Cuemaker Needed...special requirements

[Shorty]

I am trying to work out a new cue for me, that will give me 24 inches of extension for long shots on 9 foot tables. I have seen how Aaron Aragon has two twelve inch butt extensions that screw into the butt end of his cue. I am trying to either A) find someone that will mod my Schon or B) buy a whole new cue altogether with these two extensions. I talked to a guy in canada, but he wants 225 bucks for a 12-19 inch telescoping extension he sells. In my opinion that is way too much money. I would hope that I could find someone to just make me two extensions out of lightweight maple or whatever. They would not need to be solid, but the lighter the better.

If I went with a totally new cue this is what I have in mind:

I want a cue that has no points, no wrap, 5/16-14 metal joint that I could use my Predator shaft with. Maybe some basic silver rings at the joint to match up. I would like it to have a curly maple handle at most for fanciness. I would also like the butt turned down as small or slightly smaller than a Schon. I found out thats why I like the Schon so much, it has a smaller around butt than most cues. It should have no bumper or a hole in the bumper where I could screw in one twelve inch extension, and then screw another twelve inch extension into that if need be. Both joints be quick release joints since this will not be something that will be together much and rarely used. My friend Aaron as I said before has his cue done this way, but he has a TAD cue and I heard it cost like 5k, I flat out can't afford that.

My question mainly is this...

Who would be a good cuemaker to do something odd like this? The joint matching up along with the two custom extensions would be the most critical criteria to me.

The reason I want this mainly is the cue reach tube I use is a royal pain to slide up and down my cue everytime I need it, and it only provides about 18 inches of extension, and I sure could use that extra 6 inches sometimes...

Oh, and if I find someone to do it, I will have a Schon LTD for sale...grin.

Any help would be much appreciated,
Shorty

 

[Cue Crazy]

I am trying to work out a new cue for me, that will give me 24 inches of extension for long shots on 9 foot tables. I have seen how Aaron Aragon has two twelve inch butt extensions that screw into the butt end of his cue. I am trying to either A) find someone that will mod my Schon or B) buy a whole new cue altogether with these two extensions. I talked to a guy in canada, but he wants 225 bucks for a 12-19 inch telescoping extension he sells. In my opinion that is way too much money. I would hope that I could find someone to just make me two extensions out of lightweight maple or whatever. They would not need to be solid, but the lighter the better.

If I went with a totally new cue this is what I have in mind:

I want a cue that has no points, no wrap, 5/16-14 metal joint that I could use my Predator shaft with. Maybe some basic silver rings at the joint to match up. I would like it to have a curly maple handle at most for fanciness. I would also like the butt turned down as small or slightly smaller than a Schon. I found out thats why I like the Schon so much, it has a smaller around butt than most cues. It should have no bumper or a hole in the bumper where I could screw in one twelve inch extension, and then screw another twelve inch extension into that if need be. Both joints be quick release joints since this will not be something that will be together much and rarely used. My friend Aaron as I said before has his cue done this way, but he has a TAD cue and I heard it cost like 5k, I flat out can't afford that.

My question mainly is this...

Who would be a good cuemaker to do something odd like this? The joint matching up along with the two custom extensions would be the most critical criteria to me.

The reason I want this mainly is the cue reach tube I use is a royal pain to slide up and down my cue everytime I need it, and it only provides about 18 inches of extension, and I sure could use that extra 6 inches sometimes...

Oh, and if I find someone to do it, I will have a Schon LTD for sale...grin.

Any help would be much appreciated,
Shorty

Shorty have you tried capone? Is'nt he down near you somewhere? I have made an extension that goes between the shaft and butt joint before, and seems like that's where I got the idea from. Maybe he could make something off the buttsleeve for you. Just trying to think of someone near you, But I am sure one these Guys on here Could do something, or know what your best options are. The ones I made were really just for people that don't use bridges very well, and they worked great for that, but don't know If It would be good for you as your primary shooter, or you could combo the 2 to get your lenth possibly. I am sure an extension at the sleeve would not be too hard, depending on what's there is to attatch to. If worse came to worse could probably core the sleeve to get some material there to tap. not sure about the balance factor of it though, probably have to go light on the material, and bore the extension to keep it close. Do you prefer a slight forward balance as most do? Also do you think there is a market for such a thing for others like you? We had a guy that played on our team some years ago that was in a chair also, he was the only one in my area that I have run across so far. When i was young He use to put quite the whipping on me, and was very tough competition. Nice guy too. I believe He used a schon also, but was unmodified as far as I can remember.

