Can it be fixed?

angluse

angluse

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
This is an old McDaniel cue, from about 1978 that I picked up a year ago on trade. I hadn't played with it much, but recently it's really grown on me. Last night, it developed a vibration in the forearm - I can feel it somewhere mostly there, to the top of the joint. I notice it mostly when the bumper hits the floor, rarely when shooting. Over a period of four hours, it got noticeably worse. But I played my match with it, and it didn't affect my play. I shot well and the buzz only got into my head a few times. So far, it still plays great and it didn't stop me from getting a solid win against a superior player.

Is this likely to be fixable? Would a cue of this era / style have been built with a bolt holding the handle area to the forearm, such that somehow it could have become loose? That's how it feels. The balance point (whole cue) is 19.5" from the butt, which comparing to a fully-cored cue I had, is more forward-balanced. I removed the bumper and ensured the bolt underneath was not loose. But I was reluctant to remove it: when I talked to Bill McDaniel some months ago, while he inspected it for his LOA, he pointed out that due to slightly imperfect line-up, it appeared that at one time the delrin butt plate had been loosened or removed. Delrin repels glue, he explained, so it's only the bolt inside that holds it on.

Questions:

- If somehow service could be effected, would it begin under the butt plate? As far as I can tell, the finish on the butt (shellac I guess) extends only to the lowest black ring - it doesn't extend onto the delrin.

- Or, would a repair be something more invasive, like from the joint?

- Or is it likely to be fixable, at all? I'm in CA and I couldn't sell it due to the inlay materials, so I decided to keep it, and now I really like the thing.

Thanks for any information or advice.

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That is one sweet classic. I am sure there are many fine folks here who can offer advice, if not fix your cue. I wish you the best. Take care of that gem.
Joe P
 
The buzz could be coming from a number of places. The bigger question is. With the new laws. Who could you safely ship it to?
 
Michael Webb said:
The buzz could be coming from a number of places. The bigger question is. With the new laws. Who could you safely ship it to?
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That's a very serious question.

Scot Sherbine does a lot of repairs and recently posted a pic of a cue package he receive that had tape on it showing it had been opened and inspected. He said he is seeing more of this recently.



As for the posted cue here: Very nice! Cool classic!


As for the question: I am not a cuemaker but would like to offer some optimism and say that anything can be fixed, it's just a matter of skill and/or money.

As Mr Webb said, it could be a number of things. A cuemaker really would only be guessing unless he got his hands on the cue and may not be able to say for sure without taking it apart.

IMHO if you have anybody work on it, choose the best available. IMHO the cue is worth the money and effort required to make it right.


A little piece of advice: Like a tooth that bothers you, you will be tempted to mess with it and "test it". Stop tapping the bumper on the floor, absolutely don't tap the cue from the side just to see if it buzzes. It will. And it will get worse the more you mess with it most likely. I had a nice mid-seventies cue that did exactly the same thing about 15 years ago. It really upset me. And the cue was so nice and original it broke my heart to think of it having to be taken apart. I had it looked at and was told it was 99% for sure the A joint and it should be taken apart and have the A joint re-done. Just the thought of losing the original Cortland upset me. So I put it away. Ten years later, on a whim, I got the cue out. Believe it or not, the buzz is 100% gone. The only explanation I have is that a little corrosion might have built up on the A joint screw and dumb luck resulted in that stopping the buzz. Just a wild guess. Anyway. I wouldn't be "testing" it to see if I can make it buzz. :wink:



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Chopdoc said:
That's a very serious question.

Scot Sherbine does a lot of repairs and recently posted a pic of a cue package he receive that had tape on it showing it had been opened and inspected. He said he is seeing more of this recently.
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This is becoming very common.
 
Take a good pic of just the wrap and ring at the A joint...handle area....and post that
 
If it is getting worse as the night goes on I would think it to be something simple like your weight bot coming loose. That is best case scenario. Most likely worse case is new handle.
 
Indeed, there was the urge to "test it." Before I got that advice, I noticed it seemed to get better after a night in the safe. It's raining here now, maybe that affects it too. I did already check the bolt under the bumper, but that's as far as I went.

Thanks everyone for the advice.
 

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Many, many years ago Danny Janes (Joss) told me a story about a guy who complained that his custom Joss tended to make a funny sound when he held the assembled cue out sideways by the grip section and slapped the joint area firmly with the palm of his other hand. Danny asked him one simple question, which put the matter to rest - and you might do well to give his response some serious consideration.

Dandy asked the guy, "How often would you say that shot comes up in a game?"

TW
 
Thomas Wayne said:

Many, many years ago Danny Janes (Joss) told me a story about a guy who complained that his custom Joss tended to make a funny sound when he held the assembled cue out sideways by the grip section and slapped the joint area firmly with the palm of his other hand. Danny asked him one simple question, which put the matter to rest - and you might do well to give his response some serious consideration.

Dandy asked the guy, "How often would you say that shot comes up in a game?"

TW
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Lol! That's golden!

There is a real lesson there.

Janes has been in the business a long time.


In most cases if you treat a good cue well it will outlast you.

I have an Espiritu with such a buzz. Plays really nice. Bang it on the side and it will buzz. Just play with it and it won't buzz. Cue is over 24 years old. It's a dandy!



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No sir, no polishing. Worst thing that could have happened is that I tightened the shaft on too much :)

As for only happening with a side tap, were it just that, indeed I could easily just not do that. At first, I only felt it when setting cue bumper on the floor - I don't bounce, or pound the floor after a missed shot or anything like that. But it got worse as the night progressed. On a shot with outside draw for example, I can feel it, but subtly, so it didn't upset my play. If it stays like this, I can live with it. I have a couple bar beaters that have joint buzz and they don't bother me too much.
Tomorrow I'll head out again for several hours...hopefully it will have cured itself, or at least, not gotten any worse.
 
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Well that's not a buzz ring it's just for pretty....cheap to have the wrap cutoff and see if there is a buzz ring in the handle loose.
 
Ever hear an Appraiser tell an owner it is worth $500 but would have been worth $2500 in original condition?
 
PRED said:
Looks like black with silver or white speck Blue Mountain. A McDaniel staple. McDaniel veneer cues are rare as hen's teeth.
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Looks like Hurlbert to me but could be B/M....no way to know by pics
 
You need to put that cue in the hands of someone knowledgeable to determine what's wrong. Otherwise is all guess work from here. : )

Mario
 
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