Question About Buying a Cue???

krelldog

krelldog

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
On the For Sale forum...here on AZ Billiards there are 2nd parties selling new cues from Custom Cue makers. My question: Most of the time the shafts are 13mm.....I understand why....but what do you do if you want the shafts at smaller sizes? What are the normal costs of turning down a shaft? and how do you find out where this can be done from a reliable source? Thanks in advance.

Krelldog
 
Just about any repairman and definitely, any cue maker wil reduce the size of the shaft for you.

You can have it done all at once if you are in a hurry but no one will give you warranty on the work if you do it that way.
Its just too iffy and they might warp. I had 2 shafts done in Vegas, from 13mm to 12.5 and 12mm.
I was lucky as neither one moved to this date. You may not be so lucky.

To do it properly, you will have to leave the shaft with the cue maker for
how ever long he wants it to do the job. He will take it down a bit and let it rest for a month before taking any more off.

If you happen to buy a cue with 2 shafts, play with one and let the cue maker have one. Or, buy a used Predator shaft and use that until your shafts are done.

If you look at some of the cue makers that have web sites, they usually include the charge per MM for taking a shaft down.
If you ask this question in the Ask the Cue Maker forum, several people will probably send you a PM with a quote.

It depends where you live but your best bet is to send it to someone fairly close to you.
 
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krelldog said:
On the For Sale forum...here on AZ Billiards there are 2nd parties selling new cues from Custom Cue makers. My question: Most of the time the shafts are 13mm.....I understand why....but what do you do if you want the shafts at smaller sizes? What are the normal costs of turning down a shaft? and how do you find out where this can be done from a reliable source? Thanks in advance.

Krelldog
Click to expand...


If you are buying a custom cue I would not recommend having the shafts turned down. It will hurt future resale of the cue because some buyers will want the shafts 13mm especially if the cue is at all collectible.

I would recommend having the builder make another shaft turned down to a smaller diameter, or buying another quality shaft and having that turned down.

JIMO
 
I appologize, also what Craig said.
That is another important aspect to consider when purchasing a custom cue that you may want to re sell one day.

If it is something that doesn't cost you too much and you make it your daily player, taking the original shafts down may not be an issue either.
 
One thing to also consider is that if you are ordering a "custom cue" (meaning it's made for you), I personally feel it's better to deal directly with the cue maker, that way if you want 12mm tips you can get them from the original cue maker.

To me, it seems many people focus on reselling cues more than getting something that is made for them. If that's the case and the buyer wants to flip it, they should also make sure they chose the most popular color scheme and inlays and most common weight so that the potential number of buyers for this "custom cue" can be appeased. But then again, are you buying the "custom cue" for you designed to your preferences or are you trying to guess what a buyer will want in the future?

If you have a "custom cue" built for potential buyers then it may very likely not be custom built for you.

That's my two cents on the subject.
 
Thanks for the replies. The obvious advantage to buying a new cue from a third party (Tommy,Superior Cues etc) is that its already made and ready to ship. For the unexperienced....ordering a custom cue directly from the cuemaker can be a little intimidating. I often read about delay after delay,and if your not familiar with each and every aspect of the build,terminology,etc...its hard to convey what your wanting to buy in the first place.

So is it fair to say that your better off having custom shafts to use with the cue...and leave your original shafts unused/unchalked?
 
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