Replacing Ferrule on Mastercue

[chrisoverson]

Hi all, long time no see :-)

I play with a Mastercue Probutt, and over time it seems with me polishing, retipping, buffing and whatever else, over 8 years I've tapered the ferrule down to 9mm at the tip, 9.5mm at the base. I want to go back to 9.5mm, and I also have been eying up the Century Titanium Ferrules, so I've just ordered a new 9.5mm one with some new tips.

Question: How best to remove the ferrule? Looking back over the forum it seems heating the brass with either a soldering iron, hot air or carefully with a flame seems best then unscrewing with grips, but I wondered if anyone has specific experience with these cues and how the ferrule is fitted. My local cue chap said he never attempts to heat them, I think he uses a lathe to machine the tip off. I want to avoid losing length at all costs if possible.

I've got some Kapton tape and I'm planning on using that to protect the shaft whilst applying heat.

Any thoughts or better suggestions would be most welcome!

[Davebarker1978]

I have used a lighter to heat and grips to twist off, this was on a Parris cue with a non threaded ferrule.

I had a similar issue with my cue and also purchased a 9.5mm century ferrule, what I found was that the century ferrule was thicker and not as tall as the original ferrule so although it was 9.5mm the cue would require altering to fit the century ferrule. I have now sent the cue off to have a new ferrule made to the same size as the original ferrule so there are no alterations required to the cue.

[vmax]

note:
when removing a ferrule you will lose a small amount of wood from the tenon the ferrule fits over, especially if it has an internal thread so if the original ferrule needs to be removed because it's loose it won't be able to be fitted onto the cue again, always fit a new one and make sure the inside diameter of the new one is smaller than the diameter of the tenon because you can't make the tenon bigger and you'll have to cut a new tenon and lose that much length from your cue

[chrisoverson]

Thank you both

I don't mind taking a teeny bit off the cue if necessary, I think I measured my current ferrule at 7mm and the new one is supposed to be about 6mm. Would rather avoid having to cut a new tenon though!

Sounds like heat and grips are the way forward then.

I've ordered some jb weld steel reinforced epoxy which I'm planning on using to attach the new ferrule, and I've 3d printed a clamp to hold it square onto the cue while it cures... Hoping that won't be going anywhere once that's done.

I'm making a very crude cue lathe with a drill and a bearing for if I need to take anything off.

[chrisoverson]

An update in case it helps anyone: I rested my soldering iron set to 450c on the ferrule for a few seconds, it heated up really fast. Wrapped some paper around it then unscrewed with mole grips, came off first try without much resistance at all.

There is a thread on the mastercue ferrule but not a deep cut one. Seemed to have traces of glue in there too. I've spent a good while carefully removing the glue with a sharp blade and running a fine file round to try and get the "shoulder" (my assumed name for where the tennon joins the shaft) nice and flat. The new century titanium ferrule is now on waiting for the epoxy to cure. After that's done, I've got about 1.8mm of tennon to remove as the new ferrule is shorter.

The century titanium ferrule came in a fancy branded pouch (as well it might for 20 quid) but if I had one critique it still had titanium swarf inside. I've cleaned it up inside and out with alcohol, paper towel and an earbud to make sure it's grease free before gluing.

[chrisoverson]

IMG-20220507-WA0024.jpg

All done! Used Gorilla 5 minute epoxy to glue the new ferrule on, with kapton tape wrapped around the top of the shaft right to the edge to keep the glue off.

I had to file 1.8mm off the tennon to get it nice and flat with the new ferrule, then new century g2 tip superglued on and hopefully... once given time to cure... good to go!

[Davebarker1978]

Well done, looks like you have done a very tidy job installing the new ferrule.

[chrisoverson]

Well done, looks like you have done a very tidy job installing the new ferrule.

Thanks Dave

It's still on so looks like the epoxy worked :-)

[Mdaz]

Interesting thread, I heard the cue needs cutting down and a new tenon cut to gain the width as the titanium ferrule has a wider internal diameter.
did you have much gap surrounding the tenon ans if so did the glue hold up over time?