How Many Radial Pins Are There?

12squared

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I recently took a Predator Radial pin shaft in on trade only to find out that it fits some radial pinned cues and not others. I was then contacted by an AZer that asked if it fits a 3/8-10 radial or a uniloc radial pin. I had no idea, I always thought there was one type of radial pin.

I counted the threads on the radial pin it fit and it was about 9 threads/inch (a hair more but that's the closest). I counted the threads on a new jump cue I just bought that has a radial pin and the thread count was about 8/inch and didn't screw on my shaft.

My question is how many different radial pins are there and what does my shaft fit, if there's a name like uniloc or whatever?

Thanks, Dave
 
12squared said:
I recently took a Predator Radial pin shaft in on trade only to find out that it fits some radial pinned cues and not others. I was then contacted by an AZer that asked if it fits a 3/8-10 radial or a uniloc radial pin. I had no idea, I always thought there was one type of radial pin.

I counted the threads on the radial pin it fit and it was about 9 threads/inch (a hair more but that's the closest). I counted the threads on a new jump cue I just bought that has a radial pin and the thread count was about 8/inch and didn't screw on my shaft.

My question is how many different radial pins are there and what does my shaft fit, if there's a name like uniloc or whatever?

Thanks, Dave
There is only one true "Radial". It's made by Uni-Loc and (I'm told) patent rights were granted to Uni-Loc. If the shaft was made and threaded by Predator, I feel safe in saying it is the original "Radial".

There are others that are claimed to be the "Radial" but are not the original, they are a knock off. I have no idea what the thread count on those are, I don't use them and won't.
 
From what I was told, and I'm sure Chris Hightower can explain it better, "Radial" pins usually refer to the same thread. However, the term "Radial" is only allowed to be used with the Uni-Loc companies permission. Several suppliers have pins that are called "Ball Thread", "Radially Threaded" etc but they all use the same thread pattern as the Uni-Loc Radial Pin.

In my experience you could be dealing with a shaft that was threaded with the undersize tap. I have both the standard tap and the undersized tap in my shop. The undersized taps do make for a very tight shaft fit. Typically Predator doesn't tap their shafts like that though. Everyone I've seen threads on pretty easy.

Hope this helps
Dave
 
TellsItLikeItIs said:
There is only one true "Radial". It's made by Uni-Loc and (I'm told) patent rights were granted to Uni-Loc. If the shaft was made and threaded by Predator, I feel safe in saying it is the original "Radial".

There are others that are claimed to be the "Radial" but are not the original, they are a knock off. I have no idea what the thread count on those are, I don't use them and won't.

Thanks for your quick reply. I do not think this was threaded by Predator since it has a silver ring in the collar. Predator thought it was probably sold as a blank and someone matched it to another cue of unknown origin. I don't want to sell this to someone and not fit their cue so I'm trying to nail down all the options.

Thanks.
 
12squared said:
Thanks for your quick reply. I do not think this was threaded by Predator since it has a silver ring in the collar. Predator thought it was probably sold as a blank and someone matched it to another cue of unknown origin. I don't want to sell this to someone and not fit their cue so I'm trying to nail down all the options.

Thanks.

There are at least 2 different threads on Radial type pins. Radial gets it's name from the similarity to a Radial Ball Screw. Uni-Loc, I believe, has the trademark name of Radial pin. A Uni-loc Radial Pin and most copies have a thread pitch of 7.6XXX" by .371. There is also another ball type pin used by a few others that has a pitch of over 8 threads per inch and is slightly larger in circumference. This is probably the thread size that you are stuck with. If I remember correctly, 5280 cues use this pin.

Dick
 
rhncue said:
There are at least 2 different threads on Radial type pins. Radial gets it's name from the similarity to a Radial Ball Screw. Uni-Loc, I believe, has the trademark name of Radial pin. A Uni-loc Radial Pin and most copies have a thread pitch of 7.6XXX" by .371. There is also another ball type pin used by a few others that has a pitch of over 8 threads per inch and is slightly larger in circumference. This is probably the thread size that you are stuck with. If I remember correctly, 5280 cues use this pin.

Dick

Thank you. I will try to locate a 5280 to test your theory.
 
Two that I know off.
Uni-loc and the Chinese variety on Varner and Omega cues.
Schmelke sells the tap and pins similar to the imports.
Sledgehammer has the imported thread too.
 
JoeyInCali said:
Two that I know off.
Uni-loc and the Chinese variety on Varner and Omega cues.
Schmelke sells the tap and pins similar to the imports.
Sledgehammer has the imported thread too.

Yes, Uni-Loc and Schmelke radial pins are slightly different in size. I forget which is which but a shaft from one doesn't screw into other. It will stop about 2/3 way in.

Also, Paul Drexler of PFD cue use Maxx Radial pin ... this pin looks like a radial pin but is way smaller than above two pins in size.
 
i just bought one of the new Mezz cues available only in Japan right now and it has some type of double or triple threaded Radial pin.it if the first flat-faced Mezz i have seen.the shaft screws on so tight it makes a Bender or Searing feel loose.
 
JoeyInCali said:
Two that I know off.
Uni-loc and the Chinese variety on Varner and Omega cues.
Schmelke sells the tap and pins similar to the imports.
Sledgehammer has the imported thread too.


I need the to gat a drive set for the chinese radial pin.
Who sells them???
 
rhncue said:
If I remember correctly, 5280 cues use this pin.

Dick

This is correct and quite a head ache for those people wanting a Predator 2 shaft to fit. The old wood threads were not as bad because the wood would compress to fit the knock-off pin. The 2nd Gen shafts have a phenolic insert so they have to be retapped to fit.
 
Just an update: Although I have not had any luck finding a radial 5280, which I believe this predator shaft was made for, I have been able to try it on the overseas production Omega & another unknown Chinese made cue w/radial pin & they both fit nicely. I will continue my quest to find a 5280 to complete my research, but it appears you all were right.

Thanks to all that have been so helpful. Dave
 
12squared said:
Just an update: Although I have not had any luck finding a radial 5280, which I believe this predator shaft was made for, I have been able to try it on the overseas production Omega & another unknown Chinese made cue w/radial pin & they both fit nicely. I will continue my quest to find a 5280 to complete my research, but it appears you all were right.

Thanks to all that have been so helpful. Dave

Contact Mike Gulyassy, he can help.
http://www.babysproshop.com
 
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