Probably been asked already, maybe not ...

Howdy All;

I just got hold of an older McDermott C-series cue and the Butt weighs in at 18.08 oz's.
That's about what I like for the entire thing to weigh. Figured I'd get some information,
really about as much as I can about putting this Baby Huey on a diet. Need to know
such things as; How to get the old weight bolt out, how to tell, by measuring the length
of the bolt that comes out what it weighs, What to use to secure the new bolt in place.
Tools, other then a LOOOOng hex-head anything else??? How much adjustment for
nose-heavy/tail-heavy do I have to play with? Almost TO much fun ahead... Plus any
other good to know stuff would be appreciated.

Thanks for the knowledge.

hank

Chopdoc, Howdy;

Chopdoc said:

Gotta have good tools and equipment before you screw something up properly. :wink:


OP: Take the bolt out and weigh/measure it. I am not a cue maker but how can anybody know until they know what bolt is in that cue?

Click to expand...

Agree it takes quality tools to bust up stuff gooderer.

According to a young lady at McD's there may not even be one in there
That would throw a spanner in the works eh? :lol:

hank

Dave38, Howdy;

Thanks for the info. and heads up. Know a repair guy in Las Cruces and was
recommended another in Alamogordo. It's supposed to arrive tomorrow so I'll be
able to at least give it a look see then.

hank

Chopdoc, Howdy;

Chopdoc said:

Always best to get the cue to a proper repair man.

But with that said, they don't always know all cues or old cues.

McDermott has not stocked weight bolts for those cues for some years, so they would not be much help.

As far as I remember, the weight bolt does not hold on the butt cap on these cues. I have A, B, C, and D series cues and have had the weight bolts out on all of them. Never had a butt cap come loose on one with the bolt out.

As I remember, those weight bolts ranged up to 3 ounces. So there is a chance you can lose a lot of weight in that cue.

The bolt is threaded for the bumper screw, so you need one to hold the bumper on. Either a quarter ounce bolt could be used, or you can have a nylon one made without too much difficulty.

These cues did tend to be heavy, so it may not have much of a weight bolt. But it could have up to a three ounce bolt as far as I know.

McDermott did not glue their bolts in. They advertised that the weight was easily changed.

I don't often sell cues, but when I sold a D series I was asked by a potential buyer to pull and weigh the bolt. I did, and he bought the cue. Took a few minutes.

I am not saying not to take it to a repair man. I am just relating my experience with these cues.

Here is somebody selling bolts for these cues. Looks like they machined the heads to fit.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1975-1996-...lQzJBhLad7xcHYA:sc:USPSFirstClass!32137!US!-1

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Been emailing McD and your right, no bolts to be had there. Have already been in touch with the link
you were kind enough to share. A young Lady at McD's told me that the older ones were heavier as
the Butts were fatter (more wood).

The cue arrived today 1 or 2 days early (FedEx, ... go figure ), I was able to un-screw both
Bumper and Weight bolt easily enough, the one that was in this one was 3" long from the threaded tip
to just under the bolt head. Now I gotta find a scale.

Thanks for all the info. it's valued.

hank

Ssonerai, Howdy;

Ssonerai said:

javascript:;

Just out of curiosity - are the ebay items the same as originals?
It looks like if you used a long one, the threads would be wiped out to ever use anything shorter if you change your mind?
The few originals I've seen have the threads up near the neck, and any extended length below is unthreaded, These (ebay link) seem backwards?

I do realize that a long set screw could be fit down in the remaining threads, but then the top part would need threaded a larger size to hold a nylon or aluminum plug to catch the bumper screw. Or change to a push in bumper. But that seems unnecessary messing with a decent cue.

Not that i have a dog in the race; but as a point of education, what am i missing?

smt

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Apparently, McD changed styles of weight bolts in the early 90's to the style you
describe. The one that came with my cue is like the ones shown in the Link's photos,
bottom threaded with a section of un-threaded then the bolt's head. Inside of the butt
the drilled hole is un threaded for the first few inches as when I dropped the bolt back
in it stopped just before the bolt head went into the hole allowing one to start the
threading with one's fingers to avoid screwed up threads.

