finger joint?

T

Trent

Banned
i was at a local pool hall today and some guy ive never seen before came up and interrupted me while i was talking about a cue to a potential buyer and he asked how did you join the forearm to the cue and i told him i use a conecting screw, and a long tennon inside of it to make it as strong as possible and he goes tsssssssssshhhhhhhh thats no way to make a cue the only way u can make a cue that hits good is with a finger joint:angry:
killing a deal with the gentleman i was talking to.

and continued to annoy me with questions and telling me how i should do things until i said that i had to go pick up my kids and I left.

Ive never done a finger joint but wanted to know what your opinions were of them thanks!
 
Chris Hightower made some cues this way, a while back. He might be the one to ask , why he doesn't make them like that anymore. I just made my 1st cue with a finger board joint. I gave it to a friend & told him to let his whole team use it. I want them to break & play with it & give it a tough test. So far, it's played great & they love it. It has only been a few weeks. I'll let everyone know how the test cue does, in the long haul...JER
 
Nothing wrong with a finger joint.
Some very popular cue makers use that style of joint.

A fella sells finger jointed cue blanks on ebay for a very reasonable price.

The two main drawbacks I see with them is that one of the things I use to balance my cues is the "A" joint pin ... which a finger joint does not have.
The second is that it is that it only works for a wrapped or painted handle cue. Something has to cover that finger joint.

Just my two cents ... I think a very good hitting cue can be made using a finger joint style "A" joint.
Depends on the cuemaker and his skill balancing out that style of joint.

Why not buy a few of them from that eBay seller and make a few cues of that style. See what you think of them.
 
Trent, theres an EBayer that sells a few cue supplies that has available, forearm and handles for a cheap price. His are finger jointed.
Myself, I don't care for the look of them so have never bothered.

On a side note, don't ya just love those kinda people.
I wouldn't have let him blow off a potential customer that easy.
 
i bought some 3 for like 29 bucks ill turn one down real quick and see how it hits, the customer was on the fence he really wanted a 5280 that a guy had for sale anyways i was just trying to make a couple bucks on a sneaky.

thanks guys.
 
Trent said:
i bought some 3 for like 29 bucks ill turn one down real quick and see how it hits, the customer was on the fence he really wanted a 5280 that a guy had for sale anyways i was just trying to make a couple bucks on a sneaky.

thanks guys.
Click to expand...

Should have asked him how many cues he has built that way and then tell him his lack of experience is showing. It's pretty difficult trying to put deco-rings at the wrap on a finger jointed cue.

I've never seen any of the old Mali's finger jointed but they were built differently and easily broke at the A-joint. They waited until the cue was almost completed and then used a router to cut the V's for their points. At the end of the point, just behind where the wrap started they would have the ends of the cavities that the router bit had made and they would just fill these pockets with bondo making this area extremely weak.

In the mid nineties Josh cane out with four Sneaky Pete cues that were finger jointed and then 4 flat bottomed point were inlaid over the top of the finger joints but if you look you can see them between the points.

Finger joints are a good, strong joint that saves both wood and time. Much wider boards are finger jointed together and then cut into strips. These strips are then turned round and tapered into a cue.

Dick
 
pool room know it alls

Trent said:
i was at a local pool hall today and some guy ive never seen before came up and interrupted me while i was talking about a cue to a potential buyer and he asked how did you join the forearm to the cue and i told him i use a conecting screw, and a long tennon inside of it to make it as strong as possible and he goes tsssssssssshhhhhhhh thats no way to make a cue the only way u can make a cue that hits good is with a finger joint:angry:
killing a deal with the gentleman i was talking to.

and continued to annoy me with questions and telling me how i should do things until i said that i had to go pick up my kids and I left.

Ive never done a finger joint but wanted to know what your opinions were of them thanks!
Click to expand...

Trent,
Most pool rooms have at least 3 or 4, KNOW IT ALLS. Pay no mind to those types. It never fails, someone always butts in, when there a know it all. Truth of the matter is, they really don't know which hand to wipe with.
blud
 
I still have several of the original finger jointed blanks around my shop. There was nothing really wrong with them, but that joint was always hid under the wrap, so it really added nothing special to the cue that you could really brag on to the customer. If it were what everyone wanted I would still be making them. Now when you full splice people perceive advantages in the hit. And when you do an A-Joint with tenon you can put fancy rings in and adjust the balance. The finger joint just never offered enough benefits to catch on. But maybe we can get the guy who blew your sell to start a national campaign for finger jointed cues and he could explain why they are better made. I would almost bet he really meant full splice cues and thought they were called finger joints. But if not, I would like to hear what he thinks makes finger joints so special.
 
