Need info on Gilbert weight bolt

[Qnut]

I have a Gilbert cue that I recently purchased. I'm not sure of the exact weight, but it's a little heavy for my taste. The cue has a weight bolt (see pic) that I'd like to replace with something much lighter. The bolt is about 3 inches long and feels like aluminum. It is threaded inside to accept an Allen head bolt that secures the rubber bumper, so I can't just scrap the bolt.

I have a couple questions regarding this....

Can I just replace this one with a (much) shorter one? Ideally, as short as possible since the bolt is aluminum and I'm looking to drop as much weight as I can. I'm wondering if doing this could cause some other "issues" like vibration, etc.

If so, are these bolts readily available? I'd prefer to just swap in a new bolt, although I could cut this one off & clean it up without much trouble.

Thanks!

~Chris

 

[vapoolplayer]

I have a Gilbert cue that I recently purchased. I'm not sure of the exact weight, but it's a little heavy for my taste. The cue has a weight bolt (see pic) that I'd like to replace with something much lighter. The bolt is about 3 inches long and feels like aluminum. It is threaded inside to accept an Allen head bolt that secures the rubber bumper, so I can't just scrap the bolt.

I have a couple questions regarding this....

Can I just replace this one with a (much) shorter one? Ideally, as short as possible since the bolt is aluminum and I'm looking to drop as much weight as I can. I'm wondering if doing this could cause some other "issues" like vibration, etc.

If so, are these bolts readily available? I'd prefer to just swap in a new bolt, although I could cut this one off & clean it up without much trouble.

Thanks!

~Chris

call andy gilbert.

if its aluminum, i'm not sure how much lighter you can get, as it usually doesn't weigh much at all.

VAP

 

[Rackin_Zack]

How does it feel without the bolt in? Is it light enough without the bolt? How much does the bolt weigh?

 

[Jon]

Check and see what thread the bolt is.
If it's 3/8-16, you are in luck, because there is a rubber bumper that is the same thread that should be able to fit, if the weight bolt isn't recessed too much.

 

[JoeyInCali]

That looks like the regular Atlas 3/8 16 aluminum bolt with a tapped hole for the hex screw for the bumper.
That thing is so light, it's negligble.

 

[Qnut]

True VAP, it doesn't weigh much, but I figure it will take it in the right direction anyway.

Zack, it felt better without the bolt, but I'm not sure how much of that was the actual weight difference and how much was the mental aspect of knowing I made it lighter. Of course, I also played it with no bolt and no bumper, so the end result of using a shorter bolt with the bumper wouldn't be as much of a difference. I don't have a scale handy that would weigh something this light accurately, so I'm not sure.

Jon, I don't have a thread gauge here, but I could check it at work and find out. This sounds like a solid idea, and one that would result in the greatest weight reduction by totally eliminating the bolt and the bumper screw. Where would I go to get a 3/8 x 16 threaded bumper if that works out?

 

[Jon]

I think you can get one from Dan Trogdon Cues, for $1.50 and around $5.00 shipping.
If you want, you can PM your address and i can send you one.

Another thing you might want to do is see if you can send the cue to Andy and have the joint pin replaced with titanium, that would lighten it up a little more also.

 

[Qnut]

That looks like the regular Atlas 3/8 16 aluminum bolt with a tapped hole for the hex screw for the bumper.
That thing is so light, it's negligble.

I'm not feeling the love here...



Maybe you guys are right...I'll have to weigh it and see if it's even worth the trouble.

On that note, does anyone make a 3/8 x 16 Helium bolt that I could actually lighten the cue with?

 

[Misel]

I'm not feeling the love here...



Maybe you guys are right...I'll have to weigh it and see if it's even worth the trouble.

On that note, does anyone make a 3/8 x 16 Helium bolt that I could actually
lighten the cue with?

Hi,
I also have a Gilbert cue and had the same problem.You can cut the weight bolt you have or you can do what i did.I have a Lucasi JB cue and find out that the Lucasi weight bolt perfectly fits in my Gilbert but it,s lighter.When i changed it was great.But you have to change the bumper also that way.

Good luck,
Misel

 

[claymont]

weight bolt

I have a Gilbert cue that I recently purchased. I'm not sure of the exact weight, but it's a little heavy for my taste. The cue has a weight bolt (see pic) that I'd like to replace with something much lighter. The bolt is about 3 inches long and feels like aluminum. It is threaded inside to accept an Allen head bolt that secures the rubber bumper, so I can't just scrap the bolt.

I have a couple questions regarding this....

Can I just replace this one with a (much) shorter one? Ideally, as short as possible since the bolt is aluminum and I'm looking to drop as much weight as I can. I'm wondering if doing this could cause some other "issues" like vibration, etc.

If so, are these bolts readily available? I'd prefer to just swap in a new bolt, although I could cut this one off & clean it up without much trouble.

Thanks!

~Chris

Take a look here, as you can see it's not going to make much difference cutting part of it off.

http://www.prathercue.com/page cue parts/butt cap screws.html

 

[Qnut]

Take a look here, as you can see it's not going to make much difference cutting part of it off.

http://www.prathercue.com/page cue parts/butt cap screws.html

Thanks for the link. The bolt I have is a 3" easy, so if that weight is pretty accurate I could lose close to half an ounce if I remove it completely. Maybe not a huge difference but enough to raise the comfort level a bit.

Thanks (to everyone) for all the help.

~Chris