Greg

 

[Shorty]

Shorty have you tried capone? Is'nt he down near you somewhere? I have made an extension that goes between the shaft and butt joint before, and seems like that's where I got the idea from. Maybe he could make something off the buttsleeve for you. Just trying to think of someone near you, But I am sure one these Guys on here Could do something, or know what your best options are. The ones I made were really just for people that don't use bridges very well, and they worked great for that, but don't know If It would be good for you as your primary shooter, or you could combo the 2 to get your lenth possibly. I am sure an extension at the sleeve would not be too hard, depending on what's there is to attatch to. If worse came to worse could probably core the sleeve to get some material there to tap. not sure about the balance factor of it though, probably have to go light on the material, and bore the extension to keep it close. Do you prefer a slight forward balance as most do? Also do you think there is a market for such a thing for others like you? We had a guy that played on our team some years ago that was in a chair also, he was the only one in my area that I have run across so far. When i was young He use to put quite the whipping on me, and was very tough competition. Nice guy too. I believe He used a schon also, but was unmodified as far as I can remember.

Greg

Yes, I have tried extensions between the shaft and butt, Mr. Picone's precisely, that I bought off of ebay. Number 1, its only 8 inches, and number 2, it's considered sharking in my APA league if you break your cue down at ANYTIME. Number 3, it takes too bloody long to do. Number 4, I heard through the grapevine that he will not make a longer extension, and its pretty darn heavy to begin with being made from a plastic composite. I mainly want something quick that will allow me to keep my rhythm, be less cumbersome. And yes, I do like a forward balanced cue, hence I shoot with a Schon LTD. I really hate to part with my Schon, I am so very attached to it, but I may have to in order to get what I need for my game. Gotta give up looks for functionality I suppose.

Shorty

 

[Cue Crazy]

Yes, I have tried extensions between the shaft and butt, Mr. Picone's precisely, that I bought off of ebay. Number 1, its only 8 inches, and number 2, it's considered sharking in my APA league if you break your cue down at ANYTIME. Number 3, it takes too bloody long to do. Number 4, I heard through the grapevine that he will not make a longer extension, and its pretty darn heavy to begin with being made from a plastic composite. I mainly want something quick that will allow me to keep my rhythm, be less cumbersome. And yes, I do like a forward balanced cue, hence I shoot with a Schon LTD. I really hate to part with my Schon, I am so very attached to it, but I may have to in order to get what I need for my game. Gotta give up looks for functionality I suppose.

Shorty

Seems as if I spelled his name wrong, good thing you knew who I was refering to. I figured that probably would not work for your situation. they are heavy being made of delrin. I am sure it can be done in the sleeve, I am not setup for quick release yet, or I would be glad to play with the idea, and send you something down to look at. That is quite a bit of extra lenth you need there, so the balance may be more of a issue then one would think, even with light materials, hopefully someone setup with more tooling can help you out. I think even with a new cue being made for you, that someone could do alot better then 5K. Tads are pretty high dollar sticks.
Good Luck with It, hope It works out for you, If you are still looking in a year or so Give me a hollar, maybe I can help you out better at that time. Sorry I can't do more, but I am sure you will be able to find a option that will better suite your budget before then. I know how it is, or I would probably be able to help now. I am still work in progress due to money mostly at this point myself, so i can't afford to drop 5k on a cue either right now. I just have to build It myself If I want It that bad.
Don't know how the APA could look at you that way, because that is not your intentions, but you are correct, and seems as if that is forfiture also. I guess unfortunatly the rules have to apply to everyone, or your oponets would use It to cry about when you take them out. Just the way things seem to work. I guess they probably don't, but Are you sure they won't look at the butt extension the same way, or just counts on the joint?
Hopefully, you will be able to do something with Your schon so you can keep It. I know how It is being fond of a cue, sucks if you have to give It up.

