My cue wont unscrew!!!

chickentony

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Any tips on how to unscrew it without damaging the shaft. Its been stuck for three days, I have tried greasing it but it did not work?

thanks
 
If the cue is just tightened down then a lot of times you can snap it open by getting the butt and shaft in the meat of your hand and giving it a quick jolt to break the seal.

If it's bound up from a piece of metal or something then I am not sure what you need to do - my suggestion would be to post this question in the "Ask the cuemaker section".
 
Give it a drop of penetrating oil and let it sit, shaft down, for an hour. Softly tap the tip on a hard floor to "break" the pin from the insert. Try to unscrew it.

If you need another person to help, make sure you keep everything in-line so you do not bend the pin or beak the shaft.

You can always send it to me and I can get it apart.

Let me know if you need anything else.
 
Get 2 of those cheap rubber jar openers grab the cue as CLOSE to the joint as possible and with a quick motion unscrew
 
While you have one hand on the shaft, and one on the butt pre unscrew/unlock position, gently bounce the joint on your knee so that there is a slight vibration throughout the cue and quickly tighten up your hands and try and snap it open.

The vibration should help the cue to come apart.
 
chickentony said:
Any tips on how to unscrew it without damaging the shaft. Its been stuck for three days, I have tried greasing it but it did not work?

thanks


Put yourself in a sitting position.
Lay the cue across your leg with the joint of the cue
approx. centered on your upper thigh.
Place your hands approx. 2ft. apart, one on either side of the joint.
Roll the cue up & down your leg using down-pressure from your hands as you are rolling the cue. This will cause the joint to open at the perimeter.
You should now be able to unscrew your cue.

Hope this helps.
 
Any chance the cue was cold (from being in a car or something) when you put it together?

If so, (and even if not), try to cool the cue down (it is near freezing here these days)

This will make the metal int the joint contract a little bit, which will let the cue come apart in most situations.

That's why I never leave my cues in my car. My break cue will lock up solid if it is even 10c (20f) below room temperature.
 
chickentony said:
Any tips on how to unscrew it without damaging the shaft. Its been stuck for three days, I have tried greasing it but it did not work?

thanks
What did you grease if the pieces are assembled together?

Anyway, two rubber jar openers and a quick snapping motion of the wrists usually works. See Pavlos' reply.

Fred <~~~ thinks the grease may have made things worse
 
chickentony said:
Any tips on how to unscrew it without damaging the shaft. Its been stuck for three days, I have tried greasing it but it did not work?

thanks

If it won't unscrew, just keep playing! :grin-square:
 
chickentony said:
Any tips on how to unscrew it without damaging the shaft. Its been stuck for three days, I have tried greasing it but it did not work?

I had the same problem with an impacted Layani joint - couldn't budge it. My solution was to get a couple of buddies over. I held it with a hand on each side of the joint and the other two guys had both hands on the shaft and butt respectively - as close to the joint as possible to avoid twisting it. One quick co-ordinated move from everyone at the same time and it came apart easily.

(Just make sure everyone knows which way they are supposed to be twisting :-)
 
chickentony said:
Any tips on how to unscrew it without damaging the shaft. Its been stuck for three days, I have tried greasing it but it did not work?

thanks


What kind of joint is it?
The only ones I've ever had that problem with were brass.
Last year at the Stonier Tourney Chohan and Billy Palmer decided that my new Klein sneaky was now a one piece cue. They were passing it around the room giving odds that nobody could get it loose.
Joint- brass into brass....
 
When I had this problem in the past.. I took a wet wash cloth and squeezed all of the excess water out of it and then wrapped it around the bottom part of the shaft.. this gives you a lot more torque when you try to grip the shaft and it keeps it from hurting your hands also.. I hope this helps......
 
Last edited:
Pretend for 1 minute that you're a man and unscrew the damn thing.


Ha, i'm just playing with ya. has the temperature changed in your area? you might want to try warmer or colder rooms, just let the cue sit in a warmer/colder room and maybe it'll swell. this happened to a friend of mines cue and it took 2 of us to unscrew the thing.

chances are you have some dirt stuck in the joint (uni-lock?) just make sure you use your joint protectors next time so this doesn't happen again
 
I've had that problem before. Your problem may be worse than I ever had, but this is what worked for me. Put on rubber gloves so that your hands won't slip. Then hold the cue horizontally with your hands on either side of the joint, bring it close to your body, bend down a little and give it your best twist. Hold the butt end in your strong hand and down a ways from the joint.

A martial arts scream will probably help too.:smile:

Another possibility - get a guy stronger than yourself to try. When Ray Schuler screwed my cue together I couldn't get it apart again. So, embarrassed as hell, I asked Ray to unscrew it for me, which he did, no problem. I felt like a wimp though, which compared to Ray I was.
 
Back
Top