Anyone try these?

straightline

CPG CBL
Silver Member
Spinners 1.jpg


I think they were developed in a Chinese lab to destabilize the production cue industry.

Here they are mating.

Spinners 2.jpg
 
I have it; it's for testing the straightness of the cue. You can test the butt or the shaft or the whole cue put together.

Sometimes a part, the butt and shaft, roll straight but connect, the cue wobbles, usually because the butt and shaft do not align, this could be fixed, there are videos that show how by scraping the joint face of the shaft.
 
I have it; it's for testing the straightness of the cue. You can test the butt or the shaft or the whole cue put together.

Sometimes a part, the butt and shaft, roll straight but connect, the cue wobbles, usually because the butt and shaft do not align, this could be fixed, there are videos that show how by scraping the joint face of the shaft.
I'm aware of this. I can't think of a more appropriately named accessory - every wiggle, wobble, low freq vibration is readily apparent. I always wondered how what are essentially 50 cent appliance trucks from China were going way north of 20 bucks. Now I know. Maybe it improves the breed and maybe it kills of cheap cues. :EEK:

I might give that scraping trick a try. Thanks,
 
You'd be surprised how much wobble is undetectable in a table roll. I learned to roll my cues half in the air and across the side rails.
I am aware of people doing that on the rail. Of course, rolling on the table too.

I figure these are good ways to get more chalk dust on your cue.

Then there is striking the side of the cue to hear it "ring". I was told by a HOF cue maker "don't you dare" do it with a cue with an A joint unless you are determined to damage it. He commented on a cue with a "buzz" (not one of his) and said it didn't do that until someone tried striking it to hear it "ring".

I stopped doing any of this 20 years ago.

To each his own, personally I don't do any of this anymore, nor do I own one of those cue roller thing-a-ma-bobs.

I have cleaned gunk off of numerous joint faces to straighten the joint, no sharp steel tools required. Freewheeling/eyeballing it by scraping the joint face with a razor? Not on one of my cues. Those joint faces are created on lathes with high precision. They are "flat" and being off by a fraction of a degree in the middle of 57 to 60 inches can make a huge difference.
 
I am aware of people doing that on the rail. Of course, rolling on the table too.

I figure these are good ways to get more chalk dust on your cue.

Then there is striking the side of the cue to hear it "ring". I was told by a HOF cue maker "don't you dare" do it with a cue with an A joint unless you are determined to damage it. He commented on a cue with a "buzz" (not one of his) and said it didn't do that until someone tried striking it to hear it "ring".

I stopped doing any of this 20 years ago.

To each his own, personally I don't do any of this anymore, nor do I own one of those cue roller thing-a-ma-bobs.

I have cleaned gunk off of numerous joint faces to straighten the joint, no sharp steel tools required. Freewheeling/eyeballing it by scraping the joint face with a razor? Not on one of my cues. Those joint faces are created on lathes with high precision. They are "flat" and being off by a fraction of a degree in the middle of 57 to 60 inches can make a huge difference.
When you get cues off the web like me, you develop a need to check for straightness. Every once in a while, you get one that rolls picture perfect and those play the best for me. I will thump the cue in the middle with the butt of my palm but that's just to gauge the boing resonance and whippiness.
A good check for cheap cues is to hold it at the butt cap and drop it onto the tip. I reason that is how the cue will hit. If you release vertical and it comes back vertical, that's all you can ask.
 
I got those to check my cues after they’ve been sitting in their cases for 15 years.
I did find some cues to warp to some degree.

I believe that as long as it rolls straight on the table without the tip leaving the bed of the table, then it’s not a big deal.

It’s also a good tool to have for testing a cue before selling or buying it.
I wouldn’t want to sell or buy a cue with a wobble.
 
I got those to check my cues after they’ve been sitting in their cases for 15 years.
I did find some cues to warp to some degree.

I believe that as long as it rolls straight on the table without the tip leaving the bed of the table, then it’s not a big deal.

It’s also a good tool to have for testing a cue before selling or buying it.
I wouldn’t want to sell or buy a cue with a wobble.
Besides they roll in place, the big reveal is the speed you can get with these. Lumps and bumps are as plain as daylight.
 
When you get cues off the web like me, you develop a need to check for straightness. Every once in a while, you get one that rolls picture perfect and those play the best for me. I will thump the cue in the middle with the butt of my palm but that's just to gauge the boing resonance and whippiness.
A good check for cheap cues is to hold it at the butt cap and drop it onto the tip. I reason that is how the cue will hit. If you release vertical and it comes back vertical, that's all you can ask.
I got most of mine off the web. I assume they are bent. I'm also aware they change with season, temperature, humidity, etc over time. Wood is only relatively stable compared to other wood. A good maker does everything they can to make sure conditions are right to turn the wood and keep it as stable as they can, but it's still wood.

I have a good custom that I got for a good price because the handle was "warped". It definitely was. I saw it myself. The maker is dead now, but a competent shop can replace a handle. But guess what? It's straight. How? God only knows. Environment.
 
I got most of mine off the web. I assume they are bent. I'm also aware they change with season, temperature, humidity, etc over time. Wood is only relatively stable compared to other wood. A good maker does everything they can to make sure conditions are right to turn the wood and keep it as stable as they can, but it's still wood.

I have a good custom that I got for a good price because the handle was "warped". It definitely was. I saw it myself. The maker is dead now, but a competent shop can replace a handle. But guess what? It's straight. How? God only knows. Environment.
No customs here. Asian Players/Viking/McDermott all are probably stabilized wood so I used to assume they'd be straight or tolerably not exactly. Well seems as the seller networks grow, so does the average quality diminish.
 
Back
Top