One Piece Cues for Conversion

[~jj~]

Hello,

I recently picked up a couple old italian one piece cues. I am considering converting them and had a couple questions about them.

I noticed the butt diameter is only about an inch and quarter. Is there a minimum thickness desired in a cue to make it a good candidate for conversion?

Is it possible to make the colors in the butterfly points a little more vibrant? I don't really understand the conversion process all that well but see some beautiful titlist conversions that look completely different after they have been redone.

here's a couple pics.

Thanks,
JJ

 

[patrickcues]

Why I do conversions I like the forearm to be .880 3" above the points and at least 1.280 at the butt end. This will give you a little room to work with.

 

[Mr Hoppe]

Hello,

...I noticed the butt diameter is only about an inch and quarter. Is there a minimum thickness desired in a cue to make it a good candidate for conversion? ...

Ultimately, the finished size is up to you. Honestly, I don't know why custom cue makers don't tailor their finished butt diameter to the size of the owner's hand. They are "custom" cues, right, or are they?
Mr H

 

[~jj~]

Mr. H,

I do agree. I think though it is much easier to make a butt that is too fat skinnier than a butt that is too skinny fatter. I could be wrong though. By the time things get sanded down and refinished, if the cue is generally a little smaller then it might easily be too small. Also, I do understand that if the forearm is too narrow then it can limit the pin options.

 

[patrickcues]

Ultimately, the finished size is up to you. Honestly, I don't know why custom cue makers don't tailor their finished butt diameter to the size of the owner's hand. They are "custom" cues, right, or are they?
Mr H

A lot of us do custom fit to the player. I keep my joint size the same on almost every cue though. I also build to length by customer specs. I am with you on this Troy on the custom building. Not everyone likes the same size cue. However there is a point that I wont go past on the diameter of the butt end. Butt, I havent found anyone that has wanted anything that small as of yet.

 

[~jj~]

do you guys think there is any value in converting these cues? There don't seem to be a lot of them around, so If a cuemaker could give some insight as to whether something like this is worth converting, or worth keeping as is, I would appreciate it. Do butterfly splice blanks like this usually have any value?
There are a few more pics here:
http://s655.photobucket.com/albums/uu276/jjwink19/
thanks again for all the help.

 

[patrickcues]

do you guys think there is any value in converting these cues? There don't seem to be a lot of them around, so If a cuemaker could give some insight as to whether something like this is worth converting, or worth keeping as is, I would appreciate it. Do butterfly splice blanks like this usually have any value?
There are a few more pics here:
http://s655.photobucket.com/albums/uu276/jjwink19/
thanks again for all the help.

Good question! I havent seen any of these converted. The only real to find out is to have one converted and see what it brings. I would shop around and find someone that will be reasonable and make a decision from there.

 

[BHQ]

Good question! I havent seen any of these converted. The only real to find out is to have one converted and see what it brings. I would shop around and find someone that will be reasonable and make a decision from there.

i had two a guy sent me to convert
when i saw they were ramin wood,
and the critical dimensions werent good, i sent them back
even the carved butt end was ramin
dont know if these are the same or not,
but it looks like it might be
i just didnt think they were worth messing with when theres so many of the old brunsick butterflies still around

 

[~jj~]

Thanks for the response BHQ.

I do see that they look a little yellowish-oranger than most other cues I see. I guess that could be an indication of the wood being something else such as ramin. I haven't actually heard of ramin until now though. I was hoping that a decent cue could be had if they were re-finished. I also read that ramin is now endangered, so maybe they will be worth something on those grounds.