optimum joint?

doubletrouble

doubletrouble

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
why do many custom cuemakers opt for a 3/8 10 l flat face joint over a 5/16 18
flat face joint which seems rather sparse in custom cuemaking. it seems the 1/16" less diameter of the 5/16 18 offers more surface to surface area contact between the 2 cue pieces and being less bulky would seem to weight some what less. so what advantages would the 3/8 10 joint have over the 5/16 18? curious as to why the 3/8 10 joint is being used much more so than the 5/16 18? in that light what would the advantages of a radial joint be?
 
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I believe it's mainly because 16 threads per inch takes too long to screw together ....10 threads per inch is faster.

People are always in a hurry that's why you don't see any straight pool on TV just nine ball.....

Kim

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2
 
It is because of the preference of the pin gong into wood instead of a brass insert like most use with the 5/16 pins. I am one of only a few cuemakers that uses a 5/16 pin and will put it straight into wood. I have successfully done this with the 5/16-14 pin for almost 20 years, but am introducing a flat minor diameter 5/16-10 on some new cues we are currently building. I feel the small pin plays better. Others swear I am wrong.
 
There is no such thing as optimal joint screw imo.
I think it's easier to make a cue with 5/16 and brass insert.
But, the more popular choice now is 3/8 and no insert somehow.
One advantage of the big 3/8 over 5/16 is the screw is more ridgid.
A little less risk in getting bent when working on the lathe with the cue.
The hit can be debated forever.
 
JoeyInCali said:
There is no such thing as optimal joint screw imo.
I think it's easier to make a cue with 5/16 and brass insert.
But, the more popular choice now is 3/8 and no insert somehow.
One advantage of the big 3/8 over 5/16 is the screw is more ridgid.
A little less risk in getting bent when working on the lathe with the cue.
The hit can be debated forever.
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I agree with you. But I think that my new 5/16-10 with flat minor diameter gives it a spine that equals or exceeds a standard 3/8-10 thread. So I feel I have come up with something that will be really nice both in strength and the additional feel the extra joint surface gives.
 
cueman said:
I agree with you. But I think that my new 5/16-10 with flat minor diameter gives it a spine that equals or exceeds a standard 3/8-10 thread. So I feel I have come up with something that will be really nice both in strength and the additional feel the extra joint surface gives.
Click to expand...

Do you have any pictures to post?
 
Question to Everybody:

What HOF Cue Maker was the first to use The Big Pin Flat Face Configuration??

Rick
 
cueman said:
I agree with you. But I think that my new 5/16-10 with flat minor diameter gives it a spine that equals or exceeds a standard 3/8-10 thread. So I feel I have come up with something that will be really nice both in strength and the additional feel the extra joint surface gives.
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I am surprised that you, of all people, would introduce yet another bastard thread pin....

just my opinion

Kim
 
whammo57 said:
I am surprised that you, of all people, would introduce yet another bastard thread pin....

just my opinion

Kim
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I guess you have a point. But even as long as I have been at it, I am still trying to improve on the hit of the cue. My son has come up with some really good internal things on cues lately that are reducing vibration and making some great playing cues. He seems obsessed with it. Some of which I am going to incorporate into my cues also.
 
cueman said:
If that is not the correct answer, then I would think it was a trick question. Because Herman Rambow used the big pin flat faced, but the pin was in the shaft.
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Chris,

Ah yes, but he was not the first either. I am sure you would have got it on the next try.

It was Rambow's mentor George Brittner who's work spanned from the 19th into the 20th century. Ray Schuler mentored from Herman while he had his shop on Walbash Ave in Chicago. When Ray was a college student he worked part time in that shop and as we all know got the cue making virus in a big way.

The source of this info is from Stew Mortson who knew Harvey Martin, Red Baker and that whole Hollywood west coast crowd from after the Korean War to the mid eighties. He's 88 years old and has the memory of an elephant. It is amazing the stuff and people he knew working as a inlay designer and panto operator in both Bert's And Rays shops for all those years. A guy behind the scenes in two HOF cue makes shops.

Stew spends a few hours in my shop 4 day a week for lunch and we get pick his brain concerning cue making and history. He and Ray were best of friends.

Rick
 
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Paul Dayton said:
Wow, another gimmick to sell......... My opinion too.
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It is only a gimmick if you believe flat minor diameter thread pins have no advantages over normal full V thread pins. Or if you believe finer threads work just as well straight into wood. Or you believe the weight or diameter of the pin does not matter. Or if you believe the joint pin has no bearing on the hit of the cue.

I happen to believe the pin plays a role in the hit of the cue. Maybe not as much as other things, but it does play a role.
 
joint

yes! without our joint we have 2 sticks. thank you Chris for your input on this topic and explanation of the new joint your working on. thank joey for setting me straight on the topic heading "optimum joint". whoops. thank all for your imput.
 
Although there are still some US cue makers that use the 5/16-18 pin, there is a stigma tied to it because most import cues use that same pin/insert configuration. Most guys would use a piloted 5/16-14 instead.
 
ratcues said:
Although there are still some US cue makers that use the 5/16-18 pin, there is a stigma tied to it because most import cues use that same pin/insert configuration. Most guys would use a piloted 5/16-14 instead.
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Aplus+, 5 gold stars, cut through the bs answer. and from a cuemaker. admirable. thanks ryan
 
ratcues said:
Although there are still some US cue makers that use the 5/16-18 pin, there is a stigma tied to it because most import cues use that same pin/insert configuration. Most guys would use a piloted 5/16-14 instead.
Click to expand...
And unfortunately people often associate the flat faced 5/16-14 with the 18 thread. So the flat faced 5/16-14 was really popular when I started using it in the 1990s, but it is losing popularity.
 
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