Radial pin with stainless steel joint

S

Stickman9

Active member
I have several custom cues and have noticed that the cues with stainless steel joints have a small pin (5/16 x 14 or 5/16 x 18 thread), and that cues with synthetic or natural-material joints tend to have big pins (3/8 x 10 or radial). This also seems to be the case for custom cues I see that are for sale. This suggests to me that cuemakers use heavier pins with joints made of lighter material and vice versa.

However, one of my cues—the one I have been playing with—has a radial pin and a stainless-steel joint. It feels a lot different than my other cues, and I am beginning to wonder if the stainless-steel joint/radial pin combination may put too much weight in the center of the cue and throw off the balance.

My questions are:
  • Do cuemakers tend to use smaller pins with stainless-steel joints (and am I correct in my reasoning)?
  • How common is it to use a radial pin with a stainless-steel joint?
  • Could this combination adversely affect the way the cue plays?
  • If yes, is it possible (and would it make sense) to change the joint to a lighter-weight material?
 
Your reasoning is good. You don't see radial/stainless joint very often. Partly because stainless is more traditional, and the bigger pins (from what I have seen) were mostly used in custom cues. So you mostly saw the traditional 5/16 pins in metal jointed cues because that mostly all they used back then.
The bigger pins do add a bit more weight than the 5/16 stuff, but different materials can negate that.

If you feel like there's too much weight at the joint, you might be able to swap a stainless or brass Radial out for a lighter pin. If you went with an aluminum or G10 pin, you could potentially drop over an ounce.
 
There are variables involved with joint screws and joints.
Especially stainless joints.
They are not all the same.
Full stainless. 5/8x18 or 11 thread,
3/4x16 threaded
Or just a stainless sleeve.
 
Thank you for your answers.

I hadn't thought of swapping out the pin. I will consider it, but doing anything with the joint seems pretty extreme.

It looks like the cue has a weight bolt and I'm wondering if moving it a little more toward the back end of the butt would help with the weight distribution. What do you think?
 
Stickman9 said:
Thank you for your answers.

I hadn't thought of swapping out the pin. I will consider it, but doing anything with the joint seems pretty extreme.

It looks like the cue has a weight bolt and I'm wondering if moving it a little more toward the back end of the butt would help with the weight distribution. What do you think?
Click to expand...
Changing out the pin is a routine procedure for a skilled cue builder. It can go wrong, but the more experience the person who does it has, the less likely it will.
Unless the bolt is pretty heavy, it will change the balance very little. It may be enough for you to feel though, so it might be worth trying.
 
You can check out a build i did, i used a SS sleeved joint + aluminum radial so as to not throw off the balance.

Fullsplice Conversion

Blank purchased was warped with about 3 credit card roll, it was bad. I gradually turned the blank down over a year. Usually when fullsplice conversions are done, it is uncommon for rings to be seen at the "A-joint". However, there are a few...
forums.azbilliards.com

1696293427672.png

Also, agreed. You should trying adjusting the weight bolt and using headless bolts/grub screws to tune the weight first before messing with the joint.
 
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