I'll never understand cue makers...

cueman said:
Here is some things I think might help you understand cuemakers a little better.
We are inventors. We try new things. We try to figure out how to solve little minute problems with the tiniest parts of the way a cue hits. We are always looking for ways to improve on the way things have been done in the past. Unfortunately we are also at times quick to criticize the way other cuemakers do things. We are a hard headed group of people who love our craft and strive to improve it. We fail at times. We try things that don't work. But we try again and again, always believing we will make some minor improvement that will help make our cue play better. I trust that is exactly what Ray or his helpers were attempting with that joint.
RIP Ray!
Click to expand...

Bravo Chris, and well said.
Exactly on the money ... why else would anyone start making cues in the first place if all he wanted to do was copy what has already been done.

Willee
 
A few things I recognize immediately. Alignment for one. The o-ring will seat the non threaded steel joint over the wood and keep a consistent glue tolerance 360 degrees, no slop or offsetting while the adhesive cures. It will also act as an internal clamp, holding pressure on the joint against the face where metal meats wood. Last but not least, the o-ring sits exactly on a ledge on the tenon, which corresponds to a ledge inside the metal joint bore. This means it alleviates the shock impact, reducing the stress on the seam of the metal joint & phenolic collar.

These are just a few observations, and I picked up on them at a glance. I'm sure with time thinking & experimenting, a guy could figure out what Ray was doing in entirety. Obviously it works because they don't fall apart & they play great. It looks like the adhesive broke free from the smoothly bored steel. If that's the only failure of the design then I think Mr. Schuler did a fantastic job. Thanks for posting, Ryan. Sure is interesting seeing the little details like this, not a cookie cutter cue by any means.

edit: just noticed how old the thread is. came up in another forum as link and I posted. still a neat thread
 
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Hi,

Ray was an engineer. He also used o rings in his weight bolt system.

It is what it is and he put his name on it. Good for him.

Rick
 
I think that he didnt like the sound of a steel joint and it is some kind of dapener.
Pretty cool!!!
 
According to Ray, the joint collar was entirely cosmetic. The cue would feel the same, regardless of what collar he used. I have 4 Schulers, and I tend to agree with him. I have yet to acquire a cue with the wooden collar. I have two cues that have the prettier joint (stainless with black collar behind it). One of them has THREE different woods showing at the joint. It may be identical, internally, to the cue shown. I am guessing it was cored and then additional wood was cut away for the O-ring. Originally, I thought that maybe the black collar was thicker and a wooden ring was installed inside the thin steel collar. Now, I'm not sure. The other cue is a single piece of wood, which leads me to believe it is NOT built the same as the cue shown. The steel collars are the same thickness on both cues, at least where they are visible. The two cues do NOT hit identically. The cue that has 3 layers has a noticeably softer hit. It does weigh slightly more, but in my opinion not enough to account for the difference in hit. That cue is made of what appears to be cocobolo. The other, slightly lighter cue with the simpler joint is made from birdseye maple. There is about a half ounce difference between the two. Both have a firm feel, but the BEM cue is definitely firmer. The same shaft was used on both butts.
 
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