Recent content by Kim Bye

I sell and install a lot of Zan and Caiden and they are both premium brands with excellent quality control and consistency. Maybe start off with a Caiden Fighter in Medium and see how you like that, it's a great all-rounder.

Most likely you won't get any clear on the face. After screwing on the Delrin mandrel, wrap it in painters tape. When the cue is still somewhat wet, peel off the tape. In case you do get clear on the joint face, you have two options. Place the cue between centers and with a fresh positive rake...

I make Delrin mandrels a few thou undersize. Take those off, remove whatever overspray, then use carbide sanding mandrels.

Some players have the same tip for years, some change every 3 months, it's really hard to give a one size fits all answer. Generally it looks like most active players change tip once or twice a year.

That might be, but I still feel it's a bad idea. Just use some burnishing liquid or Caiden liquid shine. If mushrooming is a huge issue for you, just accept the physics and go with a harder tip.

There's a few Indonesian guys in the cue maker Facebook groups who sell ringtail lizzard wraps in just about every colour. I bought some years ago and wasn't too impressed with the quality of the skiving on the backside of the wraps, but I might have gotten a bad batch or they have improved...

My shop is about 50m2/500sq ft. It's isolated and i have a heatpump/aircondition unit, so temperature stays in the 19-24c range year round. Humidity hovers around 40-50%. If you have an uninsulated space, I think the first order of the day is to try and insulate as best you can, not only to get...

You can grind them.

That makes no sense. Just get a Ti pin 40% lighter.

Personally I love the feedback and look og bumperless hoppe cues, but I'm vary about recommending them to customers as they are easily abused.

You can make a Kielwood shaft as slick as a maple shaft. Sanding sealer, increasingly fine grits and a burnish with renaissance wax.

Zoom out and place a ruler beside the joint pin. Count the amount of threads in an inch. If you have a set of calipers and can tell us the O.D and an aproximate minor that helps a lot. Often it helps a lot just by telling us what brand/maker this cue is.

Kielwood IS brittle. Have you ever cut threads in a Kielwood tennon and compared it to regular maple? or threaded a Kielwood shaft 3/8-10/11 or Radial or any other big pin? There's a significant difference, you can tell that straight away. I live thread everything I can. Live threading is both...

Kielwood is a way of processing the wood by "baking" the wood, it removes moisture and crystalizes the sugar. How long you bake the wood for determines the colour. There was nothing special about the OB Phoenix shafts in that regard and I think the word technology which get's thrown around a lot...

What a sad day. Such a natural talent and a very easy going personality. I had the pleasure of meeting him once and we chatted a little about Mezz cues. I can't get over how young he passed, Mika was just four years older than me. My condolances to his family and friends.