**Post Pictures of your cue!**

[poolqjunkie]

A lot of US pool cues have a long and slim joint pin. The pin may bent if they accidently drop the butt from the case onto the floor and the pin lands first.
With snooker cues, wood to wood or not, the pins are usually quite thick and short. I do not think you can really bend the pin easily by dropping the cue on the floor. If damage is done to the joint, it is usually in the form of a dent on the edge and the impact usually comes from the side, which cannot be protected by a joint protector anyway.
Sometimes I think having a joint protector is actually more troublesome and creats more chance for the shaft or butt to be dropped. Without any protectors I only need to screw the butt to the shaft and I am done; however, with protectors I need to first of all hold the shaft with one hand, unscrew the protector on the shaft with my other while leaving my butt in the case. I then need to find a pocket or whatever to put the protector while still holding the shaft with my other hand. I then take the butt out, remove the protector on the butt with one hand or try to put the shaft down on a table or something and then try to take the protector out while keeping an eye on the shaft to make sure no one knocks it over. I then try to find a free hand to screw the butt joint protector to the shaft joint protector and put them somewhere together so they will not be lost--and then and only then do I start to perform the simple task of joining the shaft to the butt. As some tournaments are held in very crowded places, I just find having joint protectors a lot more inconvenient. It wastes lots of time and while I am juggling with all these protectors I may accidently drop my cue or someone might bump into me or whatever...O, forget to mention I may simply lose my joint protectors in the midst of all the chaos. Then I would have to put my cue down and look under the table; when my opponent is warming up hitting balls already because he only needs a few seconds to screw the shaft to the butt

[tornado taylor]

Well that would make two of us then bud, cause I never realised that either!!

me either

[coomsey76]

lol. i'm not surprised.

perhaps people will understand why it is irritating to me when people say sd joint now.

and why they should be corrected.

I don't blame you either, it's your design so it should called the F1 joint like you have named!!

It's a sweet looking joint you have there, i really like it in black...... Bloody nice work Mike!!:snooker:

[jonnylovessn8ker]

I do not believe that misalignment is mainly determined by whether the joint is wood to wood or not.
Also, to protect the wooden edge from getting damage requires just the same kind of care as when one tries to protect the rest of the cue from getting dented. For example, if you drop your shaft and it hits a sharp edge it will get dented. You just need to be careful.
Lastly, I have seen lots of cues with deep dents at the brass joint, and/or on the butt end where the extension joint is. Those are very hard if not impossible to repair sometimes unless you replace the joint; while if you dent your ebony, you can repair it much easier and if you do a very good job, it can look like new.

i typed my message out with my phone so i guess it didnt turn out the way i wanted. but what i intended was asking 2 entirely separately questions. so 1)is there any misalignment prevention? and 2) are there joint protectors since the wood edge surrounding the joint is exposed to damage risk.

so i never had the assumption that wood to wood joints are likely candidates for misalignments. i'm well aware that all joints do at some point, and i was merely curious if mike's F1 (not SD :P) joints have any fail-proof anti-misalignment features. i'm looking forward to see one that would have this feature.

i'm surprised that (dented i assume) ebony is THAT easy to repair. i suppose that level of difficulty doesn't extend to cracked ebony, say from a bad end joint installation??

[eaoin11]

i typed my message out with my phone. but what i intended was asking 2 entirely separately question. so 1)is there any misalignment prevention? and 2) are there joint protectors since the wood edge surrounding the joint is exposed to damage risk.

so i never had the assumption that wood to wood joints are likely candidates for misalignments. i'm well aware that all joints do at some point, and i was merely curious if mike's F1 (not SD :P) joints have any fail-proof anti-misalignment features. i'm looking forward to see one that would have this feature.

i'm surprised that (dented i assume) ebony is THAT easy to repair. i suppose that level of difficulty doesn't extend to cracked ebony, say from a bad end joint installation??

Are you thinking of getting a 2 pce or joint above the splices? I think both points are more important in that case, for grain matching in the first and protection of the shaft timber walls in the second.