Good luck, and all the best to you,
Greg

 

[hadjcues]

Shorty - It would be best to look for a local cuemaker first. If all fails, send me a PM. I could make it for you. That would be a nice nifty project. I saw wat Aragon was using dat NWPA finals.

Hadj

 

[cueman]

Here is my suggestion. It will require your rubber bumper stick out a little more than it does now. But modify the end to accept a quick release joint in the end of your schon butt. Then make your 24" extension and a another plug with rubber bumper that plugs into the quick release. Most any quality cuemaker could do this for you. I am too swamped right now to do it but try the ICA site or other cuemakers you know for a quote.
Chris
www.hightowercues.com

 

[Shorty]

Here is my suggestion. It will require your rubber bumper stick out a little more than it does now. But modify the end to accept a quick release joint in the end of your schon butt. Then make your 24" extension and a another plug with rubber bumper that plugs into the quick release. Most any quality cuemaker could do this for you. I am too swamped right now to do it but try the ICA site or other cuemakers you know for a quote.
Chris
www.hightowercues.com

Hey thanks for the idea Chris!
But I came up with another of my own. I am going to take the bumper off my Schon, figure out the thread size of that screw...(does anybody know off the top of their head btw)...and then make an extension for it with a threaded bolt of the same threads. Does not have to be quick release, just set it so I only get 4 or 5 turns into the cue and it would be fine. Also, planning on just cutting or drilling out the hole in the bumper and glueing it back on. That way the thread goes through the bumper and I still get to have a bumper.

Any thoughts or comments?

Shorty

 

[JimS]

You took the words right out of my mouth Shorty. That's exactly the way I'd do it. Maybe you could use a cheap piece of wood like a wooden closet rod or stair railing.

Take the screw with you to Lowes/Home Depot and get the wood and see if you could get a screw that has wood threads on one end, so it would screw into the end of the wood, and the other end have threads to match what is in the cue. I've seen them like that....i.e. with wood threads on one end and metal threads on the other.

A hardware store would be able to tell you what kind of screw you have in the end of the butt, i.e. size and thread type.

Using the stair railing/closet rod wood you could make a 5 foot long extension! ROFLMFAO

 

[BLACKHEARTCUES]

Schon Threads

Here is my suggestion. It will require your rubber bumper stick out a little more than it does now. But modify the end to accept a quick release joint in the end of your schon butt. Then make your 24" extension and a another plug with rubber bumper that plugs into the quick release. Most any quality cuemaker could do this for you. I am too swamped right now to do it but try the ICA site or other cuemakers you know for a quote.
Chris
www.hightowercues.com

The size of screw, that holds the bumper to the weight bolt, is 8-32. This is very FINE THREAD, skinny screw(5/32 diameter). To try to hold a 2' extention with such a small screw is rediculous. 2nd, remember that if you just take a drill & drill a hole in the end of the extention & somehow glue this tiny screw into this long piece of wood, you will probably end up with with the extention sticking up in the air. Normally I don't throw cold water on new ideas,but this one is just dumb. If you can't get a Qmaker to do it right, FORGET IT...JER

 

[Cue Crazy]

You took the words right out of my mouth Shorty. That's exactly the way I'd do it. Maybe you could use a cheap piece of wood like a wooden closet rod or stair railing.

Take the screw with you to Lowes/Home Depot and get the wood and see if you could get a screw that has wood threads on one end, so it would screw into the end of the wood, and the other end have threads to match what is in the cue. I've seen them like that....i.e. with wood threads on one end and metal threads on the other.

A hardware store would be able to tell you what kind of screw you have in the end of the butt, i.e. size and thread type.

