Cored fronts
- Thread starter Dave Hlad
- Start date
These fronts are 13 inches long with a 15 inch long 3/4 inch dowel. They will be coned to approximately .95 at the joint end to 1.15 at the handle end. As of now I have every thing from amboina Burl, quilted maple, ebony, bubinga and Brazilian rose wood. I have some curly maple in the pipeline I haven't got around to cutting yet. These fronts are not cut down to the final taper yet but should be available in the next couple months.
Hi Dave:
As someone like myself who does his own coring. What would make me interested in someone else doing such an important task. This is a huge responsibility. There have been coring threads here before on tolerances and variables between tube and rod were sometimes shocking. From .004 to .012 differences. Some assume, (lmao) that because it's cored, it's the final step. Unseasoned wood, dowels and tubes. So I have to ask you not only to save you aggravation down the road but to also have people aware of what they are getting. I mean this post in a very positive way.
Is all of the wood cut in steps to season it?
Are they put together, smooth surface on smooth surface or prepped with grooves somehow?
What is your size difference between the two pieces?
I see your using Gorilla glue, there are mixed opinions on that as far as water so I won't open the can of worms on that but something for you to also think about. Coring is serious business.
As someone like myself who does his own coring. What would make me interested in someone else doing such an important task. This is a huge responsibility. There have been coring threads here before on tolerances and variables between tube and rod were sometimes shocking. From .004 to .012 differences. Some assume, (lmao) that because it's cored, it's the final step. Unseasoned wood, dowels and tubes. So I have to ask you not only to save you aggravation down the road but to also have people aware of what they are getting. I mean this post in a very positive way.
Is all of the wood cut in steps to season it?
Are they put together, smooth surface on smooth surface or prepped with grooves somehow?
What is your size difference between the two pieces?
I see your using Gorilla glue, there are mixed opinions on that as far as water so I won't open the can of worms on that but something for you to also think about. Coring is serious business.
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I had a customer send me two cored fronts around 5 years ago, yes they came from a clown in Florida.
You could tell what side the drill started on, it was a centered hole.
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The end where the drill bit came out the other side? So far off center I refused to use them. Sure I could have been like some people and turned it down, the core would never show but I would know the center was way off and a piece of shit in the end.
If everything inside the cue is perfectly centered, the cue will play best.
Who can't core their own fronts?
My customers tell me to never change the formula I use, it's not full core, more like 60%. Every hole is drilled and then bored to perfection.
My runouts would be measured in the ten thousands of an inch, not thousands.
Good moring Mr. Brainard
There are a lot of people who can not core or at least they don't think they can yet. It could be a good adventure for someone to offer cored products. If the center was lost in the core from maybe it got filled with glue, then it was re-centered after it was installed, that would explain it being off center. Just my guess.
Wow, hard to imagine ever doing such a thing, expanding glue does not have the strength of wood, never will.
It's a foam at that point, void of any structural integrity at all. That explains why so many cues rattle and I bet you never made a cue that rattled, great job and Thanks for telling me what others do.
Lol. I sure have. Sometimes when you learn something new. You go backwards first. I've even put the core in and waiting to long to install it all the way, I laugh about it now but it wasn't good. I try to stay positive. What better way to get experience than to screw something up and learn from it.
I had to make a copy of a forearm from a Schon cue that the owner smashed and when I seen the way the "A" joint pin was off center I was dumbfounded.
From what I understand they use center-less sanders for the tapering of a butt and that could account for the off center pin.
The cue hit and played well and no one was the wiser the "A" joint pin was off center (a lot) until I cut into it to replace the forearm.
I am sure it weakened that joint and contributed to it breaking like it did ... but really ... when someone gets mad and slams his cue on the table you kinda gotta expect that something bad might happen.
That cue was stolen a few mounts later so keep your eyes open please ... just look for the slightly longer point arrow diamonds ... I would like to recover that one.
I am kinda proud of the job I did on that cue as it really tested my skills.