So, I ordered the 1/4 oz.nylon bolt last night. supposed to be here Monday (?). Will let
ya know how this ends up. More weight reduction will come from the shafts, yup, came
with 2 orig. shafts. Both have almost 14 mm tips and a mostly conical taper. Thinking
about having them turned down to a 14" taper ending with 12.75 mm tips. One shaft
weighed in at 3.7 oz.and the other at 3.9 oz. Realize I won't be losing much from them
but it's still some.

Thanks again for the thoughts and suggestions.

hank

Ssonerai, Howdy;

Ssonerai said:

Yeah, I kind of resemble that remark. :thumbup:
Reason my mind won't let me stop thinking of "better solutions" or "why did they do it that way - is it original - there's got to be an easy better way, why didn't they do it."

Sad.
It's a disease, and if you know any machinists, there does not seem to be cure.:sorry:

Thanks for the insights to both of you Chopdoc and Thebasics.

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I have several friends that are or have been machinists. Also several that are engineers.
Two very close mental gymnastics teams that have a lot in common. To tell if one is an
engineer the test is simple, ask if the glass is half full or empty... the engineers
answer will 90%+ of the time be ... "you just have the wrong sized glass." :wink:

hank

Chopdoc, Howdy;

Chopdoc said:

Those are some fat shafts. Nice. Very original.

Narrowing them and lengthening the taper will shed a little weight. It will also help a little to return the balance point that shifts forward from using the lighter weight bolt.

Honestly, it sounds like you are on track to achieve what you want.

Sounds like a nice find and a reasonable strategy to make it a player.

Click to expand...

Wasn't thinking about the weight shift but makes sense. I've got an older Joss sideways W (est),
and like the forward weight 'feel' of the cue. This McD feels Butt heavy but I feel taking 3 oz.or
maybe more from the back end and only replacing it with 0.25 oz. would give it more of a forward
feel. Don't think the amount of wood coming off will make that much difference. Think it may still
end up with a weight forward 'feel'. Right now, as it arrived, the balance point is 17 1/8" forward
from the end of the Butt-cap and overall length is 58"

Will let ya know how it comes out.

hank

HawaiianEye, Howdy;

The link below is where I got mine. Last one they had , ... but, they will be making
some more soon, I believe. Hit the "Contact Seller" tab and send them a request.
Worst they can tell ya is No,

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1975-1996-...lQzJBhLad7xcHYA:sc:USPSFirstClass!32137!US!-1

Hope they do ya right.

hank

Chopdoc, Howdy;

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBasics View Post
Chopdoc, Howdy;



Wasn't thinking about the weight shift but makes sense. I've got an older Joss sideways W (est),
and like the forward weight 'feel' of the cue. This McD feels Butt heavy but I feel taking 3 oz.or
maybe more from the back end and only replacing it with 0.25 oz. would give it more of a forward
feel. Don't think the amount of wood coming off will make that much difference. Think it may still
end up with a weight forward 'feel'. Right now, as it arrived, the balance point is 17 1/8" forward
from the end of the Butt-cap and overall length is 58"

Will let ya know how it comes out.

hank

Chopdoc said:

Sounds good. Look forward to hearing more. I know what you mean as I play with a block letter Joss.

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Well, the orig. bolt was 1.75 oz. New bolt was 0.25 oz. so Butt now weighs in at a
chunky 16.58 oz. down from 18.08. Both shafts were tapered down from 13.8 mm
approx. to a slim 12.75 mm. negating maybe 1 oz. ????? Forgot to have them
weighed (my bad), any excellent results Balance point is now 18.75" from base of
butt cap. That's a forward shift of 1.625" and the "feel" is definitely nose heavy like
your Block Letter Joss and my J sideways W (est). Doesn't feel like I'm toting Baby
Huey around. Will have it at a table tomorrow.
Oh yea, had to drive about 100 miles each way but the man doing the work was Wes
Hunter over in Alamogordo, NM. Great gentleman, Has some beauties he's working
on.

hank