Possible Cue Butt Straightening Device? (Too warped to turn down)

koogz

koogz

Member
Could this be used to straighten the butt of a cue that's warped?
I've seen it used on wooden golf club shafts for what it's designed for.

I was wondering if applying a steady flow of constant heat plus this device would do the trick?

"Patrick Kennedy "Magic" Hickory Club Straightening Tool"
www.hickorygolfworkshop.com

Hickory Golf Club Tools

Tools we make and sell for repair and maintenance of hickory golf clubs
www.hickorygolfworkshop.com www.hickorygolfworkshop.com

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That would be a very large NO IMHO. Cues have joints where the forearm and handles meet, and heat would not be good for the glue bonds
 
The problem is the wood in your warped butt is where it wants to be now (maybe, could still be moving). Using force to put it back straight won't last, it will always want to go to where it wants to be. The mistake was not letting it get to where it wanted to be before the cue was built.
 
Thank you to everyone who's replied thus far. I'm not being notified of the responses, so I just come back and look now and then. I think some of the issues can be addressed, it's a matter of dealing with the variables in turn. I believe there is a solution out there. I may have to buy a warped cue or two and test out some theories but based on much more research.
 
koogz said:
Could this be used to straighten the butt of a cue that's warped?
I've seen it used on wooden golf club shafts for what it's designed for.

I was wondering if applying a steady flow of constant heat plus this device would do the trick?

"Patrick Kennedy "Magic" Hickory Club Straightening Tool"
www.hickorygolfworkshop.com

Hickory Golf Club Tools

Tools we make and sell for repair and maintenance of hickory golf clubs
www.hickorygolfworkshop.com www.hickorygolfworkshop.com

View attachment 635193
Click to expand...
If your cue is wrapped, the underwrap may be the problem. If cue is worth it, rebuilding is a possibility. I have seen some ugly wood in the underwrap, and it is not sealed completely with a wrap.
 
koogz said:
Could this be used to straighten the butt of a cue that's warped?
I've seen it used on wooden golf club shafts for what it's designed for.

I was wondering if applying a steady flow of constant heat plus this device would do the trick?

"Patrick Kennedy "Magic" Hickory Club Straightening Tool"
www.hickorygolfworkshop.com

Hickory Golf Club Tools

Tools we make and sell for repair and maintenance of hickory golf clubs
www.hickorygolfworkshop.com www.hickorygolfworkshop.com

View attachment 635193
Click to expand...
Another option is to have a cue builder reface the butt joint face between centers on a lathe. Makes the cue more playable.
 
koogz said:
Thank you to everyone who's replied thus far. I'm not being notified of the responses, so I just come back and look now and then. I think some of the issues can be addressed, it's a matter of dealing with the variables in turn. I believe there is a solution out there. I may have to buy a warped cue or two and test out some theories but based on much more research.
Click to expand...
you can believe all you want...BUT if there was a thing to correct warped butts......someone would have found it already. Are you a cuemaker? Woodworker(of a finer variety)? If you have no working knowledge of how wood behaves, and all the intricacies of wood behavior then it's easy to assume how to fix warped wood will be an easy fix, but then you would be making some incorrect assumptions. Pool cues are NOT built like old school wooden single piece golf clubs
 
Woodworking has been my hobby for almost 30 years; you would not believe how many pieces of wood I’ve either discarded because it warped when I first cut it, or found another use for it. I’m with Dave on this, if there was a device to straighten warped wood, I would own it now.
 
As a woodworker for 50+ years, and also someone that owned a saw mill for years, warped lumber is just that. You can push on it, shove on it, steam it, it will always want to warp, and return to warping after drying out. There are stresses that are naturally in that wood. Some woods will warp when picking up moisture unevenly, but should return to straight when dry. So much is unknown to people purchasing wood from a supplier. The tree could have had a lean before cutting and wood would be very prone to warp, or if logs layed in one orientation for an extended period of time before sawing, the moisture variation depending on the cut could cause warped wood. These are things that are tough to see when a cue builder is buying short pieces of wood. Knowing wood, it's really amazing that wood shafts stay straight for as long as they do.
 
This also happened to the forearm on the butt of one of my cheap cues.
Hung it vertical with an 8 lb. weight attached for a month, no difference.
C clamped it with shivs that bent it opposite of the warp for 9 weeks, no difference.
Clamped it to a table horizontally and hung a 20 pound weight on the collar to reverse the bend for 40 days, no difference.
Rolled it on a table so that the bend is slightly up and marked just behind the joint with a thin line of electric tape and use it for my breaker.
It's playable otherwise but is annoying just knowing the bend is there.
 
Another 50+ yrs working wood here, including the finer things.

^^^^^What the others said^^^^^

Perhaps a further perspective: If it warped, there's a good chance it was not an expensive cue. So the time to spend trying to straighten it professionally is not worth the result. If it is a high$ name cue, send it back to the maker. If the maker is dead, the cue is probably worth more as it rests, than any damage from attempts to straighten it would warrant.

That said, if it is solid wood or full splice, (no joint bolts or short wood tenons); it is probably possible to straighten with heat if you have enough time and experience to make it worth while. Including possibly the refinish. The heat is low, 300 F, +/- about 30 F in the effective range. More is not better, and will degrade it. You might already be in the range that degrades epoxy glues and softens natural glues if they are a factor in the construction. Play around with that if you want, but it is not worth the poor predictibility to get anyone who does it for income. Especially with all the risks of delamination, popping inlays, necessity to re-wrap, etc, etc.
 
The cue I’m speaking about is a very old Ray Schuler I just acquired. It’s the forward portion of the forearm

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That's a shame, it's a real nice looking cue. Could have had nothing to do with not letting the wood age first, could have been improperly stored, hard telling with old cues like that. I've seen some that were stood up in a closet in a soft case with heavy things leaning against them for years and ended up with a warp. Is it really bad? Can't tell from these pictures.
 
Alone on a table. It’s obvious. Half way up the forearm it looks pretty bad. With a shaft on it’s not as pronounced. That’s probably something obvious. I got a great deal, I think. Loved Rays cues. Nice man too. I visited his shop a few times years ago.

I’ll try to post a video.
 
How much does the joint lift up the table when rolled? Is it really warped or is it possible that it has been turned down unevenly?

A question to the experienced cuemakers. With older butts being a little thicker than what's standard nowadays, would it be viable to turn a warped butt down again, taking off the 'highs', therefore making it straight again?
 
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