Blue Hog ridr said:
Trent, theres an EBayer that sells a few cue supplies that has available, forearm and handles for a cheap price. His are finger jointed.
Myself, I don't care for the look of them so have never bothered.

On a side note, don't ya just love those kinda people.
I wouldn't have let him blow off a potential customer that easy.
Click to expand...

If it's the guy I'm thinking of those are all Mali blanks.
 
Craig Fales said:
If it's the guy I'm thinking of those are all Mali blanks.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I bought some of those a couple years ago. Once down to final size, the gaps in the epoxy became apparent. It also eplained the warpage that most Mali's I have dealt with had at the A joint. Plus the weight bolt hole is already drilled and tapped which makes it hard to hold a true center consistantly thru the turnings. Out of 8, I had only 2 that made it to a finished cue, Just my experiences.
Dave
 
Craig Fales said:
If it's the guy I'm thinking of those are all Mali blanks.
Click to expand...

The Mali's that you are referring to must be the newer, Chinese made ones that are being imported by Competition Accessories or what ever they are called that bought out Mali a few years ago. I'm referring to the ones from the early to mid eighties.

Dick
 
Mali's

Sorry Dick, the blanks being talked about are old Mali's, and they were out of the USA factory stock when it closed down and moved its machines to China. I have bought a bunch to make into less expensive cues. I have no problem getting a rear center by cutting a maple plug for the 3/4 hole and super gluing it in, then chuck up the cue and center drill it. Bore out the plug when finished. Some may have the hole off center from the OD of the butt cap, but for an inexpensive cue it works fine. And some are oversize enough to bring back to center. That vendor on the internet being discussed is local to me, and I stop in and buy from him, he is an honest dealer. He also offers super deals on table cloth, pockets, balls, etc. I have NEVER found anything on the net cheaper than he sells it for. And no, he is not related nor a personal friend.
 
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olsonsview said:
Sorry Dick, the blanks being talked about are old Mali's, and they were out of the USA factory stock when it closed down and moved its machines to China. I have bought a bunch to make into less expensive cues. I have no problem getting a rear center by cutting a maple plug for the 3/4 hole and super gluing it in, then chuck up the cue and center drill it. Bore out the plug when finished. Some may have the hole off center from the OD of the butt cap, but for an inexpensive cue it works fine. And some are oversize enough to bring back to center. That vendor on the internet being discussed is local to me, and I stop in and buy from him, he is an honest dealer. He also offers super deals on table cloth, pockets, balls, etc. I have NEVER found anything on the net cheaper than he sells it for. And no, he is not related nor a personal friend.
Click to expand...

I apologize if I sounded like I was downing him. That wasn't my intent. He seems to be a great guy, I've bought a lot of parts from his ebay store on many occasions and he ships ridiculously fast. I was dissappointed in the blanks, but that wasn't his fault, it was construction issues, IMO.
Dave
 
Those are old Mali blanks on ebay. At that price I bought some and use them to readjust my tapers or other misc. testing. He is a great guy to deal with and has some great prices on cue parts. I don't know him personally just have dealt with him before.
 
> I have a very early Joss SP with this joint,with as Dickie mentioned 4 flat-bottom points inlaid over it,but you can still see it.

My guess is after 15 years years of breaking with it and no problems,that if someone decided to get physical with me,I could literally beat them to death with it before it broke. Mine has a 17" solid cocobolo butt section with a maple front.

It was my understanding that Danny Janes bought a bunch of flat boards with this connection technique from an Asian supplier and turned them round to make at least the earlier versions of these. Tommy D.
 
Dave38 said:
Yeah, I bought some of those a couple years ago. Once down to final size, the gaps in the epoxy became apparent. It also eplained the warpage that most Mali's I have dealt with had at the A joint. Plus the weight bolt hole is already drilled and tapped which makes it hard to hold a true center consistantly thru the turnings. Out of 8, I had only 2 that made it to a finished cue, Just my experiences.
Dave
Click to expand...
Pretty much my experience with those blanks also.
 
The ones I bought were round butts finger joined to square birdseye maple stock.
I dont recall any holes in the butt pieces.
If you dont want the finger joint just cut the forearm off and then half splice it as you wish.
For the money you wont find a better deal.
Some of the birds eye is very nice and some of the butt stock is old growth.
Most are just average but are well seasoned maple stock for handles and such.
 
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