Prolly not up to the skill level of a master cue maker like Mike Webb but still it was a good project that I learned a lot from.
Based on that ... I wonder how much a slightly off center core would effect the play of a cue.
From what I understand they use center-less sanders for the tapering of a butt and that could account for the off center pin.
The cue hit and played well and no one was the wiser the "A" joint pin was off center (a lot) until I cut into it to replace the forearm.
I am sure it weakened that joint and contributed to it breaking like it did ... but really ... when someone gets mad and slams his cue on the table you kinda gotta expect that something bad might happen.
That cue was stolen a few mounts later so keep your eyes open please ... just look for the slightly longer point arrow diamonds ... I would like to recover that one.
I am kinda proud of the job I did on that cue as it really tested my skills.
Prolly not up to the skill level of a master cue maker like Mike Webb but still it was a good project that I learned a lot from.
Based on that ... I wonder how much a slightly off center core would effect the play of a cue.
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Master huh. What a joke. You did a great job but like I said before when you posted it. The forearm is the heart of the cue, and even though your work done is great. Your not Schon. Maybe you took that as an insult. It wasn't meant to be. It's reality.
No Mike, I know I am no Schon ... And I really intended my comment about you being a master as a complement and a sign of respect.
I would be interested in hearing your take on how an off center core would effect the play of a cue.
I have cored about 6 forearms in my time as a cue maker so I dont have the experience to base an opinion about that on.
I see one poster in another thread stated that all his cored cues played the same (I assume they were of different woods and the core was the same) and I tend to think that is one of the effects a core would have on a cue.
And to bring this post back to the op ... I would be interested in buying some cored forearms if the price was within my budget.
I dont have the tooling to core right now so yes ... I want to see some prices.
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Thank you. I just hate that word in craftsman use. I'm the first to admit I can be a dick. I met a guy who introduced himself as a Master Carpenter. Not good. I looked right at him and said anyone who feels they have to introduce themself as a master in a master @hole.
As far as cores being off center and. -A- joints as well. This is purely my opinion, I don't feel the cue will stay straight. Cues joined that don't spin straight, then turned to appear straight, then floating points added is just not logical to me. And you would never get away with it on Vee pointed short spliced cues. If your -A- joint is off. Your points are off. That's my short answer. My long answer would get me in a lot of trouble. I'm not here for that. I judge what I do everyday. I won't purposely judge someone else. When I restore or repair a cue. I show the customer what I found even if it's mine. That's the end. I never go public. I protect the other Cue makers the absolute best I can.
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JC
Coos Cues
.750 seems to me to be too large of a core for the joint end of the forearm.
I agree with Mr. Webb. A person should core their own wood. There are way too many variables to leave it to others.
JC
Looks like another thread started and the O. P. Disappears without participating. Lol
would anyone consider a 1/2 cored forearm in an attempt to utilize the hit properties of the "home" wood used? not trying to hi-jack the thread thanks
That is a fine concept.
Such a small core could complicate A-joint and joint designs. If a 5/8" joint collar is installed, it would be installed over only a 1/16" annulus of the host wood. That strikes me as a bit unusual and the face might look a little "noisy". It would probably be perfectly fine, but if you change something like that in a cue, you have to consider where it might suggest other changes.
Gun drills aren't made of gold, but I don't consider them exactly cheap. That would be another gun drill the cuemaker would have to have in his inventory. I have two sizes for forearms, and two sizes for handles, a total of four sizes. Some might think that is already overkill.
I think that if any one where to offer a coring service, You would need to have a dedicated setup where you easily can maintain tight tolerances and most likely be able to offer several core dimensions..
Knowing what gun drills, tapered reamers, a quality Pratt KC style chuck etc cost, and that you have to expect a certain procent of rejects, I think the price might be too high for it to take off..
Knowing what gun drills, tapered reamers, a quality Pratt KC style chuck etc cost, and that you have to expect a certain procent of rejects, I think the price might be too high for it to take off..