Rubber Bumper supplier

Lexicologist71

Lexicologist71

Rabid Schuler fanatic
Silver Member
Hey folks, I've ordered bumpers from 2 different suppliers. One was good quality rubber, but is really two short to offer much protection. The other was so aged/ozone cracked and hardened to be useless for anything other than a house cue. I have some samples coming from Budwig. Does anybody else know of a good route? I need bumpers that have a through hole for a screw. I'm looking for 1" diameter at the base and about 0.4"-0.5" in height, with a slightly rounded profile. I looked at Mid-Atlantic, but there is very little room for a screw head, at least that's what the drawing seemed to indicate.
 
Someone suggested www.atlanticindia.com here a while back - minimum order is kind of high - don't know if this is one you knew of or not.

I've never ordered from them.

HTH

Gary
 
I haven't actually seen that website, but one of the others that I saw used the exact same pictures, so I'm guessing they are related. The other one was Mid-Atlantic Rubber. Thanks though.
 
Atlas was my first route. They're good quality, just not as tall a profile as what I want. I looked at Mid Atlantic. If my samples suck, I'll see if I can get a sample from them.
 
The Mid-Atlantic drawing shows a 1/4" recess dia. with a 1/8" bore.
A lot, if not most, CMs attach the bumper with an 8x32 'Allen' hd socket screw.
The given dimensions for the M/A bumper are perfect.
You don't state how tall of a bumper you're looking for.
The M/A is almost 1/2"H.
If you want taller than that, you should be looking at Schon bumpers.
They are the same dimensions except 1" tall.
Height is only relative to how deep you cut the recess in the butt-cap.
What's your reason for wanting a taller bumper?

Since you're contemplating spending some money, I'll throw some trivia at you
to help complicate the decision process.
A good bumper isn't cheap, so don't you be, particularly here.

The bumper serves several functions. It's primary is to protect the butt of the cue.
When the gorilla at the pool-hall that you sold your creation to, dogs a shot and
slams your precious baby to the floor butt first, chances are that the butt-cap will
become shrapnel. Yup, that's how it happens and guess who's to blame.
When subject to that impact, the bumper has no place to go but out, sideways.
It expands the bumper at it's middle and takes the butt-cap with it.
Give yourself a little clearance here. You don't want a snug fit btwn bumper & butt-cap.
This is one of the main reasons that the 'stem' bumper has gotten popular.
It's generally not recessed into the butt-cap.

Another function of the bumper is in fine-tuning the hit of the cue.
Think rebound resonance.
As the vibration from striking the QB travels down the cue, it's met at the butt of
the cue by the bumper. A soft/spongy bumper will absorb a lot of that vibration and
not allow it to travel back up the cue to your grip-hand.
Conversely, a stiffer/harder bumper won't dampen those vibrations as effectively.
This will produce a stiffer 'hit' in the same cue. Knowing this, you can tune the cue.
Wise and fortunate is the CM who stocks bumpers in different durometer.
Another benefit to this is that the harder bumper doesn't expand quite as dramatically as the soft one.
Consider the Hoppe cue, no bumper at all. Plenty of vibration - plenty of hit.

As to durometer, if I'm not mistaken though I probably am, common bumpers are about 60.
I've had them made in 70 & 80 also. I tried 90 but the compound was a little too brittle.
There were several threads in the past year pertaining to bumpers.
Bryan Fisher/Fisher Cues, was selling brown bumpers at a very decent price.
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=194874
There was even a thread or 2 on how to make bumpers.
Now there's excitement.

KJ
 
KJ Cues said:
The Mid-Atlantic drawing shows a 1/4" recess dia. with a 1/8" bore.
A lot, if not most, CMs attach the bumper with an 8x32 'Allen' hd socket screw.
The given dimensions for the M/A bumper are perfect.
You don't state how tall of a bumper you're looking for.
The M/A is almost 1/2"H.
If you want taller than that, you should be looking at Schon bumpers.
They are the same dimensions except 1" tall.
Height is only relative to how deep you cut the recess in the butt-cap.
What's your reason for wanting a taller bumper?

Since you're contemplating spending some money, I'll throw some trivia at you
to help complicate the decision process.
A good bumper isn't cheap, so don't you be, particularly here.

The bumper serves several functions. It's primary is to protect the butt of the cue.
When the gorilla at the pool-hall that you sold your creation to, dogs a shot and
slams your precious baby to the floor butt first, chances are that the butt-cap will
become shrapnel. Yup, that's how it happens and guess who's to blame.
When subject to that impact, the bumper has no place to go but out, sideways.
It expands the bumper at it's middle and takes the butt-cap with it.
Give yourself a little clearance here. You don't want a snug fit btwn bumper & butt-cap.
This is one of the main reasons that the 'stem' bumper has gotten popular.
It's generally not recessed into the butt-cap.

Another function of the bumper is in fine-tuning the hit of the cue.
Think rebound resonance.
As the vibration from striking the QB travels down the cue, it's met at the butt of
the cue by the bumper. A soft/spongy bumper will absorb a lot of that vibration and
not allow it to travel back up the cue to your grip-hand.
Conversely, a stiffer/harder bumper won't dampen those vibrations as effectively.
This will produce a stiffer 'hit' in the same cue. Knowing this, you can tune the cue.
Wise and fortunate is the CM who stocks bumpers in different durometer.
Another benefit to this is that the harder bumper doesn't expand quite as dramatically as the soft one.
Consider the Hoppe cue, no bumper at all. Plenty of vibration - plenty of hit.

As to durometer, if I'm not mistaken though I probably am, common bumpers are about 60.
I've had them made in 70 & 80 also. I tried 90 but the compound was a little too brittle.
There were several threads in the past year pertaining to bumpers.
Bryan Fisher/Fisher Cues, was selling brown bumpers at a very decent price.
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=194874
There was even a thread or 2 on how to make bumpers.
Now there's excitement.

KJ
Click to expand...

That's the same anchor screw I am using. My bumper is only recessed a tiny bit; a couple hundredths for security. I was more afraid that the screw would hit the floor under abusive players and was hoping to avoid that. The bumpers on my Schulers all have a deep recess for the screw, but they're still only about half an inch tall. I didn't think the MA was a deep enough hole. It looks like the washer is only about 1/4" deep. It seemed to me that a gorilla would compress the rubber enough to dent the floor or damage the cue. I guess I could call them and ask for a sample. I'm not trying to be cheap, I'm trying to get exactly what I want for my product. I have thought about making my own bumpers, but I have my hands plenty full right now. Thanks for the info.
 
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