My first tip install

SSDiver2112

2b || !2b t^ ?
Your work looks great. I know your lathe does not have one.. just checking how you turned to dimension. I want to convert a house cue
without a taper bar. Joint and custom butt cap. Anyway keep up the beautiful work. It’s classy, custom and one of a kind.
I am also seeing the need for sanding mandrels. Getting the joint diameter the same for the shaft and forearm was difficult.
 

iusedtoberich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Yeah, it was difficult to find what I wanted. I did get this one from Amazon.
View attachment 595886

The t-nuts for this size track was impossible to find. I settled on some that are a little smaller than I wanted, but they worked well enough.

But now I see they have something that will also work. I wanted the kind I could lift out of the track without sliding it down to the end.
I didn't read the whole thread, so I might have missed it. The not so common profile you have has the same size t-nut slot as 8020's "10" series. The nut for that is very common. It's 1/4-20 thread. Here it is on McMaster:


Edit: and here is the type that lifts out of the track for the "10" series:
 

SSDiver2112

2b || !2b t^ ?
After seeing the two butt repairs I did on my cues, I had a couple people ask me to do something similar to their cues.

The first was an Adam cue that had a cracked butt and an odd pine extension added on.
02F18AEC-1FBA-4D38-A22D-13E5690BB3BA.jpeg


The original rings were cracked and unsalvageable. After turning down the butt to a tenon I saw that the crack made it all the way though. I filled in the crack with Gorilla glue. I wanted the design to be simple like the original. I decided to have similar thick rings, but I would use the phenolic material for the ring and have one on each end to hopefully help support and contain the crack from widening. The back ring also had a flange to support the original butt plate. The butt sleeve is Yucatán Rosewood and I finished it off with some accent rings.

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The cue has sentimental value so he is very happy it has new extended life.

D41B155A-C0F3-4194-B861-0886232EB6E2.jpeg


I’ll make another post for the other cue.
 

ShootingArts

Smorg is giving St Peter the 7!
Gold Member
Silver Member
Looking Good! A few things I would have done differently for appearance but different design preferences is one of the things that set our work off.

Memory fails so I may have already warned but don't use CA for full cue finishing and don't use it without a lot of ventilation. It will do permanent damage to your lungs. Use of it for finishing has been credited for killing at least one cue builder according to his doctor. Speaking of adhesives, I would have used something that didn't expand assuming that was the original gorilla glue you put in that crack. Might get cute on later repairs and die the glue to get closer to the wood, trying for the tiniest bit darker is probably best.

Just tips and by no means bible. Nothing like somebody with COPD to worry about other people's lungs. I hate that once the damage is done there is no going back.

Hu
 

SSDiver2112

2b || !2b t^ ?
Looking Good! A few things I would have done differently for appearance but different design preferences is one of the things that set our work off.

Memory fails so I may have already warned but don't use CA for full cue finishing and don't use it without a lot of ventilation. It will do permanent damage to your lungs. Use of it for finishing has been credited for killing at least one cue builder according to his doctor. Speaking of adhesives, I would have used something that didn't expand assuming that was the original gorilla glue you put in that crack. Might get cute on later repairs and die the glue to get closer to the wood, trying for the tiniest bit darker is probably best.

Just tips and by no means bible. Nothing like somebody with COPD to worry about other people's lungs. I hate that once the damage is done there is no going back.

Hu

Design can be the most difficult part sometimes. Still learning so I would love to hear your opinion.

Yes, you have warned me about CA and I have beefed up my ventilation. I want to move to epoxy/Solarez one day. I need to get more equipment to do that, so hopefully the near future when I can afford it.

I used the expanding glue so it would fill in the space better. It was an open crack, so it expanded in and out with no pressure.
 

SSDiver2112

2b || !2b t^ ?
Finally getting back to posting the other cue. My friend picked up this unknown sneaky for $10. In overall good condition except the wooden butt showed some wear. She wanted a phenolic butt plate added and left the rest to me to decide, just nothing flashy.

After facing off the end, I cut off a small piece from the end of the cue so I could make a ring from the same wood. I sandwiched it in between two pieces of Bocote and then the extended butt plate to make up for the piece I cut off.

