Modification question

[skiergd011013]

How hard would it be for a cuemaker to cut my cue butt down 4 inches, essentially making my cue a 54" cue. It would be cut at the red line, moving the current black butt cap up to that point, and having the wrap go all the way to the butt cap. I then want to get a 4 inch black extention, so it can be either a 54", or a normal 58" cue. Im really interested in trying the shorter cue, but want the option to make it 58" with the extension. Can this be done, and be properly balanced etc by a good cuemaker? Would it be more cost effective to mod this one, or just have another butt made in the configuration im talking about?

 

[xX-Wizard-Xx]

What difference will 4 inches off the cue make and then have an extension made for it? seems like more trouble than its worth

 

[skiergd011013]

What difference will 4 inches off the cue make and then have an extension made for it? seems like more trouble than its worth

some pros like pat fleming swear by the shorter cue and i wanted to try it and be able to have the option.

 

[JoeyInCali]

some pros like pat fleming swear by the shorter cue and i wanted to try it and be able to have the option.

I can't name one pro who shoots with a 24" butt.
Not one.
Some have cues with extension attached to the 29" butt almost all the time.
If you use a 24", you will have to exaggerate the elbow drop on many shots.
Not worth the trouble.
But, many can make a cheap 24" butt if you want.
Chopping a tapered sleeve and installing a screw.is a little tricky.

 

[skiergd011013]

I can't name one pro who shoots with a 24" butt.
Not one.
Some have cues with extension attached to the 29" butt almost all the time.
If you use a 24", you will have to exaggerate the elbow drop on many shots.
Not worth the trouble.
But, many can make a cheap 24" butt if you want.
Chopping a tapered sleeve and installing a screw.is a little tricky.

thank you for the input. I know pat fleming and allison fisher both use 54" cues. Fleming said his shoots so good he "feels like he's stealing". Im curious, how would it effect elbow drop if im still gripping the cue at the same spot? Right now, i grip it about where the wrap ends. If it got shortened, id still be gripping it there, it would just be the end of the cue.

 

[Hits 'em Hard]

thank you for the input. I know pat fleming and allison fisher both use 54" cues. Fleming said his shoots so good he "feels like he's stealing". Lol

And Fleming stands where in the world rankings? Stealing the world #1 spot?

The time and effort into making a linen wrapped cue 25” from a 29” blank is too much. But questions that haven’t been asked so far. Are you aware of the drastic weight change that cue will under go without having to do further weight modifications.? Those weight changes may affect your perceived gains negatively and you’ll hate the cue. Along with the weight change, how do you want the taper done? Lots of questions need answers.

But the cost to modifying that cue to achieve what you want can be done by just buying an entire new cue.

 

[PracticeChampion]

I would atleast cut it below the wrap to avoid a re-wrap cost, then you'd just be into it a butt cap and weight adjustment or maybe you'll like less weight better . Never hit a cue like it so I have no ideal

 

[boogieman]

Voice of reason (by a non cue maker)... why not get an absolute cheap assed one piece or two piece and just cut the end off with a saw. It's an experiment, no use ruining a perfectly good cue to test something out. Just get a cheap junker (warped or whatever) and take a saw to the end. It should easily tell you what you want to know.

 

[Kim Bye]

Two things: 1. This sounds like a typical idea from a pool player, that thinks he is reinventing the wheel. No offense, but I get customers with strange ideas from time to time. Why do you want this and what do you think it will solve?
2. If you want to go ahead with this, have a 25" butt made, just use a house cue as the blank, so you don't spend more money than you have to.

 

[Sheldon]

Wow, nice group of people here.
To answer your question, it would be very easy to do, and would likely require a re-wrap. You'd likely need to pay for a new buttcap, wrap, and extension. Whatever the going rates are for those services, which can vary a bit. You can expect around $200 on the low end, someone who likes to gouge will likely quote you 3 or 4 hundred.
Finding a cheap butt and just chopping it down would probably be most cost effective.

 

[Hits 'em Hard]

Wow, nice group of people here.
To answer your question, it would be very easy to do, and would likely require a re-wrap. You'd likely need to pay for a new buttcap, wrap, and extension. Whatever the going rates are for those services, which can vary a bit. You can expect around $200 on the low end, someone who likes to gouge will likely quote you 3 or 4 hundred.
Finding a cheap butt and just chopping it down would probably be most cost effective.

