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Tommy-D

Tommy-D

World's best B player...
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> Well,sort of. My #1 shaft for my break cue took a crap on me a few weeks ago,in the form of a thread failure around the insert. The wood just disintegrated,but left maybe a .015 deep thread groove. You could screw the old insert back in it and have it bottom out,but screwing it onto the butt caused the pin to pull it back out. This is on a piloted joint,very early Joss SP. I decided to try to fix it 2 different ways.

First,I cut some brass hex stock down to .515,leaving me enough meat to fine-tune the fit of the pilot to the joint,aiming for a Szam/Black Boar-type compression fit. I then drilled with a #18 drill (.244),planning to ream with a
.255 reamer after installation to maintain concentricity,and also a snug fit on the pin.

I then basically made a gigantically oversized (.460 versus .4375) 7/16-14 insert,and cut the threads to full depth and SHARP. The plan was to try and use the sharpness of the threads to FORM the threads,rather than cutting them.

The backup plan was a method I've used before,making an insert with 1/2-13 threads and tap the wood.

I put the first insert in the tailstock chuck and got the tailstock up close to the end of the shaft,which was indicated to .0005 and gently faced,and locked the tailstock down,without engaging the quill lock. I set the lathe to 70 RPM and turned the spindle on,and used the tailstock just like you would to start a tap,turning the spindle off and gently running it in while letting it "bite" in so it starts straight. I then took the lathe out of gear and spun the chuck by hand while advancing the tailstock,and ran it right in until the shoulder bottomed out on the facing. It went in so nice I didn't even pull it back out and glue it in :eek:.

I reamed out the ID and tapped it,and took a .002 cut on the pilot,cleaned up with a diamond needle file,then countersunk and chamfered the pilot.

Much to my surprise,but not really :rolleyes:,when I screwed it together it felt like one of you masters of the craft did it :cool:. No slop in the pin fit,a quite snug pilot,and no visible light between the facings even under a magnifier. There is NO buzzing,the facings "squeak" when you unscrew it,and you can feel them seat when tightening it,even though the butt was not faced,just scraped clean with a fresh utility blade.

I did all this on the very first try,at school of all places. I made a couple delrin collets for the chuck end and a nifty little part that resembles a 5C collet for the back of the spindle with left-handed threads to hold the tip end.

I'm getting there,Tommy D.
 
Very cool!!! Sounds like a brain at work. It's nice to see you figuring things out & trying stuff before jumping on a forum asking for gimmes. Good for you.
 
> Roll is very minimal,but then again it's no worse than it was before,the butt has been slightly warped since it was bought new by the original owner. I also hit some balls with it and no noise was present,and hit fine other than the tip on it stinks.

With the equipment I used,I'd have never attempted this repair on a customer's cue. There is just too much that could have gone wrong considering this setup I used is not ideal for cue-repairs. I know what to do to repeat this repair in the future on more suitable-for-the-task equipment,which was the goal,since this was already a junked shaft in my book.

I'm gonna have access to,and the opportunity to start working on getting proficient with GibbsCAM tomorrow morning at school :grin: :thumbup:. Tommy D.
 
Tommy-D said:
> Roll is very minimal,but then again it's no worse than it was before,the butt has been slightly warped since it was bought new by the original owner. I also hit some balls with it and no noise was present,and hit fine other than the tip on it stinks.

With the equipment I used,I'd have never attempted this repair on a customer's cue. There is just too much that could have gone wrong considering this setup I used is not ideal for cue-repairs. I know what to do to repeat this repair in the future on more suitable-for-the-task equipment,which was the goal,since this was already a junked shaft in my book.

I'm gonna have access to,and the opportunity to start working on getting proficient with GibbsCAM tomorrow morning at school :grin: :thumbup:. Tommy D.
Click to expand...

Best of luck as always Tom, The best thing about any equipment you use to work on cues or anything else is to control the machine and boundaries within your grasp. I'm sure you already know that. I asked how it rolled because the already in place stainless joint sets the pace with the I.D. pilot and whether it ran true with the screw.
 
> In this case,the joint is a piloted wood-wood with just a collar on the shaft end. That might make it more susceptible to misalignment of the type you're referring to Mike,correctly as usual.

It's still better off than it is with the other shaft,it doesn't sit flush until you get it as tight as you can :frown:. Tommy D.
 
Tommy-D said:
> In this case,the joint is a piloted wood-wood with just a collar on the shaft end. That might make it more susceptible to misalignment of the type you're referring to Mike,correctly as usual.

It's still better off than it is with the other shaft,it doesn't sit flush until you get it as tight as you can :frown:. Tommy D.
Click to expand...

Cool, the other point is!
If the center I.D. is off center with the screw and you did a compression fit on the shaft, it will cock the shaft and warp from the force of your playing.
 
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BTW:
I only offer some of the things for you to think about because your one of the good guys who uses what is talked about as a reference point rather than a rule and you understand that sometimes 2 plus 2 makes you go HUH:eek:
 
> Thanks Mike! :thumbup:.

Now that I have access to GibbsCAM,and am staying in school long enough to totally own that program,as well as CNC,I might be dangerous before long :cool:. Tommy D.
 
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