Bill Hagen had a somewhat different approach to building cues. Most cuemakers use a "forearm" and "handle" that started out 2 different pieces of wood. Generally about 12"-13" is the forearm with the handle being around 18", one of which is tennoned into the other. This is because one piece of wood 29" long is likely to warp, also it gives the cuemaker the opportunity to add weight in the upper section to reach a more desireable balance.
Bill usually took a one-piece turning square (29-30" long), cut it lengthwise, run it through a jointer and reverse the direction before gluing it back together. He sometimes used two different pieces of wood, 3/4" thick, glued together. This is an old woodworking technique used in cabinet making to help cut down movement. He then turned them down incrementally to the final size. You'll notice that a lot of Bill's cues are on the thin side. This, I believe is because he'd get more warping, between passes, with his method, and had to turn them down thin to get them straight again. I never liked this aspect of his cues. What Bill was especially known for was his pantograph work. He'd been a tool and die maker with GM and made his own pantograph and templates on GM's nickel. He did some great inlay work and did a lot of overlapping inlays. His points were done either with the pantograph, or I did see a couple that were done ala "Mali", with the routed tapered "V" grove into the forearm, after it was joined to the handle. This is obvious by the rounded point bottom that was filled with Bondo and wrapped over.
I used to get a lot of his cues into my shop. He was popular around this area til he moved to Arizona IIRC, about 12- 15 years ago. I don't know if he made any cues after his move or not! Haven't seen or talked to him for many years.
just more hot air!
Sherm
