Question about McDermott 3/8x10 joints

S

Sweatin'

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I like and use several McDermott cues and for a decent American made player grade cue I think they're worth the money. But for some strange reason their 3/8x10 joints are not uniform across randomly picked cues. You can have a shaft made for one cue and then try to screw it on another current McDermott cue and it will be so tight it would take vise grips to put the cue together. Beeswax, soap etc. is not the answer. It's almost as it they have multiple suppliers furnishing the joint screws and they are slightly off from one to the next, or maybe they aren't drilling the shafts consistently.

This was hammered home when I recently bought a McDermott 4" mid extension. It could not be screwed down the last 1/4" or so on any of my McDermott butts, and took two hands to get it that far. I gave up on it and got a Balance Rite, which fits perfectly with no drama.

Anyone else noticed this, and have any idea what's going on? I guess you could force the shaft onto a butt repeatedly until it hogged out the threads, but then that shaft would be loose on other butts.
 
Scratch85

Scratch85

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Sweatin' said:
I like and use several McDermott cues and for a decent American made player grade cue I think they're worth the money. But for some strange reason their 3/8x10 joints are not uniform across randomly picked cues. You can have a shaft made for one cue and then try to screw it on another current McDermott cue and it will be so tight it would take vise grips to put the cue together. Beeswax, soap etc. is not the answer. It's almost as it they have multiple suppliers furnishing the joint screws and they are slightly off from one to the next, or maybe they aren't drilling the shafts consistently.



This was hammered home when I recently bought a McDermott 4" mid extension. It could not be screwed down the last 1/4" or so on any of my McDermott butts, and took two hands to get it that far. I gave up on it and got a Balance Rite, which fits perfectly with no drama.



Anyone else noticed this, and have any idea what's going on? I guess you could force the shaft onto a butt repeatedly until it hogged out the threads, but then that shaft would be loose on other butts.
Click to expand...



I’m sure someone will correct me if this is wrong. Somewhere around 2006, a 3/8x10 modified thread became popular. It has a flat groove instead of a V groove.

Most McDermotts (maybe all) made before 2006 will have a standard 3/8x10 pin. If you match it up with a shaft with a Modified 3/8x10 thread, it fits very tight.

I just screw it down and go. Haven’t broken anything yet.


Sent from my iPhone using AzBilliards Forums
 
G

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Sweatin' said:
I like and use several McDermott cues and for a decent American made player grade cue I think they're worth the money. But for some strange reason their 3/8x10 joints are not uniform across randomly picked cues. You can have a shaft made for one cue and then try to screw it on another current McDermott cue and it will be so tight it would take vise grips to put the cue together. Beeswax, soap etc. is not the answer. It's almost as it they have multiple suppliers furnishing the joint screws and they are slightly off from one to the next, or maybe they aren't drilling the shafts consistently.

This was hammered home when I recently bought a McDermott 4" mid extension. It could not be screwed down the last 1/4" or so on any of my McDermott butts, and took two hands to get it that far. I gave up on it and got a Balance Rite, which fits perfectly with no drama.

Anyone else noticed this, and have any idea what's going on? I guess you could force the shaft onto a butt repeatedly until it hogged out the threads, but then that shaft would be loose on other butts.
Click to expand...
You're not real clear here. Are ALL the cues involved McDermotts? I've never heard of issues with putting McD. shafts on different McD. butts.
 
S

Sweatin'

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
garczar said:
You're not real clear here. Are ALL the cues involved McDermotts? I've never heard of issues with putting McD. shafts on different McD. butts.
Click to expand...

Yes, all McDermotts of recent production 2017-2018.

Even before the incident with the mid extension, I had McDermott make me a shaft for a G series cue. This required sending the butt in. When the new shaft came in, it wouldn't easily fit my other two McDermott G series butts. I'm not even talking about the diameters matching, just screwing the shaft on the butt. A few weeks later I bought another McDermott G series cue, and it's shaft wouldn't properly fit any of the other three I had.

When McDermott says they need the butt in their hands to build a shaft for it, they evidently mean it! But one would think they could get it right with a simple mid extension. Not so. Evidently a 3/8x10 joint screw is not a 3/8x10 joint screw, or the equipment they use to thread shafts is inconsistent.
 
G

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Sweatin' said:
Yes, all McDermotts of recent production 2017-2018.

Even before the incident with the mid extension, I had McDermott make me a shaft for a G series cue. This required sending the butt in. When the new shaft came in, it wouldn't easily fit my other two McDermott G series butts. I'm not even talking about the diameters matching, just screwing the shaft on the butt. A few weeks later I bought another McDermott G series cue, and it's shaft wouldn't properly fit any of the other three I had.

When McDermott says they need the butt in their hands to build a shaft for it, they evidently mean it! But one would think they could get it right with a simple mid extension. Not so. Evidently a 3/8x10 joint screw is not a 3/8x10 joint screw, or the equipment they use to thread shafts is inconsistent.
Click to expand...
Weird. You might put this in "Ask Cuemaker" section for more/better info.
 
S

Sweatin'

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
garczar said:
Weird. You might put this in "Ask Cuemaker" section for more/better info.
Click to expand...

It is weird.