But I do get the impression that alignment doesn't change much with wear in these joints.

[MikeWooldridge]

I think both points are more important in that case, for grain matching in the first and protection of the shaft timber walls in the second.

protection against what?

dropping the cue when you get it out your case?

[platt]

true, but i do not wish to argue about obvious facts.

mine is not called sd joint.

and the next person to say it will be put on my naughty list...

how about a MW...SD joint....lol

[ashbash]

how long till we see the new extensions then mike?

[poolqjunkie]

i typed my message out with my phone so i guess it didnt turn out the way i wanted. but what i intended was asking 2 entirely separately questions. so 1)is there any misalignment prevention? and 2) are there joint protectors since the wood edge surrounding the joint is exposed to damage risk.

so i never had the assumption that wood to wood joints are likely candidates for misalignments. i'm well aware that all joints do at some point, and i was merely curious if mike's F1 (not SD :P) joints have any fail-proof anti-misalignment features. i'm looking forward to see one that would have this feature.

i'm surprised that (dented i assume) ebony is THAT easy to repair. i suppose that level of difficulty doesn't extend to cracked ebony, say from a bad end joint installation??

I understand, Johnny. I did not mean to say what I said as an attack, just wanted to express how I feel about the issue in general--not necessarily directed only at your questions.

I believe joint misalignment is largely due to the design of the joint, how precise it is machined, how well it faces, material used, and last but not least, how well it is installed. Some joints are more prong to misalignment than others.

I believe inserting the pin at an angle is one of the biggest reason why so many brass pins are worn off and go off line. You can see on some old cues that the pin is worn to a conical shape from this type of "abuse" whereas the pin was inserted into the female at an angle repeatedly.

I never said ebony is very easy to repair but if you know what you are doing you can repair a crack or a dent on ebony much easier than a dent on a brass plate. Actually I do not know how to hide a deep dent on brass except to turn/file it until the dent disappears. But obviously it is not recommended on your joint or else your cue could become very slim like a pencil.

[jonnylovessn8ker]

I understand, Johnny. I did not mean to say what I said as an attack, just wanted to express how I feel about the issue in general--not necessarily directed only at your questions.

none taken

[EnterTheDragon]

Here is my latest cue.. The beauty of it is, that it's self-made.

Ash shaft, Ebony butt, 4 splices of Zebrano with maple veneers + matching Zebrano mini-butt.
Not weighed yet but will be 17.5 oz. and 17 in. balance point. 9.8 mm. tip and 30.5mm butt.

[DeanH]

What a nice looking cue, well done. :snooker:
No photo of the matching mini
How long you been making cues?
Do you have a badge design?

[EnterTheDragon]

What a nice looking cue, well done. :snooker:
No photo of the matching mini
How long you been making cues?
Do you have a badge design?

Thank you..
Yeah didn't put photo of the mini-butt since it's not ready yet, getting the quick release joint next week.
This is my second cue so lot to learn still.. The first one had a really nice shaft, but managed to make a disaster of it using Wenge as the main butt wood.
This one turned out way better with ebony, and especially that Zebrano is a really nice looking wood. Haven't finished it yet so it probably comes out even nicer when it has multiple coats of oil on it.
No badge design yet, maybe when i have made at least 15-20 that are all 100% to my satisfaction... :snooker:

[DeanH]

Only your second cue, wow, very nice indeed.
As you have probably gathered from this forum you will get some very interested possible-customers if you go down that line
Yes, that Zebrano should be quite stunning when finished oiled.
Is there or has there been any Finnish cuemakers?

[EnterTheDragon]

I've heard of one cuemaker here in Finland that has made snooker cues, but can't remember his name.. Not so popular here as it is in Britain.
Really enjoy making these at the moment, extremely rewarding although very time consuming as you have to be so accurate in everything that you do.
Was very surprised how easy it is, especially the shaft and splicings. Only really hard part is fitting the ferrule as i dont have the proper equipment for that.