Replacing rubber grip for linen

lockwood

lockwood

lockwood
Silver Member
Hi,
I have a a lot of people who do not like the rubber grips on the cues I sell.
What would be the best way to build up the handle area to accept a linen wrap.
I usually drill a hole on either end of the handle to finish the wrap.
Thank you for any ideas in advance.
Jon
 
I was thinking maybe build it up with a hard finish. Not going to work if you have to build it up an 1/8 inch. Sorry, don't even have a decent suggestion.
 
Bondo weighs too much. I don't see any way to build up the handle that much without changing the playability of the cue or risking the integrity of the construction.

Easiest way is to build a cue with a linen wrap and trade it out.
 
Actually, that's not a bad idea.
One thing I would do though is to totally coat/saturate the first linen wrap with epoxy once it's applied.
Once the epoxy is cured, you're that much closer to the depth you need to be and with a solid foundation.

Before you do anything, you're going to have to pull one of those rubber-wraps off
and actually do an accurate measurement.
3-4mm sounds a bit extreme to me. 3mm = .118". 4mm = .158".

KJ
 
I thought of a way that might work. Sounds like a pain to me and initially expensive but if these are cues you put a lot of work on..... Well take it for what it's worth. This may lead to a better idea.


Figure you smallest diameter after the rubber is removed
Buy a gun drill for that diameter
Make up some wooden dowels larger than the largest outer diameter at the wrap area
Cut to length
Bore through the dowels.
Split them in half lengthwise on a band saw
Turn your wrap area straight across to maybe .002 under the gun drill size
Cut some small glue grooves with a dremel
Tape your finished areasto protect them
Epoxy the dowel halves to the wrap area. Use surgical tubing to hold tight
Make sure the gaps are filled in with epoxy.
Allow to cure completely
Turn down your wrap area to the depth of your linen
* the main problem I see is that the dowels would be pretty thin walled.

This might work better using phenolic or some other plastic. Although, if it's flexible you may have a hard time getting that bore through there correctly. Might even try cutting the piece into several smaller lengths, bore, split, attach. Wouldn't need a Gun Drill if you do it in sections. But who knows how the hit or feel of the cue would change.

I am not any experienced cuemaker. Will any of the above change the feel of the cue? I really don't know. Good luck.
 
Thought of something else (I'm bored at work.... again). Instead of thinking of it as a problem, think of something fun to do with them. Maybe make a kind of collage. Wood, ivory, sythetics, marble, etc...

You could get some 1/8" veneer. Get several different colored pieces and stack them. Cut the outside dimensions just like you would a leather wrap using the length and the circumference of your left and right diameters.

Draw a design and cut it out with a scroll saw. then glue on the different pieces with a colored epoxy. Then you can just finish it without a wrap.

Actually, I just thought of something really cool along this line. Think I'll keep it to myself for now :)

Have fun with it, you might come up with something really cool.
 
Think about how you would want a cue built. Do you want it "monkey fvcked" together just to make it work? Save yourself time and money. Build a new cue the right way and sell to old one to someone that likes the rubber grip.





<~~Do it right or don't do it at all. (I wish I would listen to me...)
 
You can build up the wrap area with a veneer wood.
Any veneer will still make the cue play better than the dampening of the rubber grip.
It just depends how much time you are willing to put into the project.
 
more mud!

I've used bondo several times to fill too-deep wrap groves...it machines nicely, and the weight wasn't a factor, but it was just .010 or so deep...changing from a thick leather wrap to linen.

It's also handy for fixing that intake port you hogged out too big, but that's another story....
 
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ratcues said:
Think about how you would want a cue built. Do you want it "monkey fvcked" together just to make it work? Save yourself time and money. Build a new cue the right way and sell to old one to someone that likes the rubber grip.
Click to expand...

:D That's damn funny!

OK, so my first idea isn't the greatest. But, the 2nd isn't so bad. That could be fun... isn't that part of what this is supposed to be about? A little imagination and it could look really good and doesn't really change the cue any. Cutting out little gingerbread men would look **** but maybe strips of tooled leather, indian beads.... heck who knows what you could think of.... its just a wrap area to fill in.

This all led me to a great idea.... very original for pool cues. Maybe it will work out great, maybe it'll be lame. It's gonna take me a while to get the all the stuff together I'll need and do the design work (might even have to enlist my crazy uncle the artist) but I think it will look cool.... at least to some people :)
 
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carguy said:
I've used bondo several times to fill too-deep wrap groves...it machines nicely, and the weight wasn't a factor, but it was just .010 or so deep...changing from a thick leather wrap to linen.

It's also handy for fixing that intake port you hogged out too big, but that's another story....
Click to expand...

You might be better off using Gorilla Hair. Its a liquid resin with strands of fiberglass in it. I had an old truck that someone torched a big hole through the floor to put in a shifter. I didn't have a welder so I used that stuff to hold that hunk of metal in the hole. I hit it with a maul and it didn't budge. Pretty tough stuff. But like the guy above implied, how far do you really want to bastardize it?
 
Myself, I think those rubber-handled cues are bastardized as soon as you cut off the rubber. Naturally a cue built with some other wrap would be preferred if rubber is not what you like, but I think it's a matter of "Well, here we are...".
You can make a change or not. Anything you do is going to be a monkey fork.
 
Altho I am just a repairman, I like it when people get inventive. Sometimes thats what it takes to come up with a solution to a difficult problem.

Wow, was that ever profound eh? There are a lot of grey areas in repairing or building where it doesn't hurt to make the grey matter work a bit of over time tho. If it works and doesn't violate the basic principles, then why not.

I like the idea of either a veneer or Bruppert's idea of two halves.
If its just your cue you're experimenting with and time isn't a factor, then its ok.

When you factor in your time vs profit on your rubber handled cues, then
its not going to work.
 
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carguy said:
I've used bondo several times to fill too-deep wrap groves...it machines nicely, and the weight wasn't a factor, but it was just .010 or so deep...changing from a thick leather wrap to linen.

It's also handy for fixing that intake port you hogged out too big, but that's another story....
Click to expand...

.010" isn't too much and would be negligible. .120-.160" is huge in cue terms.

I'm all for experimenting.....with your cue. This is a customer's cue.
 
lockwood said:
I have not taken the rubber off yet. But it should be about 3 or 4 mm.
Thanks,
Jon
Click to expand...

I like the veneer option - lots of chances to get creative.

Perhaps even better - find a nice piece of leather of the proper
thickness and have at it.

Dale
 
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