Custom Cue Question - Drilling

[9balllvr]

I do not make cues and have no idea about them - I have someone making one for me and heard through the grapevine that there might have been a flaw - before approaching the maker about what I heard, I would like to ask you cue makers if this is common. You have a piece of wood you drill through and hit a knot in the wood so you work around it - when done, screwing the shaft and butt together, it is not straight until it is solidly screwed together - at that point the cue is straight. Can you re-drill without affecting the cue's performance? if not, should I be concerned?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Craig Fales]

Where is this knot that you speak of?...and how would it effect the way the two halves fit together?....maybe it's another issue...
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[9balllvr]

I really have no idea how this is done - all I know is what I was told by a third party. This is really sad....I have played pool forever and I truly have no idea how cues are made, just that they get the job done when I need them. Apparently, you drill through the wood to put the pin in it - the metal pin that the shaft connects to. When the shaft was connected, it was off a bit because of the fact that the drill hit a knot in the wood somewhere in the butt??? I think that was how it was described. In a nutshell, if you drill the cue and it has to be re-drilled, will it affect the play?

 

[sliprock]

I really have no idea how this is done - all I know is what I was told by a third party. This is really sad....I have played pool forever and I truly have no idea how cues are made, just that they get the job done when I need them. Apparently, you drill through the wood to put the pin in it - the metal pin that the shaft connects to. When the shaft was connected, it was off a bit because of the fact that the drill hit a knot in the wood somewhere in the butt??? I think that was how it was described. In a nutshell, if you drill the cue and it has to be re-drilled, will it affect the play?

I don't think that you should get worked up over something that a third party tells you they saw. Chances are, they don't have a clue as to what they saw. Different people have different techniques for doing certain jobs.
You could have your joint pin removed and then replaced with a new pin, and not be able to tell one bit of difference. Let the cuemaker do his thing and if you're not satisfied, don't accept the cue. If you dis-trust your cuemaker, cancel your order.....

 

[rhncue]

I really have no idea how this is done - all I know is what I was told by a third party. This is really sad....I have played pool forever and I truly have no idea how cues are made, just that they get the job done when I need them. Apparently, you drill through the wood to put the pin in it - the metal pin that the shaft connects to. When the shaft was connected, it was off a bit because of the fact that the drill hit a knot in the wood somewhere in the butt??? I think that was how it was described. In a nutshell, if you drill the cue and it has to be re-drilled, will it affect the play?

Apparently what has happened is that the hole in the butt was not drilled and tapped straight and now the pin has a yaw to it. When the shaft is being screwed on it is at a slight angle but when it is pulled up to the joint the squared facings align the shaft so that the cue is straight. If this yaw is very slight so that it can't be seen when the shaft is rolled chances are it will be O.K. but if you can see movement then you'll probably have trouble down the road. This usually occurs when the builder is in a hurry or knows no better and drills the hole to quickly with a twist bit. When drilling the hole you should only increase the depth gradually and pulling the bit back out to clear the chips every 1/4 to 1/2 inch. The flutes of the bit fill with saw dust and no longer will drill straight otherwise. If the pin now has a yaw to it pulling the pin and redrilling will not repair the problem. What is now needed is to pull the pin, bore out the hole to a little over a 1/2" dia. to a depth of about 2 - 2 1/2", install a hard wood plug and then redrill and retap and insert a new pin correctly.

The problem with leaving the cue in it's present state, in time, will cause the faces to wear on one side of the joint and the shaft and somewhere down the road the cue will no longer be straight.

Dick

 

[9balllvr]

Thank you to all that have responded. I mentioned the third party telling me about this because he was there when this happened. I have faith in the maker, however, for my own knowledge, I wanted to know what to expect upon recieving the cue. I believe the problem stems from the fact that the maker had never used this type of wood before and as he drilled, a knot became an issue and he had to work around it. I know the cue will be great looking, I was just concerned that re-drilling the cue would cause issues down the road.

Thanks again.

 

[Craig Fales]

Apparently what has happened is that the hole in the butt was not drilled and tapped straight and now the pin has a yaw to it. When the shaft is being screwed on it is at a slight angle but when it is pulled up to the joint the squared facings align the shaft so that the cue is straight. If this yaw is very slight so that it can't be seen when the shaft is rolled chances are it will be O.K. but if you can see movement then you'll probably have trouble down the road. This usually occurs when the builder is in a hurry or knows no better and drills the hole to quickly with a twist bit. When drilling the hole you should only increase the depth gradually and pulling the bit back out to clear the chips every 1/4 to 1/2 inch. The flutes of the bit fill with saw dust and no longer will drill straight otherwise. If the pin now has a yaw to it pulling the pin and redrilling will not repair the problem. What is now needed is to pull the pin, bore out the hole to a little over a 1/2" dia. to a depth of about 2 - 2 1/2", install a hard wood plug and then redrill and retap and insert a new pin correctly.

The problem with leaving the cue in it's present state, in time, will cause the faces to wear on one side of the joint and the shaft and somewhere down the road the cue will no longer be straight.

Dick

This is what I was thinking aswell....a knot in the wood shouldn't be an issue with drilling and tapping the hole for the pin...if it's off slightly off-concentric and pulls straight when it's fully tightnened and rolls straight I wouldn't bother with doing anything...
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