Using the stair railing/closet rod wood you could make a 5 foot long extension! ROFLMFAO

I thought of this also, but since quick release was mentioned i thought the weight bolt idea was out. I can think of many ways of doing it that way even with quick release installed. an adapter could be made to fit the back of the butt, that taps into the weight bolt, on the back side of the adapter would accept a quick release joint in which the extension would screw to for one.
If hollow, a compression/expansion fitting could be made so It tightens or loosens against the sidewall if made correctly, risky to put the pressure on the sidewall though for a long extension. you don't want a flimsy joint there could damage your cue.
If the threads were treated first, a simple extension could easily be made as mentioned using just the weight bolt, the butt cap may need slightly modified inside to aquire a good mate between the cap and extension in order to keep It from breaking or splitting. depends on what It is bored like. If It were me I'd probably bore the butt out a hair, and create a tenon/pilot on the extension to assure proper alignment, and also no problems with breakage, but you might could core any open area on the butt, face it, drill, retap, and make a flat joint if you wanted to go that way, altough not My prefered method because there are too many variables in lining the original tapped hole with the new, unless going with a larger dia. bolt, and not as strong IMO. also I would have atleast enough threads that they don't tear the wood out over time. It's not really too hard of a thing for a cuemaker, or possibly even good cue repair guy to do. the thing to figure into the ratio, is the balance, and making sure no damage will occur to the cue from the mate, and lenth of the extension putting pressure on the joint IMO. It does take time though, so there is that and the material involved to consider. really the kind of thing you need a lathe for, unless not woried about the final product, even then might be a pain to do without one depending on the mate. If you don't mind the extension being of smaller dia. then the butt cap, then possible for someone to make you something up a send without sending the cue to them, because they don't have to match the taper, but as mentioned this would depend on the inside of the cue and what's there is to mate the 2.
Shorty, Maybe If you put a picture up of the inside of your butt with the bumper removed, someone could give you a better idea of your best cost alternative. knowing the size of the weight bolt would probably help also.

Good luck

 

[Shorty]

I am asking a guy as we speak who has a lathe to make the extension itself. He has some really nice hardwoods that he can stain for me. I am definately wanting the extension to be a smaller diameter because I have tiny hands and also to make it lighter, but I can't go too small because of the threaded rod to tap into it. My plan was to get a rod that is threaded the same as the butt screw and put it a couple of inches into the extension, with enough sticking out to screw into the butt. Keep in mind this, this extension is not going to be bearing alot of wear and tear. It is not like the joint on my existing cue, so it does not have to be super tough I don't think. I concur that maybe I should have someone drill it out and go with a bigger thread...but I am not sure if Pete Omen can do this kinda job or if he will take it. I have no way of reaching him other than through a friend and he is already doing another job for me right now. I may contact him since he is the local cuemaker and see what he says.

Shorty

 

[cueman]

The size of screw, that holds the bumper to the weight bolt, is 8-32. This is very FINE THREAD, skinny screw(5/32 diameter). To try to hold a 2' extention with such a small screw is rediculous. 2nd, remember that if you just take a drill & drill a hole in the end of the extention & somehow glue this tiny screw into this long piece of wood, you will probably end up with with the extention sticking up in the air. Normally I don't throw cold water on new ideas,but this one is just dumb. If you can't get a Qmaker to do it right, FORGET IT...JER

Don't know why you "threw cold water" on my idea and say it is "just dumb." It seems like you are throwing the water on Shorty's idea and putting my post in the quote. I said nothing about using the 8-32. I said "quick release" which would mean the weight bolt system would be changed to where either the new bumper system or the extension would snap in with a couple of turns. I don't think this is dumb and it is not original either. It has been done for a shorter lady I know by another cuemaker.
Chris
www.hightowercues.com

 

[BLACKHEARTCUES]

Extention

Don't know why you "threw cold water" on my idea and say it is "just dumb." It seems like you are throwing the water on Shorty's idea and putting my post in the quote. I said nothing about using the 8-32. I said "quick release" which would mean the weight bolt system would be changed to where either the new bumper system or the extension would snap in with a couple of turns. I don't think this is dumb and it is not original either. It has been done for a shorter lady I know by another cuemaker.
Chris
www.hightowercues.com

SORRY, CHRIS. I agree with your quote. By MISTAKE, I replied to your quote instead of Shorty's. The dumb idea that I refer to, is hanging a 24" piece of wood from a screw the size of the bumper screw. From my post you must have known that my comment was dirrected at this concept, not yours. Maybe it's just best if I don't post anymore, I'm just too damned old to do ANYTHING without friggin it up. SORRY...JER

