points not lined up

chumscustoms

chumscustoms

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
i know you guys may not want some of these cues out,
but i actually like buying 4 and 6 point cues were the points dont line up perfect,
im just curious if anyone has some that they would like to get rid of or possibly finish and sell,
i have purchased 4 or 5 that were like this from other builders because i think that it is just neat to have something that is not perfect, but i do admire the perfect cues, it is just something that i have been trying to get some of
let me know if you guys have anything
thanks ben
 
chumscustoms said:
i know you guys may not want some of these cues out,
but i actually like buying 4 and 6 point cues were the points dont line up perfect,
im just curious if anyone has some that they would like to get rid of or possibly finish and sell,
i have purchased 4 or 5 that were like this from other builders because i think that it is just neat to have something that is not perfect, but i do admire the perfect cues, it is just something that i have been trying to get some of
let me know if you guys have anything
thanks ben
Click to expand...

I have a friend that's the same way. Given the choice of 2 cues similar in looks, he will choose the one where the points don't line up perfectly. He's the same with stitch rings too. He's OK with rings that are all in alignment, but thinks the cue has more character if something's not as it should be.
 
sliprock said:
I have a friend that's the same way. Given the choice of 2 cues similar in looks, he will choose the one where the points don't line up perfectly. He's the same with stitch rings too. He's OK with rings that are all in alignment, but thinks the cue has more character if something's not as it should be.
Click to expand...
Perfectly even short-splice points almost always mean where the forearm and handle meet was done perfectly. Perfect mating/squaring and A-j stud/screw should be concentric to the whole cue.
Almost always anyway imo.
 
sliprock said:
I have a friend that's the same way. Given the choice of 2 cues similar in looks, he will choose the one where the points don't line up perfectly. He's the same with stitch rings too. He's OK with rings that are all in alignment, but thinks the cue has more character if something's not as it should be.
Click to expand...

I don't know, I have to think if the maker couldn't get that right what else did he screw up. At the least, getting the points straight should be fundamental.
 
i have seen many high end cues with points that didn't line up perfectly even.i don't think b/c the points aren't perfect there is inherently something wrong with the cue.i have never been bothered by them unless they are drastically off.
 
The more even the points, the closer to center & square the cue was kept throughout the build. Could be facing in the "A" joint, or a number of other things. The cue could still be put together solidly, but something went wrong somewhere, even if only slightly.
 
qbilder said:
The more even the points, the closer to center & square the cue was kept throughout the build. Could be facing in the "A" joint, or a number of other things. The cue could still be put together solidly, but something went wrong somewhere, even if only slightly.
Click to expand...
Don't be holding out.
Show the secret jig.:D
 
that being said i have had many 4 and 6 point cues that had something wrong with them.infact i will go so far as to say that i have had more cues where the points don't line up than i have had cues that do line up perfectly.

when i am saying perfectly i mean perfectly.less than .050" off maybe.i am having a tough time with some sneaies right now that i had made at "you know where".the cues were so skinny in the middle that i had nor room to cut the points even.i know that on sneakies it is as important,but i hate it when the het off 1/4" or more.
 
JoeyInCali said:
Don't be holding out.
Show the secret jig.:D
Click to expand...

Ok, ok. But keep it between us. I build all my cues with this knife. It gets dead nuts points every time ;)
secretjig.jpg
 
My points come out pretty close to even, but I have almost no room to get them back in alignment if they are off. I want my points long, so I cut them in pretty late. I only end up taking only 2-3 more small cuts on the forearm once the whole cue is assembled.

Thanks to a little trick from Joe C, I've started assembling the A joint with the handle and butt still a bit oversized. That gives me room to realign everything without taking another cut off the front of the cue if necessary. One of the cues I have here with me in Japan, there was 0 runout in the A joint when I glued it up. Once the epoxy had set up, there was some movement. The points are dead even now that it's finished and I never had to screw around with cigarette papers to try to line them up.

I have scrapped some cues where the points weren't even. One, I didn't even notice until the cue was all finished. I had planned on selling it, but instead gave it to my mothers husband. The cue was a great hitter and there is nothing wrong with it other than the uneven points. I don't know why somebody would think that points being uneven make the cue play bad. I may not want to sell one like that, but I've seen plenty of expensive cues out there where the points don't line up and I'm sure they all play fine.
 
I cut my points in when the joint is at .880", then attached to handle, cut down to .865", then do the butt sleeve work, and cut on down to finish. I use the butter knife to whittle everything down straight as my eyeballs can tell ;)

Playability wasn't in question with uneven points. The question was if a cuemaker doesn't or can't get the points even, what else is he short cutting? My guess is some just don't give the point evenness much priority. Everybody has their own ways.
 
