I stand corrected. I must have missed or forgotten that post.
UNI-LOC joint - the real story
- Thread starter pfd studios
- Start date
Adam,
A clear answer is hard to come by. A lot of pilots are wood and for best results they need a sliding or even compression fit. Others that don't move around as much as wood might be fine with a sliding fit. The rest of the joint design and how tight a person usually tightens it down comes into play. I think most of use that have hung around pool halls for years have seen two men getting a cue apart. I seem to remember a cue or two breaking when given such treatment. The plastic in my CF shaft didn't fit well with my G-10 pin, I think because the G-10 pin threads are cut instead of rolled like metal pins.
A pilot that is very loose is useless but as always seems to be the case, a handful of factors come into play with each cue. One of the worst joints is a butt that has a free floating pin for a large pilot and a replacement shaft with a flat face. I have seen joints where the only flat contact was the joint collar.
Need to put a dial caliper or other precision measuring tool on the pilot that isn't fitted. Best guess without seeing the exact set-up is that four thousandths or less total clearance the pilot might come into play sometimes. More than that, you can probably ignore it. If you hold the shaft to one side while screwing it on the butt a person can typically feel two-thousandths or more misalignment with a fingernail. One-thousandth can be felt with some care but not easily. I have shot with pretty big mismatches between shaft and butt and it didn't hurt a thing except between my ears!
Hopefully this gives you enough information to answer the question about the particular cue in mind. Sorry I can't give a definitive answer, pretty much the way it goes with fit and tolerances. One person may never notice, another finds any mismatch totally unacceptable! I find any rounding or chamfering of the outside of the collars unacceptable but some cue builders do that to every cue they build. That makes it pretty much impossible to notice five-thousandths or more of misfit.
I have to admit the truth of that. However, the best playing cues are built by the super anal. That is what it takes for every cue to be a good one.
Hu
How many cue makers make their own pins/inserts? I have no clue that's why i'm asking. Don't most just buy off-the-shelf stuff?
I think the claim that standard V threads are not good for alignment in a pool cue application does not hold up to the real world. I can (and have dozens of times) bought aftermarket shafts for 5/16-14 and 3/8-10 butts and the fit has been flawless. Perfectly concentric. This is with zero locating features other than the thread itself. If the thread did not locate, this would simply not be possible.
DeeDeeCues
Well-known member
It's interesting that you've talked to most of the people here, and about little ol' me. I'm flattered that I've touched so many lives.
thanks for your reply
but it still seems bill stroud played some role even if his name is not on the patents
is there some bad blood between you and bill stroud we should know about?
just askin
Your case sounds pretty strong, but then all cases sound strong when you have only heard one side of the story and the other side hasn't had the opportunity to present their evidence. If what you are claiming is indeed true, you (or anyone else) had decades to set the record straight, and yet you chose to wait until shortly after the man's death (the year after) to do it when he is no longer able to give his rebuttal. Coincidence? Very well may be, but it can't help but make people wonder if the reason you waited is because what you are saying isn't really all true, and so you had to wait until the party who knew the whole truth and could rebut and prove it was no longer with us.
Better late than never when it comes to bringing truth to light, but next time have the guts to set the record straight while the involved parties are still alive instead of waiting decades for them to die off. It is a far better look, and it adds validity to your claims rather than adding suspicion.
Excellent Point - until I was told that there was some further discussion about the who, what, where and when, I had little interest in making an issue out of any of this. But the facts remain, and the various parties involved, alive or dead, cannot change the facts.
Well now I understand one thing.
Paul is the man!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours Paul
Spend less time here and more time on my Cues!!!
Nick
Paul is the man!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours Paul
Spend less time here and more time on my Cues!!!
Nick
JC
Coos Cues
The trouble with locating with the threads instead of the minor is that the fit will get loose over time considerably more than a pin with a "piloting" minor like a modified 3/8 10 or radial. The threads will cut themselves deeper and wider and without a pilot they will get sloppy.
Well, Al Gore and Billy Stroud did invent the internet. 
Step away from the acid.
I would say it is true that most buy off the shelf. However there is a wide range in quality when buying "off the shelf". All pins and inserts aren't created equal.
Some builders do prefer to make their own hardware. Maximum control of quality. Production equipment is not infallible.
Hu
My BK Rush has a Uni-loc joint and I occasionally have to tighten it. It's the only Uni-loc I use and I find it annoying. I have seen Uni-loc's that don't loosen. They're just not consistent. I just think using the Uni-loc for a break cue was a poor choice. I have no problem with the radial joint.
Thank you for making this clearer, PFD.
The Uniloc QR is indeed one of the tightest metal to metal joint I have tried.
How a cue is seen as pricey or cheap really depends on the person buying it.
If I choose a cue made in a factory, I would prefer to buy from a company that puts money back into this game that we love.
I would say it is true that most buy off the shelf. However there is a wide range in quality when buying "off the shelf". All pins and inserts aren't created equal. Some builders do prefer to make their own hardware. That is going the extra mile and overkill if the quality components are available off the shelf.