If you think those prices are in line with what it would actually cost, boy do I have news for you. But if you cheap out and don’t taper your extension to match the cues taper currently then I could see why you believe it would be so cheap. Shortcuts to save customers money usually shows in shortcuts of the work done.

 

[MVPCues]

If you think those prices are in line with what it would actually cost, boy do I have news for you. But if you cheap out and don’t taper your extension to match the cues taper currently then I could see why you believe it would be so cheap. Shortcuts to save customers money usually shows in shortcuts of the work done.

You may be right about his low estimate being too low, but if so it would have nothing to do with whether the extension is tapered. Tapering an extension VS cutting it straight doesn't take any more measurable time. I take that back, 1 minute to measure two diameters on the cue so you know the taper rate. Sheldon Lebow *is* a cuemaker for crying out loud.

What you find when the cue is cut might increase the price some if there is a big deep hole and you need to install a partial core for a new tenon.

Remove the bumper and weight bolt and inspect to make sure no metal is in the hole. Cut cue with a bandsaw. Load in lathe. Face, turn down new tenon, install butt cap. Turn down butt cap to match taper, bore and thread for matching extension. Remove wrap. Sand and finish below wrap, reinstall wrap.

Making an extension is totally separate and would have it's own independent price from the above.

 

[Hits 'em Hard]

You may be right about his low estimate being too low, but if so it would have nothing to do with whether the extension is tapered. Tapering an extension VS cutting it straight doesn't take any more measurable time. I take that back, 1 minute to measure two diameters on the cue so you know the taper rate. Sheldon Lebow *is* a cuemaker for crying out loud.

What you find when the cue is cut might increase the price some if there is a big deep hole and you need to install a partial core for a new tenon.

Remove the bumper and weight bolt and inspect to make sure no metal is in the hole. Cut cue with a bandsaw. Load in lathe. Face, turn down new tenon, install butt cap. Turn down butt cap to match taper, bore and thread for matching extension. Remove wrap. Sand and finish below wrap, reinstall wrap.

Making an extension is totally separate and would have it's own independent price from the above.

Just because someone is a cue maker does not mean they are doing things correctly. A profession does not make one a professional. That’s from a proper attitude. But let’s not sidetrack the conversation. In this case if you’re tapering the extension separately from the new butt cap you’re doing it wrong. Screw the extension on the butt, and taper the butt cap and extension like one would taper a normal 29” butt. Wait we got side tracked again.

This particular cue looks like it has a push/screw in bumper. Whatever weight bolts/slugs may be in there, and the purpleheart( solid or cored) means at least 2oz minimum is being removed from the cue. If this is supposed to be a mainly 54” cue, then how will that affect playability? Do we add weights to offset that butt being lightened? That’s more work. What happens when the cues balance is so drastically affected the owner hates it? Do we exchange the handle wood for something heavier? Or like a professional would recommend, it’s not worth the time and money to alter this cue for the potential of it getting trashed. It’s currently a good butt, why potentially ruin a decent cue to experiment with when it’s just as costly to have a new one made?

 

[MVPCues]

Someone who has built cues for more than 2 decades and still at it probably does a lot of things correctly.

Maybe you have a friend who can turn 36" cues between centers and that is how he tapers extensions. That's a fine thing to do and has some efficiency, but telling every cuemaker who builds the extension separately they are doing it wrong is ridiculous. Most don't have 36" between centers on their tapering machine, particularly the ones who use the CNC machines cuemakers target. The butt cap gets rounded or chamfered. You would never bet able to tell whether an extension was tapered separately or joined to the cue and tapered with ACCURATE work. Maybe you felt an extension one time that was a gross mismatch with a lip. That means the cuemaker does inaccurate work (or it was 3rd party and all bets are off), it doesn't mean one has to taper an extension with it screwed into the butt of the cue to be "correct". Your premise is laughable to anyone with machining skills and a dial indicator.

In this case, if you put the cue between centers to turn the butt cap and extension down, you are requiring it to be straight. If you turn off a center drilled pin or off a maintenance arbor, you are tapering the extension true to the axis of the cue which is likely not straight. If it isn't, the taper on your extension is wrong. You want the extension to be true to the taper of the sleeve it is replacing best you can make it by measuring the taper of the sleeve and chucking up on what is left of the cue and indexing true the original portion of the cue above the butt cap so the pilot/threads are concentric at the butt cap. In order to help this, the cue should be cut below the rings leaving a small portion of the finished sleeve to index. Avoiding the wrap groove makes it more straight forward, a little quicker, and doesn't ruin the cue nearly as much.

