Good to know your Dad is still playing with the same cue and still loves it ! That is the best advert any cue maker can have and the reason why we as cue makers carry on our craft, and for that I thank you. From this thread and your pseudonym I don't know who you are, but regardless, give my regards to your Dad, I wish you both Merry Xmas and Happy New Year and keep enjoying playing
Keith

[MikeWooldridge]

VASOLINE ?

no. pure wooldridge sweat. mmm...

[ADR147]

its not a sweaty smell on this cue i have here......................

[The Doctor]

finish

Could any of the cue-makers on here help me out? i am wondering what is the best thing to use or do, to get a nice polished finish on the butt of my cue. i have heard of beeswax and danish oil and even car polish. what do you guys use as i like the nice shine you manage to get when you are burnishing your cues at the finishing. Can this only be achieved by spinning in a lathe.
Also, is there anything you can do to strengthen a cue(making it stiffer) other than cutting off a bit and adding onto the butt. is there some kind of oil or resin/ i would very much appreciate your words of wisdom.

[keith auld]

Hi Doc -If you've been playing with the same cue for some time you should have built up a naturaly patina, ideally you want to keep that and forget the high shine we get on a new cue as a lot of that shine is sealer., which will disappear with use. If your cue is sticky, but not as a result of lacquer, this can sometimes be caused by the use of linseed oil and various people use various methods to counter this - Jimmy white for example uses a wet cloth and then dries it immediatly afterwards as he likes to feel a pronounced grain on his cue and this tends to lift it, others who want their cue really smooth will use wet and dry and then a lanolin powder, rather than a beeswax or polish application. The main thing is to get the cue to feel the way you want it to, and then leave it and just use a dry cloth after playing, give it a good rub to get off the sweat and grime from the table and let the patina build.
With regard to the rigidity of the shaft (I can already see the innuendos and comments that are going to follow this thread from both Mike and ADR - it's like playing the straight man to a couple of commedians !!!!), you're right; the only real way is to cut of at the tip and splice on at the butt - trouble is that it will effect your balance

Hope this helps - Merry Xmas to all
Keith

[The Doctor]

thanks very much keith. that helps.

[trevs1]

The dry cloth advice Keith mentions above is definitely one of the better treatments a cue can get, whereas the damp cloth can be very damaging to the finish on a cue. Damp cloths tend to wash out the finish (on ash shafts) leaving them prone to getting coarse and ultimately a little brittle around the edges of the growth rings (or V's / arrows) or whatever you like to call them. This can get very pronounced over time and lead to a cue feeling uncomfortable to use, making it feel like a series of ridges over your bridge hand when cueing.

Also, as Keith says, the main objective in getting a cue to feel smooth is creating a 'patina' which generally takes time, although there are ways to accelerate this process.

If you want a high shine on your cue, you can actually use linseed oil to do this, although that also takes time. To give you some idea of how to go about this, you can just wipe a little over the butt of the cue and allow it to stand overnight, followed by a good polish with a dry cloth the next day. If this is repeated over a number of weeks, maybe three or four times per week, it will develop a really deep shine, but you MUST give it the dry cloth treatment.