Ivory ring construction

DanO

DanO

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I’m building a cue that I’m putting a 1/4" real ivory ring between 1/8" and 1/4” black linen rings as a butt cap. I’m thinking of putting matching ring work on the shaft, then 1/8” black, 1/4” ivory, and 3/4" black on the joint collar. I was not planning on threading the Ø.625 joint or shaft tennon. My concern is will the ivory be supported enough with the black collars or will it crack? I have a threaded and capped Ivory joint on my every day player that I built 4 years ago and have never had an issue but I don’t want the entire joint to be ivory.

Game on.
 
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As long as the ivory ring is between phenolic rings you won't have any problems arising from compression failures that hitting a ball might produce. There is a much higher probability that the ivory might shrink and crack.
 
I have a couple of cues out there with 1/8 or thinner ivory between phenolic and no problems yet. As chance would have It I just had one of the shafts come in for a tip replacement, so I'm looking at it now, and not only is the ring not cracked, but no shrinkage or expansion either. I can not feel anything if I run a finger over them. The guy that bought It lived here in FL, moved to OK for a while, and just moved back here, but seems to be holding well.
 
I read where Bill Stroud said his most crack free ivory joints were sleeved ivory. Since the ivory was thin and sleeved around phenolic, it allowed it to expand and contract more than solid ivory joints. I would think the same theory would hold true for thin rings. I could be wrong though.

Joe
 
Cool, good info guys. Definitely not a breaker since it's also getting an ivory ferrule.

Game on.
 
My player has an Ivory ferrule & I break with it often (not always). I replaced it after 12 yrs, only because, with each tip change it got smaller...JER
 
Hey Dano,

My first great custom cue was a Joss West that I bought in the late 70s and I played with it for 2 years until my Ivory joint cracked. I had it replace with a white implex joint at the time. I am not sure if Bill was using the phenolic sleeve trick in those days..

It is my opinion that ivory joints are and can be problematic and therefore I have banned them from my cues because I don't want them to be coming back for repair . Eliminate the pain in the ass factor with customer complaints downstream. If a customer wishes me to build a cue with an Ivory joint, I will do it but I inform them up front of the fact that I won't replace it for free down the road.

This last week I just finished inlaying a cue with over one hundred and twenty five ivory inlays and I made the deceision to go with Juma on the joint. I worried about this decision for over a week but in the final analysis I think I made the right move because I know the Juma will hold up and also look great.

Now that I have installed it and turned down the cue, it looks great and does not conflict with the color of the inlays on the cue.

I have seen many a cue with Hoppe rings in the butt that were cracked also and we has cue makers can not control how some store or travel with a cue in the field. I know my JW joint cracked because I played with it after it was in my car in the winter for only 45 minutes while I was having dinner before going to the pool room.

IMO, ivory is nice but not worth the risk for joints. For decor rings I think it is a little safer. When customers are informed they always understand and opt for non Ivory when I am up front with my declarations on the subject.

The funny thing I have noticed is that ivory ferrules seem to have less of a propensity to crack as i have installed a boat load of them as a repair guy without reoccurring problems. Maybe because it is smaller and therefore the structure is more efficient for some reason, who knows.

Just food for thought.

Rick
 
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scdiveteam said:
Hey Dano,

My first great custom cue was a Joss West that I bought in the late 70s and I played with it for 2 years until my Ivory joint cracked. I had it replace with a white implex joint at the time. I am not sure if Bill was using the phenolic sleeve trick in those days..

It is my opinion that ivory joints are and can be problematic and therefore I have banned them from my cues because I don't want them to be coming back for repair . Eliminate the pain in the ass factor with customer complaints downstream. If a customer wishes me to build a cue with an Ivory joint, I will do it but I inform them up front of the fact that I won't replace it for free down the road.

This last week I just finished inlaying a cue with over one hundred and twenty five ivory inlays and I made the deceision to go with Juma on the joint. I worried about this decision for over a week but in the final analysis I think I made the right move because I know the Juma will hold up and also look great.

Now that I have installed it and turned down the cue, it looks great and does not conflict with the color of the inlays on the cue.

I have seen many a cue with Hoppe rings in the butt that were cracked also and we has cue makers can not control how some store or travel with a cue in the field. I know my JW joint cracked because I played with it after it was in my car in the winter for only 45 minutes while I was having dinner before going to the pool room.

IMO, ivory is nice but not worth the risk for joints. For decor rings I think it is a little safer. When customers are informed they always understand and opt for non Ivory when I am up front with my declarations on the subject.

The funny thing I have noticed is that ivory ferrules seem to have less of a propensity to crack as i have installed a boat load of them as a repair guy without reoccurring problems. Maybe because it is smaller and therefore the structure is more efficient for some reason, who knows.

Just food for thought.

Rick
Click to expand...

I guarantee all work on all the cues that I build or repair except ivory. I tell this to all people who ask for it in ferrules, joints or butt-caps. I love ivory for it's looks but it actually is a poor substitute for the some of the much more durable plastics. I tell people that every piece of ivory is different and may last 50 years and it may last one hit. I normally charge 60 - 70.00 to install one on a repair and 40 or 50.00 on a new build. I tell people that I charge such a premium, as I only have around 5 or 6.00 in one, so as to deter people from using them in a structural part of the cue.

Dick
 
rhncue said:
I guarantee all work on all the cues that I build or repair except ivory. I tell this to all people who ask for it in ferrules, joints or butt-caps. I love ivory for it's looks but it actually is a poor substitute for the some of the much more durable plastics. I tell people that every piece of ivory is different and may last 50 years and it may last one hit. I normally charge 60 - 70.00 to install one on a repair and 40 or 50.00 on a new build. I tell people that I charge such a premium, as I only have around 5 or 6.00 in one, so as to deter people from using them in a structural part of the cue.

Dick
Click to expand...


I feel It's hard to match for inlay, but using It for a collar or a ferrule sketches me out too.
 
The funny thing is the customer did not ask for it. Very good friend and teammate of mine asked for a simple hustler cue with ONE ivory skull but it has to be real ivory. The rest is up to me. Well since I love to complicate things I thought I would go with the Hoppe ring and joint rings. Maybe I need to rethink this one.
 
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