I would guess the people with that opinion have no clue as to what it takes to build a cue to begin with. I can usually tell how uneducated the person I'm dealing with is when the first thing they do is screw the cue together and roll it on the table, then pick it up to see if the points are all even.

Just imagine what you could shortcut on if that's all everybody looked at. The points are all lined up, but there are glue lines .020" thick throughout the veneers and around the inlays. It must be a good cue, the points all line up and it rolled straight on the table.

It doesn't matter how many times you tell somebody rolling the cue on the table isn't going to tell you shit, they just keep doing it. I remember when I used to play in a league at Boston Billiards. I knew I was going to have an easy match if I saw the person pull several cues off the wall and roll them on a table before choosing one. Never once even taking a look at any of the tips.

For the record, I do take the time to make sure my points come out as even as possible, but somebody not buying a cue because they are a little off is probably the type of customer that would be impossible to please in the first place. I don't really buy many cues for myself, but if I am looking at somebody else's work, I don't even think I ever bother to check the evenness of the points.

And since it looks like Chum's thread got a bit off track here, I do have some cues that the points are not even that I haven't finished up. Unfortunately, the point evenness is not the reason they were scrapped. If it was, I could probably get them pretty close to even before they were complete.
 
Last edited:
I personally dont have any cues that the points are off or arent made right but if you like I could ask some of the other wanna be cue makers in my area if they are willing to give up some of there best work.Some of the cues have points so far off there not even on the same cue anymore.....
 
DbCustomCues:
Some of the cues have points so far off there not even on the same cue anymore.....

Now that's funny!
Larry
 
Tony Zinzola said:
I would guess the people with that opinion have no clue as to what it takes to build a cue to begin with. I can usually tell how uneducated the person I'm dealing with is when the first thing they do is screw the cue together and roll it on the table, then pick it up to see if the points are all even.

Just imagine what you could shortcut on if that's all everybody looked at. The points are all lined up, but there are glue lines .020" thick throughout the veneers and around the inlays. It must be a good cue, the points all line up and it rolled straight on the table.

It doesn't matter how many times you tell somebody rolling the cue on the table isn't going to tell you shit, they just keep doing it. I remember when I used to play in a league at Boston Billiards. I knew I was going to have an easy match if I saw the person pull several cues off the wall and roll them on a table before choosing one. Never once even taking a look at any of the tips.

For the record, I do take the time to make sure my points come out as even as possible, but somebody not buying a cue because they are a little off is probably the type of customer that would be impossible to please in the first place. I don't really buy many cues for myself, but if I am looking at somebody else's work, I don't even think I ever bother to check the evenness of the points.

And since it looks like Chum's thread got a bit off track here, I do have some cues that the points are not even that I haven't finished up. Unfortunately, the point evenness is not the reason they were scrapped. If it was, I could probably get them pretty close to even before they were complete.
Click to expand...

I can agree points being a good indicator of the builder's overall quality. Whether it deters buyers or not, I don't know. But knowing what I know about cues, yes, it would deter me from buying a cue if the points were noticeably uneven. I know what it takes to get even points, and that is zero wobble in the assembled cue when spun between centers. If there's runout or wobble, then it gets cut & half & rejoined until there is no runout. Once the cue spins straight between centers, I can be confident that the points will stay even no matter how much or how little I cut, and without having to do any shimming. In other words, even points means to me that the builder did accurate work & joined everything center & square. It means he did it right. If the points are uneven, it makes me wonder where things went wrong & why he didn't make it right. If I have to question his ethics then i'm not buying the cue. If he gets the same credit for his shoddy work that I get for my clean work, then why am I even giving the extra effort in the first place?

Sneakies & full splice cues are tougher to judge, unless the builder is making his own blanks. But for the most builders who buy blanks to convert, the blanks cannot always be trusted & often times the points are nearly impossible to make even. Personally, I throw away the full spliced blanks that don't become even, but lots of guys cannot eat that cost & therefore they sell the cue anyway. As such, sneakies with even points is a bonus, not the expected. But when a builder is in control of everything, the points are expected to be even.

Playability isn't the question. I promise I can take a warped & severely uneven pointed butt, put a shaft on it that has massive runout & a good warp, and make it play well so long as no components are loose. Does that mean anybody would buy it? Hell no they wouldn't. Cues are expensive & for the money they want quality to equal it. If they buy a $200 custom then they shouldn't expect dead nuts even points. If they are paying over $1G, then rightly they should be expecting & demanding dead even points. As such, buyers who are looking for quality don't mind spending big bills for what they want, and they shouldn't be questioned & put on the spot when they refuse to buy a cue because of uneven points. Of course, this is just my point of view as a buyer/collector first & builder second.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top