Is this forearm spliced or inlayed?

manwon

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Hello, I am in the process of doing a refinish on an older cue. I have never seen this type of splice points before, what type is it, or are these inlay-ed points that have finished tips?

The interesting thing is that the Birdseye Maple in the forearm extends to the under wrap. Another thing about this cue that seems like a waste, is that the Birdseye in the under wrap is pretty nice quality. Please let me know what you think, I will list some photo's below.

1.jpg

2.jpg

3.jpg

Thanks for any information you can give me in advance!!!!!

Have a great night
 
It looks to be a half spliced forearm put together with a nice piece Birdseye Maple.Who is the Maker?
 
manwon said:
Hello, I am in the process of doing a refinish on an older cue. I have never seen this type of splice points before, what type is it, or are these inlay-ed points that have finished tips?

The interesting thing is that the Birdseye Maple in the forearm extends to the under wrap. Another thing about this cue that seems like a waste, is that the Birdseye in the under wrap is pretty nice quality. Please let me know what you think, I will list some photo's below.

View attachment 36932

View attachment 36933

View attachment 36934

Thanks for any information you can give me in advance!!!!!

Have a great night

It is spliced. V's were cut just like a short splice only into a long piece of birdseye. The points were glued in and the area behind them left by the cutter was filled in. IMHO if you are going to use this method you should cut the point stock to fit and not use the filler.
 
I believe what you have there is v-grooves cut into a forearm and handle that was already joined, using a straight bit running at 45 degrees to the cue. The points were glued in and filler or something fills the void behind the points. Those would be considered v-groove inlays and not a splice. Some would call it a short splice.
Chris
www.cuesmith.com
www.internationalcuemakers.com
 
Hard to tell from the pics, but there are a few cue-makers who do inlays to look like v-splice points (like Judd). Can you tell if there is a seam in the BE at the bottom of the points? Do you have any idea of who made it? Can you see a 1/4 round shaped area beneath the points that has been filled in?

Edit: After looking closer at the pics, I can see the 1/4 round area under the points. Chris is right; v-grooves cut with a straight bit at 45 degrees.
 
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I thought the same when I first looked at the picture. To me It Looks like a straight bit was used by the shape of the area filled in behind the points in the first picture. Only one side of that area has the curve.

Greg
 
Cue Crazy said:
I thought the same when I first looked at the picture. To me It Looks like a straight bit was used by the shape of the area filled in behind the points in the first picture. Only one side of that area has the curve.

Greg
That is the way this one is done. Like someone said, "This is the way Mali and a few others made their point grooves". I believe this is a very poor way of doing this and makes for an extremely weak A-joint. A straight bit is used at a 90 deg. angle to the cue. If set at 45 deg. you don't end up with that half-moon shape.

Dick
 
manwon said:
Hello, I am in the process of doing a refinish on an older cue. I have never seen this type of splice points before, what type is it, or are these inlay-ed points that have finished tips?

The interesting thing is that the Birdseye Maple in the forearm extends to the under wrap. Another thing about this cue that seems like a waste, is that the Birdseye in the under wrap is pretty nice quality. Please let me know what you think, I will list some photo's below.

View attachment 36932

View attachment 36933

View attachment 36934

Thanks for any information you can give me in advance!!!!!

Have a great night

Thanks for all the information, the cue is an old Mali. The handle and the forearm are a single piece of Birdseye maple with Ebony points and veneer's inlayed. This cue has no A-joint, I also suspect that the Birdseye Maple continues inside the Ebony butt sleeve to the butt cap.

Everyone has been very helpful thanks again!!!!!

Have a great day!!!!!!
 
forearm spliced

I agree that without making the canoe end of the point fit into the pocket, it's a weak setup. Next time you see a Black boar with the wrap off, you'll see how it should be done. Working on a whole cue, sure would make keeping the points even easier. Setting up the straight cutter at 45 is a pain to do correctly. Sine bar and all that good geometry. A shell mill designed for aluminium does a great job of cutting wood. I use to do them that way, then cut off the front and do a normal tenon at the A joint. But it took too long to set up the mill everytime I wanted to cut points, now I use the double angle cutter like most guys. Much easier to set up.
 
manwon said:
Hello, I am in the process of doing a refinish on an older cue. I have never seen this type of splice points before, what type is it, or are these inlay-ed points that have finished tips?