All your talk of 2 oz of weights etc are reasons why most cuemakers would not take the job on. It's mostly a lose situation for the cuemaker as it likely won't be the cue of the OP's dreams. But even then, installing a cocobolo partial core in the handle to make up a good bit of the weight is NOT rocket science and not that time consuming. While I disagree with Sheldon's premise that a quote of $300-$400 is gouging (it all depends on the cuemaker and what his time is worth/how much he gets for his own cues), he is the only one who actually tried to answer the OP's question. And what he gets for it is a cue expert who doesn't even build cues to blast him for it.

This forum has become a joke.

 

[Dave38]

Someone who has built cues for more than 2 decades and still at it probably does a lot of things correctly.

Maybe you have a friend who can turn 36" cues between centers and that is how he tapers extensions. That's a fine thing to do and has some efficiency, but telling every cuemaker who builds the extension separately they are doing it wrong is ridiculous. Most don't have 36" between centers on their tapering machine, particularly the ones who use the CNC machines cuemakers target. The butt cap gets rounded or chamfered. You would never bet able to tell whether an extension was tapered separately or joined to the cue and tapered with ACCURATE work. Maybe you felt an extension one time that was a gross mismatch with a lip. That means the cuemaker does inaccurate work (or it was 3rd party and all bets are off), it doesn't mean one has to taper an extension with it screwed into the butt of the cue to be "correct". Your premise is laughable to anyone with machining skills and a dial indicator.

In this case, if you put the cue between centers to turn the butt cap and extension down, you are requiring it to be straight. If you turn off a center drilled pin or off a maintenance arbor, you are tapering the extension true to the axis of the cue which is likely not straight. If it isn't, the taper on your extension is wrong. You want the extension to be true to the taper of the sleeve it is replacing best you can make it by measuring the taper of the sleeve and chucking up on what is left of the cue and indexing true the original portion of the cue above the butt cap so the pilot/threads are concentric at the butt cap. In order to help this, the cue should be cut below the rings leaving a small portion of the finished sleeve to index. Avoiding the wrap groove makes it more straight forward, a little quicker, and doesn't ruin the cue nearly as much.

All your talk of 2 oz of weights etc are reasons why most cuemakers would not take the job on. It's mostly a lose situation for the cuemaker as it likely won't be the cue of the OP's dreams. But even then, installing a cocobolo partial core in the handle to make up a good bit of the weight is NOT rocket science and not that time consuming. While I disagree with Sheldon's premise that a quote of $300-$400 is gouging (it all depends on the cuemaker and what his time is worth/how much he gets for his own cues), he is the only one who actually tried to answer the OP's question. And what he gets for it is a cue expert who doesn't even build cues to blast him for it.

This forum has become a joke.

I applaud you Kelly, as you NAILED it very well. Hit's em Hard basically is that unconfirmed know it all, done it all, 'expert, that always bashes real cuemakers. When will he post his real name and some of his work so we can take him at face value?

 

[Hits 'em Hard]

This forum has become a joke.

Someone got the joke it seems. But for seriousness, you can do something for 40 years. It doesn’t mean shit if whatever was done was always done half assed. And I’m not singling anyone out anywhere, all professions have people who aren’t the most competent. I still see plenty of tip replacements done with sandpaper to get flush and they hit the ferrule eventually adding a ‘penciling’ effect to the ferrule.

Regardless of how the modifications are done, they are not cost effective or practical. The change of weight/balance/length will have quite a profound effect on the op’s view of this mystical 54” cue that “feels like stealing”. But if things are insisted upon. Part the butt sleeve off just above the ring work on the wrap. Add a pin to that butt sleeve and theres the ‘extension’. Redo the wrap after adding a new butt cap and tapering that. Drill and tap hole. Or use existing hole/threads for extension pin. Done.

 

[Thunder Thighs]

some pros like pat fleming swear by the shorter cue and i wanted to try it and be able to have the option.

Can someone chop a cue any way you want? YES

Will that cue make you play like a pro? NO

 

[erriep]

hi,
why to not use a 4" shorter shaft with yout butt ?

 

[Zerksies]

Why not buy a cheap cue and cut 4" off yourself. I'm sure one of them big box sporting goods stores have cheap cues