Ivory Butt Cap question

Cuemaster98

Cuemaster98

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Hi Guys,

Have any of you tried to get an ivory ferrule out of the Ivory Butt cap? I mean, if the full 1.25 inch of the Ivory is going to be used...is there a way to bore the Butt cap to get a ferrule out of it? If so, have anyone done it successfully? Hate to waste the ivory if it can be done.

Thanks,
Duc.
 
Yes, use a hole saw. I am so cheap I made a hole saw. So I could get a ferrule out of an ivory joint sleeve.

Larry
 
Cuemaster98 said:
Hi Guys,

Have any of you tried to get an ivory ferrule out of the Ivory Butt cap? I mean, if the full 1.25 inch of the Ivory is going to be used...is there a way to bore the Butt cap to get a ferrule out of it? If so, have anyone done it successfully? Hate to waste the ivory if it can be done.

Thanks,
Duc.
Click to expand...

Yes, with the use of thin walled hole saws a ferrule and a joint can all be salvaged from a butt cap blank. Do a search. It's been explained on this forum in the past.

Dick
 
There was a thread a long time ago about this. You might do a search to try and find it as quite a few people posted. One or two said they have done this. You can get a ferrule blank from a joint collar also, depending on the ID of the collar.

Some said it wasn't worth the risk of the blank getting too hot.

I have wanted to try doing this using something like a diamond hole saw peck drilling it so it doesn't get overheated.

Edit: I see I was slow in typing my response. Dickie and Larry, do you two use a normal hole saw or a diamond type bit?
 
I have done it using an endmill in a dremel and turning the solid endcap in the lathe. With my limited reach endmill I had to bore from both ends to get the required depth, but it came out very well.

Alan
 
LOL...thanks guy. I guess with the right tool..you will be able to get an ivory joint, ferrule and butt cap on of one piece of ivory.

Going to try this to see if it worth the trouble.

BR,
Duc.
 
Cuemaster98 said:
LOL...thanks guy. I guess with the right tool..you will be able to get an ivory joint, ferrule and butt cap on of one piece of ivory.

Going to try this to see if it worth the trouble.

BR,
Duc.
Click to expand...

Should be able to get a joint!
 
xpatcan1 said:
Should be able to get a joint!
Click to expand...

You can but you will have to sleeve the ivory buttplate Bill Stroud style .
We should give credit to Stroud for inventing the technique .
He sleeves the ivory joint with phenolic as well.
 
I can use a thin wall plug drill or tenon drill to get a ferrule out of a butt plate. The drill cost me about $40 and came from wood workers supply.
I would love to have one thin enough to get a ferrule out of a joint and a joint out of a butt plate. I have never seen them that thin.
 
hole saws

Hole saws get hot, I would cut a little then let it cool down.

Compress air blowing the dust out might help keep the temp down.

It could be done on a CNC.............

MMike
 
With the all time high price of Ivory, it sounds worthwhile to try and salvage as much as you can from a piece. Perhaps you should practice on bone, wood or other similar material first.
 
I hate to say this but when I heard a cue maker who gets a joint from a butt and a ferrule from a joint, I said to myself - self, this guy has more time on his hands than he knows what to do with or is one tight assed son-of-a-gun.

Let's be realistic here. First of all we're talking about anyone who is using ivory in a cue is going to probably get a minimum of $800 up to and including the super mega cue makers who get $25k+ for a cue. How much is your time worth! I know my time is worth more than getting a joint from a butt and a ferrule from a joint. We're talking $50 stinking dollars here (joint and ferrule) not to mention what is your cost if you break a butt or the joint! Not to mention that due to your frugalness, how about if the butt splits or cracks when the new owner takes possession. How much is warranty work worth? How much is your time worth on the phone discussing the problem? How much is your time worth ordering ivory, again? If you can't absorb $50 in a cue, you shouldn't be making cues. That's my 2 cents.

Maybe it's just me and I'm wrong.

Have a nice weekend.
 
Joe Barringer said:
I hate to say this but when I heard a cue maker who gets a joint from a butt and a ferrule from a joint, I said to myself - self, this guy has more time on his hands than he knows what to do with or is one tight assed son-of-a-gun.

Let's be realistic here. First of all we're talking about anyone who is using ivory in a cue is going to probably get a minimum of $800 up to and including the super mega cue makers who get $25k+ for a cue. How much is your time worth! I know my time is worth more than getting a joint from a butt and a ferrule from a joint. We're talking $50 stinking dollars here (joint and ferrule) not to mention what is your cost if you break a butt or the joint! Not to mention that due to your frugalness, how about if the butt splits or cracks when the new owner takes possession. How much is warranty work worth? How much is your time worth on the phone discussing the problem? How much is your time worth ordering ivory, again? If you can't absorb $50 in a cue, you shouldn't be making cues. That's my 2 cents.

Maybe it's just me and I'm wrong.

Have a nice weekend.
Click to expand...

But!....if one starts out processing a tusk this way, with proper tooling and planning, he will save time and money.

Regardless, if i bought butt cap blanks that were already turned round, i would be looking at an extra 5 minutes to get a joint and a ferrule out of that same pc. Now, that experience has certainly come at a cost "cracking due to heat" so you have a valid point there. But thats a non issue after you figure out the issues.
 
Everyone needs to back up and think about how thin they are willing to make their material walls. Do you really want the hole through your butt plate to be over an inch? Or the hole through your joint to be over 3/4"?
After rethinking how thin the walls would be if trying to get three pieces out of a butt plate I don't think I would want the tools to do it with even if they were free. I can get a ferrule out of the middle of a Butt plate and still have only about a 3/4" hole going through the middle of the butt plate. I am comfortable with that wall thickness. On joints I double step them so trying to get a ferrule out of them would not work for me even if I had a tool thin enough to get one.
 
cueman said:
Everyone needs to back up and think about how thin they are willing to make their material walls. Do you really want the hole through your butt plate to be over an inch? Or the hole through your joint to be over 3/4"?
After rethinking how thin the walls would be if trying to get three pieces out of a butt plate I don't think I would want the tools to do it with even if they were free. I can get a ferrule out of the middle of a Butt plate and still have only about a 3/4" hole going through the middle of the butt plate. I am comfortable with that wall thickness. On joints I double step them so trying to get a ferrule out of them would not work for me even if I had a tool thin enough to get one.
Click to expand...

I make very, very few ivory butt caps and when I do, I don't try to save the inside of my butt collars. The possibility of cracking is too great for too small a saving. I bore my ivory butt sleeves to at least an inch and glue them to an aegis phenolic core. The thinner the ivory is, the better.
 
Paul Dayton said:
I make very, very few ivory butt caps and when I do, I don't try to save the inside of my butt collars. The possibility of cracking is too great for too small a saving. I bore my ivory butt sleeves to at least an inch and glue them to an aegis phenolic core. The thinner the ivory is, the better.
Click to expand...

With the inch plus inside diameter you could get a joint out of the piece. I agree the risk is there, but I feel the risk is minimal if done slowly. I walk over to the lathe drill about a 10th inch and back out and leave it alone for the bit to cool or I cool the bit with air or water before drilling another tenth if I am in a hurry. I drill with the lathe running pretty slow so as to not make much heat. With "the thinner the ivory is the better" thought in mind you could get all three pieces out of a butt plate with the right tooling as was already mentioned by someone else.
 
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