BEST GLUE FOR FERRULE INSTALLATION

JC

Coos Cues
Wood glue is the opposite of epoxy here. You want a very thin layer on the smoothest possible surface. You have to have enough, obviously, and some will get sucked up into the pores. Use enough to get glue squeeze out from all sides of contact, but any more than that works against you. Whereas epoxy will harden chemically, wood glue gets hard as it loses moisture. It dries rather than hardens, and the PVA bonds well to wood, not itself. So you probably made a better bond by using less which would be counter intuitive if used to epoxy.
How does having more squeeze out "work against you" other than cleaning it up? Kind of a bewildering statement to me.
 

thoffen

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
How does having more squeeze out "work against you" other than cleaning it up? Kind of a bewildering statement to me.

Not technically. It's just an indicator that it's applied too thickly. Unless the surfaces are perfectly mated to each other, perfectly rigid or you can apply 100% perfectly distributed clamping force, you won't be able to squeeze all the excess leaving some rubbery glop in there that would take forever to dry and not be strong regardless. A silicone brush to spread an even layer is very handy. Makes sure you get full coverage and don't have any wells of glue in there. Also really easy cleanup. Just pull off the glue on the brush once it's dried.
 
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jayman

Hi Mom!
Gold Member
Silver Member
Epoxy for ferules always. But not for everything. It gets very soft as it gets warm melts at a relatively low temp making it easy to remove a ferule. I love the "right glue" for any given project. High quality wood glue is stronger than wood. Epoxy is not. High quality wood glue also sinks into the grain and does it's job as a wood glue. Epoxy is great, but not for everything. My opinion based on a shit ton of experience doing a lot of various projects.
 

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
Epoxy for ferules always. But not for everything. It gets very soft as it gets warm melts at a relatively low temp making it easy to remove a ferule. I love the "right glue" for any given project. High quality wood glue is stronger than wood. Epoxy is not. High quality wood glue also sinks into the grain and does it's job as a wood glue. Epoxy is great, but not for everything. My opinion based on a shit ton of experience doing a lot of various projects.
Epoxy, definitely can be stronger than wood . And the right ones definitely sinks into the grain . I've replaced many threaded ferrules where the epoxy definitely filled the threads and stayed there after turning the ferrule down to the tenon . Nylon type press-fit ferrules are not suitable for wood glue . Those are better off with epoxy or even super glue .
I use special kind of wood glue on my threaded ferrules . But, use epoxy for Ivor-X or Saber-T.
 

Chili Palmer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Epoxy, definitely can be stronger than wood . And the right ones definitely sinks into the grain . I've replaced many threaded ferrules where the epoxy definitely filled the threads and stayed there after turning the ferrule down to the tenon . Nylon type press-fit ferrules are not suitable for wood glue . Those are better off with epoxy or even super glue .
I use special kind of wood glue on my threaded ferrules . But, use epoxy for Ivor-X or Saber-T.

I don't have a lot of experience assembling cues but I've made my fair share of cutting boards, coasters, and other wood based projects. Although most of my projects require waterproof wood glue (I use Titebond III) I have assembled many things with epoxy and have done the research, epoxy will most definitely soak into wood.
 

JC

Coos Cues
If you thread the tenon and build a ferule that fits properly you could very likely just screw it on and tighten it with common sense torque and a pliers and install the tip, ship it and never hear a peep.

In the case of a properly built ferule and tenon bubble gum and gravity would likely do the job.

But If on the other hand you want to make sloppy stuff, epoxy is highly recommended. It will fill in many less than optimal builds in many parts of your cue. Amazing times we live in.

Anyone thinks I am kidding I am not. The first cue I ever bought to stop playing with "Wallabushkas" was an Adam cue made in Japan. 1977 and I was 18 years old and took my $70 to royal awards in Eugene Oregon and they hooked me up. This cue had a metal tenon out the end that you could screw a ferule/tip onto and it never came loose. My son still has this cue.
 
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JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
If you thread the tenon and build a ferule that fits properly you could very likely just screw it on and tighten it with common sense torque and a pliers and install the tip, ship it and never hear a peep.

In the case of a properly built ferule and tenon bubble gum and gravity would likely do the job.

But If on the other hand you want to make sloppy stuff, epoxy is highly recommended. It will fill in many less than optimal builds in many parts of your cue. Amazing times we live in.

Anyone thinks I am kidding I am not. The first cue I ever bought to stop playing with "Wallabushkas" was an Adam cue made in Japan. 1977 and I was 18 years old and took my $70 to royal awards in Eugene Oregon and they hooked me up. This cue had a metal tenon out the end that you could screw a ferule/tip onto and it never came loose. My son still has this cue.
Heck, Mosconi won several world titles with a screw on ferrule-tip.
 

jayman

Hi Mom!
Gold Member
Silver Member
Heck, Mosconi won several world titles with a screw on ferrule-tip.
Well you are right! not much else can be said. So for fun....