2FF97C99-F9A0-4A59-A197-5C5FE78680F8.jpeg


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SSDiver2112

2b || !2b t^ ?
Well, the practice continues. This is house cue from my favorite little hole in the wall. They let me know that one of the tips was weird and spongy. This was a Triangle tip I had installed about a year ago. I am guessing somebody got it real wet.

IMG_4972.jpg


Simple tip replacement, but man the butt was a mess. Many regulars have their favorite cues and I know this was one of them. Big chunk missing and more cracks beginning to run up the butt. It wasn't going to last much longer, so I decided to try to extend its life a bit longer so the guys can still have their favorite cue.

Inlay/spliced a piece of Patagonian Rosewood (closest match on hand) that blended well enough for a dark bar and turned it down to add a phenolic butt plate. I returned the cue along with a lecture on not slamming the cue on the floor.

This was just a quick gratis job on a house cue, so I didn't go overboard on the final appearance. I could have gotten the 8 ball a little smoother (I hate it more the more I look at it), but figured it was good enough for a bar banger.

IMG_4969.jpg
 
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EddieBme

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Finally getting back to posting the other cue. My friend picked up this unknown sneaky for $10. In overall good condition except the wooden butt showed some wear. She wanted a phenolic butt plate added and left the rest to me to decide, just nothing flashy.

After facing off the end, I cut off a small piece from the end of the cue so I could make a ring from the same wood. I sandwiched it in between two pieces of Bocote and then the extended butt plate to make up for the piece I cut off.

View attachment 694379

View attachment 694381



View attachment 694712
very nice!
 

j2pac

Marital Slow Learner.
Staff member
Moderator
Gold Member
Silver Member
After seeing the two butt repairs I did on my cues, I had a couple people ask me to do something similar to their cues.

The first was an Adam cue that had a cracked butt and an odd pine extension added on. View attachment 694078

The original rings were cracked and unsalvageable. After turning down the butt to a tenon I saw that the crack made it all the way though. I filled in the crack with Gorilla glue. I wanted the design to be simple like the original. I decided to have similar thick rings, but I would use the phenolic material for the ring and have one on each end to hopefully help support and contain the crack from widening. The back ring also had a flange to support the original butt plate. The butt sleeve is Yucatán Rosewood and I finished it off with some accent rings.

View attachment 694082


The cue has sentimental value so he is very happy it has new extended life.

View attachment 694083

I’ll make another post for the other cue.
Very nice. 👍
 

SSDiver2112

2b || !2b t^ ?
Great project. Pretty nice work. Looking forward to your “pinning” conversation.
Your lathe does not have a taper bar? I’m asking.

Well, I finally got to do my first joint pin. I have 3 old house cues I am cutting down to make 2-piece cues. Two I am working on for a friend and the third for myself. I figured I would practice on mine first before I attempted it on his.
I made one big mistake when calculating the part of the pin to stick out. I made it for a piloted shaft and I measured the part of the pin from the joint face not the bottom of the pilot hole. I had to remove about 1/8" off the end of the pin to shorten it.

Another good learning experience and I am super happy I did not turn the cue into firewood. Now I have to finish the rest of the cue and see how it plays.

I'll update when done with it as well as the other two.

IMG_5266.jpg


FirstPin.gif
 

SSDiver2112

2b || !2b t^ ?
This was a good practice run before I finish the other two house conversions. I learned a lot and I have another nice cue to mess around with.

The joint pin came out pretty well. I do have to be more careful about the measurements though. Over all patience is probably the biggest lesson learned. I can’t wait to see it finished, but when you rush things they tend to not come out as good, if at all.

My “practice” cue was an unknown purpleheart house cue. It has uneven points and a couple glue lines around the splice, but appears to be a solid cue made from decent wood.

I made the joint collar out of black phenolic and added an aluminum ring to match the shaft I planned to use with it. The shaft is an extra Pechauer I had laying around so I put in a 5/16-14 joint pin. On the butt end I added a butt sleeve made out of Grey Box Burl with Snakewood rings and a brown phenolic butt plate.

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