Help with McDermott Shaft facing (?)

[Rain-Man]

Hi guys,

I've been a mcDermott dealer for many years now, and always seem to run into this problem with them:


Why do McDermott shaft and butts not match up properly with other McDermott butts and shaft?

What I mean by that is, I could have 2 McDermotts cues that with the shaft they came with, roll perfectly together. But when you put shaft A onto butt section B, they almost never seem to roll correctly (and vice versa)..

No other cues that I can think of have this problem..

Yes, sometimes the diameter might not match up perfectly (and there is a tiny 'lip'), but if the butt is straight, and the shaft is straight (and they roll perfectly on another butt or shaft), they roll fine when joined to another butt or shaft..

I cannot even order a replacement McDermott shaft without having to send in the butt section to have it matched up at the factory??

Why is that?

And is there an easily explainable fix I can do here on my lathe (I do shaft work, tips, ferrules, and stuff...)?

I assume the fix is to reface the shaft joint, but am unsure as to how to go about it.



Thanks in advance for your help and for your patience if my question is stupid, but I honestly just dont know how to go about it (or why McDermott cues are like this...)..

Thanks,
Rain-Man

 

[HawaiianEye]

Hi guys,

I've been a mcDermott dealer for many years now, and always seem to run into this problem with them:


Why do McDermott shaft and butts not match up properly with other McDermott butts and shaft?

What I mean by that is, I could have 2 McDermotts cues that with the shaft they came with, roll perfectly together. But when you put shaft A onto butt section B, they almost never seem to roll correctly (and vice versa)..

No other cues that I can think of have this problem..

Yes, sometimes the diameter might not match up perfectly (and there is a tiny 'lip'), but if the butt is straight, and the shaft is straight (and they roll perfectly on another butt or shaft), they roll fine when joined to another butt or shaft..

I cannot even order a replacement McDermott shaft without having to send in the butt section to have it matched up at the factory??

Why is that?

And is there an easily explainable fix I can do here on my lathe (I do shaft work, tips, ferrules, and stuff...)?

I assume the fix is to reface the shaft joint, but am unsure as to how to go about it.



Thanks in advance for your help and for your patience if my question is stupid, but I honestly just dont know how to go about it (or why McDermott cues are like this...)..

Thanks,
Rain-Man

Maybe a stupid question on my part, but if one shaft fit the facing perfectly and the other new shaft didn't, if you refaced the shaft facing for the new shaft, wouldn't the old shaft now have a facing problem?

 

[john coloccia]

The joint pin isn't even centered often and the whole thing wobbles like a cam when you screw it together. I just sent back a Stinger that was so bad that in this respect, and others, that I refused to live with it. I've played McDermotts all my life, and the two I have are actually done pretty well (a couple of old D series). One main reason I didn't get another one when it was time to upgrade was exactly the quality of their joint. It's shameful that they can consistently screw this up so badly in the year 2015 when even cheap imports can get it right these days. If they could fix that, I would consider going back.

 

[Rain-Man]

Maybe a stupid question on my part, but if one shaft fit the facing perfectly and the other new shaft didn't, if you refaced the shaft facing for the new shaft, wouldn't the old shaft now have a facing problem?

I would assume that once you reface shaft B to fit onto butt section A, then shaft B would then no longer match up with its original butt section B (I think that is what you asking).


But my question ultimately is, why arent they all (or at least usually) compatible across the board?

 

[Mcues]

Why do McDermott shaft and butts not match up properly with other McDermott butts and shaft?

Sounds like a question for McDermott.

Parts have to be made concentric to each other.

Mario

 

[Rain-Man]

It's shameful that they can consistently screw this up so badly in the year 2015 when even cheap imports can get it right these days

Exactly my point...

I sell tons of different brands of cues, most of which are imports. I rarely if ever have a problem swapping shafts around from one model to the next, and them fitting perfectly and rolling straight, as far as the joint is concerned.

Yes, sometimes I will get a shaft that has a belly warp, but that happens with EVERY company I order from. I simply will set it aside, and send it back to the company for replacement.

The joint pin isn't even centered often and the whole thing wobbles like a cam when you screw it together. I just sent back a Stinger that was so bad that in this respect, and others, that I refused to live with it. I've played McDermotts all my life, and the two I have are actually done pretty well (a couple of old D series). One main reason I didn't get another one when it was time to upgrade was exactly the quality of their joint.

Im actually surprised to hear you had this problem with the Stingers.. For some reason, I rarely if ever have a problem with them (again, an occasional warped shaft, but not a joint issue). I also do not seem to have the joint problem with their import line of Star series cues..

Just seems to be with the mcDermotts made here in the US (Im not exactly sure where the Stingers are made though, they might not be made at their factory either...).

Was your Stinger this way from the day you received it, because if so, they should have made sure it rolled perfectly before sending it to you...?

 

[Rain-Man]

Why do McDermott shaft and butts not match up properly with other McDermott butts and shaft?

Sounds like a question for McDermott.

Parts have to be made concentric to each other.

Mario

I sent a pretty lengthy email to them (my rep) asking as much, but havent heard anything back as of yet..

I brought it here to see if when I received a cue from them that the shaft and butt rolled perfectly straight when apart, but when screwed together rolled with a goofy lumpity lump, if there was anything I could do on my end, as a fix, so I didnt have to constantly send them back to the factory..

I know for a fact that cues (butt and shaft) I have sent back for warranty repair/replacement with this issue, came back with the exact same butt and shaft that were sent, and come back perfect. So Im asking what did they do to fix the issue, and can I just do it on my own..

I received a nice sized order from them this week, and had to send 6 of them back this afternoon because of this joint issue on them.

 

[john coloccia]

Was your Stinger this way from the day you received it, because if so, they should have made sure it rolled perfectly before sending it to you...?

Yes, day one. It went back without having been chalked up once. First thing I noticed is that it didn't seem quite round, and there was a warp. I rolled it on my granite counter tops and there was a HUGE wobble. Rolled like an egg. I should say I'm a pretty competent machinist, have good eyes and good straight edges. I've previously measured my counter tops because sometimes I need a pretty flat surface larger than my small surface plates, and my counter tops are flat to a few thou across the width.

If I recall, the joint end didn't even touch for most of it, and had about 1/32" of runout just on it's own. I rolled it with the joint end hanging off a couple of inches, to take their crazy fitting process out of it, and it still had a big warp. When I screwed it together, it was obvious the joint wasn't even centered. Once I tightened it, it cammed into place just right and was flush, but it was ridiculously bad. Even cheap, sporting good store cues don't do that.

The second one I got was fine, and it's even interchangeable with an old McDermott shaft that I have as a backup (backup for my new player). I don't know if it rolls perfectly straight when screwed together, but I can sight down the shaft and see it's more than straight/square enough to play pool with, so I called it good. Like I said, I trust my eyeballs, and I know if I bothered to roll it together on a table that it will be acceptable.

I have a background in engineering and also guitar building, as it turns out. I don't know anything about cue building. That said, I have to think that they're doing a lot of hand work at the US factory, and I also have to think that they're doing a lot of handwork on butts and shafts separately (maybe to increase yield...maybe just for the production line), and then slap them together and fix all the sins that have crept in, and the final result can be a mess that doesn't chuck straight at the final fitting and gets sanded to hell. I don't know this, of course, and again I don't specifically build cues, but I have a feeling that any somewhat competent machinist/builder could walk into the factory, change the process a little bit, and they'd all come out perfect like everyone else.

Anyhow, obviously I can't offer any help. Just venting a bit because they make some really nice cues and then randomly butcher them.