I think that the ability to remove and replace a ferule reasonably easily is important, Super glue negates that. I'm more likely to file some angled grooves in the tenon and ferule then use epoxy that will fill and lock it all together rather than super glue which is more or less permanent. Epoxy, ones once heated melts to a soft state and you can take the ferule off. That has been my reason for liking epoxy for that.
White glue...bye the way is the most underrated glue ever! I don't always think of it. Good call! Epoxy is great stuff no doubt, But not for everything. I.E I doubt anyone uses it for wraps?? I use use white glue for that. You? Contact cement? Cool! As always only my opinions and thoughts from my personal experiences. I really enjoy hearing others thoughts and thinking about them. I have learned a lot here. I have also wanted to pull my hair out on occasion!
Thin epoxy is super strong does permeate wood much better than the old stuff but So does a top grade modern wood glue. Technology has come a long way. To each their own . Thank all of you for sharing. Many of us here enjoy this type of conversation immensely. Good stuff! It's hard to go wrong with the products we have now vs. just 30-40 years ago.
Most of vintage cues I buy (way to many of) have a loose joint, butt plate, or joint ring or god knows what? all due to due a glue failure. I am constantly re gluing something to make a vintage cue into a usable cue again. The parts never seem to be round or flat and line up easily either, but I digress.
I am not a cue maker but I do lots of repairs ,wraps, tips, ferules, and reassembly all due to old glue failure for the most part.
I hope you don't mind that I chimed in since this is something I do a heck of a lot of.

Ha ha....
 

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
Well you are right! not much else can be said. So for fun....

I think that the ability to remove and replace a ferule reasonably easily is important, Super glue negates that. I'm more likely to file some angled grooves in the tenon and ferule then use epoxy that will fill and lock it all together rather than super glue which is more or less permanent. Epoxy, ones once heated melts to a soft state and you can take the ferule off. That has been my reason for liking epoxy for that.
White glue...bye the way is the most underrated glue ever! I don't always think of it. Good call! Epoxy is great stuff no doubt, But not for everything. I.E I doubt anyone uses it for wraps?? I use use white glue for that. You? Contact cement? Cool! As always only my opinions and thoughts from my personal experiences. I really enjoy hearing others thoughts and thinking about them. I have learned a lot here. I have also wanted to pull my hair out on occasion!
Thin epoxy is super strong does permeate wood much better than the old stuff but So does a top grade modern wood glue. Technology has come a long way. To each their own . Thank all of you for sharing. Many of us here enjoy this type of conversation immensely. Good stuff! It's hard to go wrong with the products we have now vs. just 30-40 years ago.
Most of vintage cues I buy (way to many of) have a loose joint, butt plate, or joint ring or god knows what? all due to due a glue failure. I am constantly re gluing something to make a vintage cue into a usable cue again. The parts never seem to be round or flat and line up easily either, but I digress.
I am not a cue maker but I do lots of repairs ,wraps, tips, ferules, and reassembly all due to old glue failure for the most part.
I hope you don't mind that I chimed in since this is something I do a heck of a lot of.

Ha ha....
Problem is some material will just not stick with Elmer's or white glue. I know those old Pred ferrules stick better on CA or epoxy . And honestly, they are so light , a good CA should hold them through their life span .

I've used Elmer's for leather wraps as well. Funny thing is, I stopped because of the same reason you have for not using epoxy on ferrules. Removing leather wrap that was glued with white glue is a pain in the aahs. I'm not going to use a heat gun .

I just removed a ferrule off an old Adam billiard shaft . To my surprise it had yellow glue . The ferrule did move and crack.

As far as ease of repair, it's actually not that hard to replace those old 5/16 18 ferrules that were done right and epoxied . But, you do it much better with a metal lathe and live threader . Engage the thread gear and adjust the cutter location with the compound. It does not have to hit the old threads perfectly as the epoxy is usually hard enough to hold the ferrule really well. They are actually harder than maple.
 

JC

Coos Cues
I am going to give stickfast thick a try for tips. They have by far the best bottle nozzle design so you don't have to chisel the cap off half way through the bottle. Hope the glue was as well thought out.
 

Tommy-D

World's best B player...
Silver Member
It's given me good enough results as an CA finish (other than the hazards) using different oils and epoxy base that I've refinned 3 imports with it,and handed the customer back a finish that was comparable to whatever was on it new. I have no reason to think it wouldn't work for tips,but the medium Stickfast I got at Woodcraft is def slower than Loctite Pro. I honestly never tried it as a tip glue since I have optimized success with Loctite.

I don't know what any of the 3 look like now,I did these 2 years ago within the same month. They were as nice as anything I've ever tried or put out as far as wet look appeal,and couldn't hurt it with a thumbnail hard. The depth approached high end guitar level,even over mediocre grained woods. I did an old Meucci Original that was in cherry shape for a player that I had seen getting used regularly all the way back to when I was in high school and in awe of it's original owner. According to the new owner,he had a flat on the way home,and stopped to change the tire,and to move the seat set his case on the roof of the small truck to get to his jack.

He got the tire changed,but forgot the case until it came off the roof at about 35 and he heard it hit pavement. The shafts were just dinged up a little,the butt took minimal damage for the circumstances,but still one of those "man it sucks" moments.

The others were my old Bill Hoyt plain birdseye PJ,and what I think was a bubinga front Dufferin. The owner of the Duff is unfortunately no longer with us,and although I've talked to the other 2 owners,I haven't seen the other 2 cues to see what they look like now. Tommy D.
 
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