The interesting thing is that the Birdseye Maple in the forearm extends to the under wrap. Another thing about this cue that seems like a waste, is that the Birdseye in the under wrap is pretty nice quality. Please let me know what you think, I will list some photo's below.

View attachment 36932

View attachment 36933

View attachment 36934

Thanks for any information you can give me in advance!!!!!

Have a great night

I know i'm not a cue maker, but I have done repairs and disected a few cues here and there in my day. If it is the same as a mali i had , and it is i'm sure, Its a ONE PEICE HANDLE. no, realy, there are no bolts! they cut grooves in for the points, machined away top quality wood to cover with a wrap and filled in the spot that the bit enterd the one peice handle/forearm/butt. The only bolts are the weight and the jont pin. one solid peice from the joint to the buttcap. wood was cheaper Back then I guess?
 
jayman said:
I know i'm not a cue maker, but I have done repairs and disected a few cues here and there in my day. If it is the same as a mali i had , and it is i'm sure, Its a ONE PEICE HANDLE. no, realy, there are no bolts! they cut grooves in for the points, machined away top quality wood to cover with a wrap and filled in the spot that the bit enterd the one peice handle/forearm/butt. The only bolts are the weight and the jont pin. one solid peice from the joint to the buttcap. wood was cheaper Back then I guess?

I agree with you, it is even a nice piece of Birdseye, wood must have been a lot cheaper back then.
 
manwon said:
Hello, I am in the process of doing a refinish on an older cue. I have never seen this type of splice points before, what type is it, or are these inlay-ed points that have finished tips?

The interesting thing is that the Birdseye Maple in the forearm extends to the under wrap. Another thing about this cue that seems like a waste, is that the Birdseye in the under wrap is pretty nice quality. Please let me know what you think, I will list some photo's below.

thanks for any information you can give me in advance!!!!!

Have a great night

It's a TOP-of-the-Line Mali from the mid-80s
retailed for like $225(?) OK it's been a while

The points are veneered splices, not inlays
<remember when we called them 'pantographed points?>
sorta the construction of a half-splice, only on
a full butt

Talk about the worst of both worlds

Dale Pierce
 
rhncue said:
That is the way this one is done. Like someone said, "This is the way Mali and a few others made their point grooves". I believe this is a very poor way of doing this and makes for an extremely weak A-joint. A straight bit is used at a 90 deg. angle to the cue. If set at 45 deg. you don't end up with that half-moon shape.

Dick


I must admitt, I have seen It before in the same make of cue, because there use to be alot of them here back in the day, and a few people I knew had them. I aggree with you, I'm not a fan of anything that has to be filled that much. I guess It could be a time saver, minus setup ofcoarse, but I'd rather do a short blank or inlays instead, if faced with that option. I guess alot could be done with cnc these days to avoid the fill though.

Greg
 
Black Boar does his cues this way except he mills the ends of his points to fit in the entire groove. He has no A-joint as the entire butt is one piece. He then sleeves on his fronts / butt sleeves and then mills the points in after the forearm sleeve is installed. Atleast this is what I have seen from some recent pics. Blew my mind the first time I saw them!
 
The Suzie Cue Billiards website had a good photo showing an unwrapped Black Boar about a year ago... maybe someone can find it and post it here.
 
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pdcue said:
It's a TOP-of-the-Line Mali from the mid-80s
retailed for like $225(?) OK it's been a while

The points are veneered splices, not inlays
<remember when we called them 'pantographed points?>
sorta the construction of a half-splice, only on
a full butt

Talk about the worst of both worlds

Dale Pierce
I read this over and over, but have to say...Huh?
 
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