HELP getting forearm points even

J

jocnat

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Started my venture into cue making. Trying to convert some old one piece cues. Would like to know if any one can help. I am having trouble making the points even in the forearm of the cue. I have tried shimming the center hole of the joint end of the cue, but can't get it right. I have Chris's dvds. That shows his way of doing it. Is their another method? Is their a tool that will help with this?

Thanks.......Jock
 
Hi,

When shimming points that are way off, you must re establish the center more than once. If you don't the center will just keep getting father away from the true center and the points will not move as much the more passes you take.

If you just keep cutting on the same center it won't work as the cue won't be round. Once the points are true and you re establish the center and cut the cue round again,you should be fine.

The trick is to due this before you reach final sanding dimension.

JMO,

Rick
 
Last edited:
points

Old one piece cues are the hardest to get even. Usually the points weren't
cut evenly to begin with, so as you start to bounce the joint to even them out, you don't get what you would expect. Worse case is when they go
high/low/high/low. At that point, you just have to say, old one piece cue and live with it. You are doing it correctly, just keep recentering and adjusting again, and again, and again.
 
jocnat said:
Started my venture into cue making. Trying to convert some old one piece cues. Would like to know if any one can help. I am having trouble making the points even in the forearm of the cue. I have tried shimming the center hole of the joint end of the cue, but can't get it right. I have Chris's dvds. That shows his way of doing it. Is their another method? Is their a tool that will help with this?

Thanks.......Jock
Click to expand...

You'll be an old, old man by the time you get them even that way.

cutter made some good points(no pun). Likely the centerline is not in the
center of the points.

Use a drive center in your chuck and bang the rear of the cue around.
If it is as big as a typical house cue, you should have plenty of wood
to work with.

Dale
 
You can separate the butt section from the shaft, leaving the butt a little long (I use a hach saw). Then chuck the butt into the headstock & with a live center, at the tailstock. Use a dial indicater to get the ends of the points as even as possible ( I have .010", 005", .002" metal shims & thinner papers, to shim). With the lathe running mark the whole butt with a pencil. Take a few light cuts & you will see if you are cutting deeper on 1 side than the other. It is easier to shim under the chuck jaws, than a center hole. When you are done cutting, turn the butt around & put through the hole in the headstock & center. Now drill, bore & tap the hole for the joint screw. I use a hightower lathe for this. With some old 1 piece Qs you will never get the points even. If they start out fairly close, I find this works best for me...JER
 
Thanks for the information. I will try the methods you have given me. I have quite a hard time shimming the center point. I like the idea of shimming the chuck end. Al my chucks are self centering.Will an independent chuck help?
 
jocnat said:
Thanks for the information. I will try the methods you have given me. I have quite a hard time shimming the center point. I like the idea of shimming the chuck end. Al my chucks are self centering.Will an independent chuck help?
Click to expand...

A wise man taught me this a few years ago........ take some maple handles a cut off thin round pieces glue them on each end of the blank
chuck up each end and barely mark it with your live center then chuck it up between centers

now you can put the lowest point facing up and barely bump it down with your hand take a small pass and see where you are at

you can bump the front and back over with out having to re drill and when you get them good you can face off the sacrificial maple ends and center drill then take one nice clean up pass to make sure it is concentric and minor adjustments can be hand sanded or shaved

or you could just ask Joey about his jig :smile:
 
More informations needed to help you get your points even.
Did you cut the point grooves yourself?
Were the points dead even before attaching the forearm to the handle?
Is this a bar cue or full length point blank conversion you are trying?
The above questions are important as each could require different fixes.
 
Last edited:
juspooln said:
A wise man taught me this a few years ago........ take some maple handles a cut off thin round pieces glue them on each end of the blank
chuck up each end and barely mark it with your live center then chuck it up between centers

now you can put the lowest point facing up and barely bump it down with your hand take a small pass and see where you are at

you can bump the front and back over with out having to re drill and when you get them good you can face off the sacrificial maple ends and center drill then take one nice clean up pass to make sure it is concentric and minor adjustments can be hand sanded or shaved

or you could just ask Joey about his jig :smile:
Click to expand...

now that somebody let the cat out of the bag,
i started doing this several years ago
drill centers in some scrap dowels
slice off with band saw 3/8" thick
place the discs on both ends of workpiece

with dead center & live center,
there's enough tailstock pressure to hold in place until you're satisfied centers are accurate , i.e. points/bflys are even
use an indicator to make any needed adjustments by bumping the piece accordingly
once youre happy with results,
squirt a little thin ca on the discs
they'll stay
if you bump 1 point .005" towards you,
that's a difference of .010" from the opposite point :wink:
typically, .010" translates to 1/10th of an inch in length of the point/bfly

free tip> if you bump joint end, bump back end equal amount too
you will be much happier

pictured
there were NO centers in the ebony
brenster's hi -tech recentering discs ARE the centers
slicker than snot on a door knob aint it



 

Attachments

  • 001.JPG
    001.JPG
    67.9 KB · Views: 369
BHQ said:
now that somebody let the cat out of the bag,

I didn't let the cat completely out :grin:

Sorry I probably should have asked you first before I posted it :embarrassed2::sorry:
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top