 

[Shorty]

SORRY, CHRIS. I agree with your quote. By MISTAKE, I replied to your quote instead of Shorty's. The dumb idea that I refer to, is hanging a 24" piece of wood from a screw the size of the bumper screw. From my post you must have known that my comment was dirrected at this concept, not yours. Maybe it's just best if I don't post anymore, I'm just too damned old to do ANYTHING without friggin it up. SORRY...JER

And I misunderstood everyone! I now get what to do...sorry Jer...but yeah, I should figure a way to hang this off the weigh bolt idea. I see now what I have to do and I am in talks with someone on how to "getter done". Now if I can just get off work to go see what this weight bolt looks like!

Shorty

 

[cueman]

SORRY, CHRIS. I agree with your quote. By MISTAKE, I replied to your quote instead of Shorty's. The dumb idea that I refer to, is hanging a 24" piece of wood from a screw the size of the bumper screw. From my post you must have known that my comment was dirrected at this concept, not yours. Maybe it's just best if I don't post anymore, I'm just too damned old to do ANYTHING without friggin it up. SORRY...JER

No keep posting. Your imput is always good. It was just an honest mistake any of us could make. Thanks for clarifying though. Sorry if I was being touchy.
Chris
www.hightowercues.com

 

[RSB-Refugee]

I see now what I have to do and I am in talks with someone on how to "getter done".

Karen Corr's cue uses an extension like the kind you are looking for. I think it is a Bill McDaniels, maybe you could call him.

Tracy

 

[Shorty]

Karen Corr's cue uses an extension like the kind you are looking for. I think it is a McDaniels, maybe you could call him.

Tracy

Although I would love Bill McDaniels to make me a cue, I honestly can't afford it...not even his low end stuff...my Visa does not go that HIGH. I think I have it worked out with someone else, will post pictures and see what everyone thinks.

Thanks for the input from EVERYBODY...very good ideas and inputs...really some good cue knowledge here.

Shorty

 

[Jack Flanagan]

Just a thought,,,Vintage cues (Lucasi) has an item #VT-JBE, a jump-break + extension cue ! possible someone could could make you an intermediate piece to go between the two pieces of the butt, plus you would have the 4"-5" screw-out extension already on the butt...this item has accu-loc joints (quick release) and may just be a quick and relatively inexpensive conversion to what you need ......... jack

 

[CCC21]

Don't know why you "threw cold water" on my idea and say it is "just dumb." It seems like you are throwing the water on Shorty's idea and putting my post in the quote. I said nothing about using the 8-32. I said "quick release" which would mean the weight bolt system would be changed to where either the new bumper system or the extension would snap in with a couple of turns. I don't think this is dumb and it is not original either. It has been done for a shorter lady I know by another cuemaker.
Chris
www.hightowercues.com

This is the cue that Chris is referring to. It was for my wife who likes to play with a shorter cue, but could use an extension on some of the longer shots. WPBA pro player Kim Shaw uses the same exact setup. The cue is a total of 55" long with a 8" extension. The extension actually could be a couple inches longer, but these are the requirements I gave to the cue maker.

Sorry for the bad quality pictures. I am using a very old and cheap digital camera in poor lighting conditions.

 

[Shorty]

Wow!

This is the cue that Chris is referring to. It was for my wife who likes to play with a shorter cue, but could use an extension on some of the longer shots. WPBA pro player Kim Shaw uses the same exact setup. The cue is a total of 55" long with a 8" extension. The extension actually could be a couple inches longer, but these are the requirements I gave to the cue maker.

Sorry for the bad quality pictures. I am using a very old and cheap digital camera in poor lighting conditions.

Thanks for the great pictures! This is along the lines of exactly what I am looking for in my cue...even the predator shaft...grin. I hope the person that has my cue will take a look at this...*hint hint*...I am sure he will.

I would need a longer extension, in the 24 inch range, but the same concept. I love the way the bumper goes in as a replacement...very nice and clean looking.

Shorty