Help with Robin Bell cue
- Thread starter daniel
- Start date
Phenolic joint? Maybe Adams from Helmstetter era.
Yes Adam.
Yes, Helmstetter was another of their brands at the time.
The material is a urethane, I can't remember the exact name. Implex I think.
Used on many cues, especially McDermott and Viking.
Implex is correct. Similar material to phenolic.
Ivory implex
CajunPopeye
Well-known member
Joss used a brown implex joint. My OP42c20 showed a brown joint before Stephen built the cue.
Actually, I believe that was most likely a phenolic.
I remember the term implex referring to cue joints - actually it was a quite common material for cue joints a long time ago- I recall the term often associated with 5 /16 18 flat faced joints.
Implex is a brand name, like Micarta was a brand name.
But I don't know if the implementation we know from pool cues was always that brand as the term seems to have been applied to others. Like Kleenex is to tissues.
In that case, what material are Implex and Micarta actually made of? Are they phenolic derivatives?
I would have to look it up precisely and I will but I believe that Implex is a urethane plastic. Micarta is a phenolic resin impregnated textile. The classic Micarta some people chase was asbestos but there is canvass, linen, and others.
I'll look it up when I get time. I could be jumbling some terminology but that's how the info is as I know it in this moment.
As far as I know there is no fiber impregnation in Implex. It's just plastic.
I'm really confused now. I guess I don't know what I didn't know before.
We called all cues with the white joint 'Implex' back then if it wasn't the good stuff.
I mistakenly thot 'Implex' was the joint style, not type of plastic.
If it came in other colors, I was never fortunate enuf to see them.
In my area, most one pocket players used implex-jointed cues. Softer hit supposedly.
The 9 ball guys seemed to prefer SS joints. (Topic of conversation at the hall I learned to play in, along with Garczar's favorite - can't tell the joint apart if blindfolded.)
Of course there were variations on this theme. Just a general take from the 70s.
Well, as I said it's like Kleenex...any tissue is Kleenex to a lot of people.
Then there is regional. Soft drinks are pop in some places, and soda in others. If you go to Oklahoma and ask for a Coke, they will ask which kind, because all soft drinks there are "coke". Of course if you go to Hollywood and ask for Coke it's a whole different matter.
Even some cue makers use some terms for materials that are different or not exactly technically correct. Some are highly technically correct. I guess it just depends on their background. And of course, some woods have more than one name or there are subtypes and varieties.
Phenolic most commonly refers to a durable, heat-resistant thermosetting plastic made from phenol and formaldehyde, or to a broad class of natural and synthetic chemical compounds containing a hydroxyl group attached to an aromatic ring.
Industrial Phenolics (Resins and Plastics)
• Composition: Formed by reacting phenol with an aldehyde (like formaldehyde) under heat and pressure, often combined with cotton, paper, or glass cloth laminates.
• Key Properties: High dimensional stability, excellent electrical insulation, extreme heat resistance (up to 350°F–550°F depending on the grade), and inherent flame retardancy.
• Common Uses: Electrical switchboards, circuit boards, mechanical gears, bearings, aerospace interior components, and brake pad friction materials.
Micarta
Micarta is a brand name for high-pressure composite materials made by layering fabric, paper, or fiberglass and bonding them with a thermosetting plastic (traditionally phenolic resin or epoxy) under intense heat and pressure. Originally invented by George Westinghouse and Leo Baekeland around 1910 as a durable electrical insulator, it is now widely used in industrial laminates, circuit boards, gun grips, and knife handles. The trademark is owned by Industrial Laminates / Norplex, Inc.
Implex
The original product, IMPLEX®, was developed as a high-impact acrylic plastic molding compound by the chemical manufacturer Rohm and Haas (the same company famous for inventing Plexiglas). Unlike standard brittle acrylic, Implex was chemically modified to make it highly resistant to shattering and physical impact—qualities necessary for a billiard cue joint withstanding thousands of high-velocity impacts
In the mid-to-late 20th century, custom and production cue manufacturers began sourcing extruded rods of this tough, easily polished material to make cue components. Suppliers like Porth Plastics (which specialized in custom plastic extrusions) supplied the blanks to major cue houses.
Over the decades, the name stuck. Today, "Implex" is used as a generic umbrella term by retailers and players to describe any high-gloss, high-impact thermoplastic joint collar, regardless of whether the plastic was poured by Rohm and Haas or is a modern alternative resin.
Phenolic linen tip, see the linen textile in it.
You can use epoxy resin and make your own.