But in doing some deep googling it appears that it is indeed a real thing and fairly well known among those who have tried swapping McDermott 3/8x10 shafts from one McDermott butt to another. No one seems to have an answer as to why other than "that's just how it is with McDermotts". It seems to be accepted that the shafts are not necessarily always interchangeable.
 
J

jrctherake

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Sweatin' said:
I like and use several McDermott cues and for a decent American made player grade cue I think they're worth the money. But for some strange reason their 3/8x10 joints are not uniform across randomly picked cues. You can have a shaft made for one cue and then try to screw it on another current McDermott cue and it will be so tight it would take vise grips to put the cue together. Beeswax, soap etc. is not the answer. It's almost as it they have multiple suppliers furnishing the joint screws and they are slightly off from one to the next, or maybe they aren't drilling the shafts consistently.

This was hammered home when I recently bought a McDermott 4" mid extension. It could not be screwed down the last 1/4" or so on any of my McDermott butts, and took two hands to get it that far. I gave up on it and got a Balance Rite, which fits perfectly with no drama.

Anyone else noticed this, and have any idea what's going on? I guess you could force the shaft onto a butt repeatedly until it hogged out the threads, but then that shaft would be loose on other butts.
Click to expand...

Inconsistency between joints / pins are just "one" of the many reasons I will not buy McDermott equipment.

I know to many people that bought a McDermott cue and then "x" months later order a second shaft to match..... they always fit terrible unless you send your cue in.

Most other companies, like pechauer for example, do not have to have your cue to make a shaft that's fits "perfect" no matter what pechauer butt you match it to.
 
G

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Saturated Fats said:
Checkout this illustration taken from DZ Cues website:

http://www.dzcues.com/images/joints/mod%20pin.jpg

There is a full explanation of the differences on the website (dzcues.com).
Click to expand...
What the OP is saying that McD. shafts won't screw on to McD. butts. All McD's have standard 3/8x10 pin. They don't use a flat-bottom modified pin. You'd think if they're using the same tap then all their shafts should inter-change. Kinda strange.
 
Scratch85

Scratch85

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
garczar said:
All McD's have standard 3/8x10 pin.
Click to expand...

I have a G-Series McDermott cue that has a Modified 3/8x10 pin. Definitely flat bottom grooves instead of V bottom grooves.

edit: After conversations with garczar, I'm convinced I do not have a Modified pin on my McDermott G-Series
 
Last edited:
G

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Scratch85 said:
I have a G-Series McDermott cue that has a Modified 3/8x10 pin. Definitely flat bottom grooves instead of V bottom grooves.
Click to expand...
Must be a fairly recent development. I've had quite a few McD's over the years and every one has same pin and shafts would interchange easily. Interesting and good to know.
 
G

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
garczar said:
Must be a fairly recent development. I've had quite a few McD's over the years and every one has same pin and shafts would interchange easily. Interesting and good to know.
Click to expand...
Just checked their site and no mention made of using the mod. flat-bottom pin. Weird.
 
S

Sweatin'

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
garczar said:
What the OP is saying that McD. shafts won't screw on to McD. butts. All McD's have standard 3/8x10 pin. They don't use a flat-bottom modified pin. You'd think if they're using the same tap then all their shafts should inter-change. Kinda strange.
Click to expand...

Precisely! I can't imagine they would mix up standard 3/8x10 joints with modified 3/8x10 joints all in the same year of production. All 5 of my G-series cues and shafts were made in 2018 and are obviously G-Core shafts. But not all the shafts will fit easily on all the butts, and I'm not talking about matching diameters; I'm talking about the simple ability to just screw the shaft on to the butt. Requires a lot of effort in some cases, almost like you're cross threading. Strangely, the same thing occurred trying to fit a new McDermott 4" mid extension-no dice, but the Balance Rite 3/8x10 fit all butts and shafts perfectly!

Otherwise, these are beautiful, well made cues that are perfectly straight and hit great.
 
Scratch85

Scratch85

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Modified 3/8x10

It's possible my pin is not actually a modified pin but just a sloppy thread. The shaft that came with my G-Series fits incredibly tight on my older RS-1, which is definitely a Standard pin.

My older Predator 314 shaft is tapped for a Standard pin but my newer 314 shaft seems tapped for a Modified pin. Makes a tight fit on the RS-1 but clean fit on the G-Series.
 
G

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Scratch85 said:
It's possible my pin is not actually a modified pin but just a sloppy thread. The shaft that came with my G-Series fits incredibly tight on my older RS-1, which is definitely a Standard pin.

My older Predator 314 shaft is tapped for a Standard pin but my newer 314 shaft seems tapped for a Modified pin. Makes a tight fit on the RS-1 but clean fit on the G-Series.
Click to expand...
Probably not a good idea to get 'em mixed up. Standard 3/8x10 and modified pins are impossible to confuse visually. Old style shaft threads can be re-done to fit modified pins. Old ones fit on the pitched threads, modified on the minor. Much more secure lock-up.
 
Last edited:
Scratch85

Scratch85

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
G-Series Pin

I forgot I had it in the car. I hope I have attached the pic correctly.
 

Attachments

  • G-Series Pin.jpg
    G-Series Pin.jpg
    128.4 KB · Views: 203
F

FeelDaShot

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have a McDermott cue that I don't play with anymore. I can attest to the difficulty involved with screwing it together. It's quite the workout lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top