Shaft rings line up or not

M

masonh

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
how many cuemakers face the shaft collars to make the slotted joint rings line up perfectly?

i have never done it,but i seem to be getting lots of requests for it.i was sort of told that most don't when i started building cues and now i am wondering.

also if you get them lined up perfectly won't the shaft slots end up going past the butt slots after use?
 
masonh said:
how many cuemakers face the shaft collars to make the slotted joint rings line up perfectly?

i have never done it,but i seem to be getting lots of requests for it.i was sort of told that most don't when i started building cues and now i am wondering.

also if you get them lined up perfectly won't the shaft slots end up going past the butt slots after use?
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I have been doing it for around a year, and at first I also had many questions. However, if you plan for it from the time you Glue your rings to the shaft it is an easy process.

What I have been doing is I screw the shaft to the butt before the rings are glued and make a index mark with a pencil on the shaft. Then I glue up the shaft collar and rings insuring that the rings is lined up with my index mark.

In most cases this will have you very very close after gluing, so that only a very small amount of facing will give you perfect alignment. I do not know how others do it, I kinda figured it out myself like most other things I do.

Hope this helps and take Care.
 
They need to line up. It's a small step and that shows the builder takes his time to do things rite. If a builder is too lazy to spend 10 minutes there what else have they skimped on.
Every ring in the cue should line up.
Just my opinion.
 
I have been aligning up shaft and joint rings for years. I put a .010 bigger outside ring on my shaft for facing to align ring work. I also align all my ring work in cue.
 
what about the second question?

i don't believe over time they will stay lined up.it seems like the shafts always go a little farther after some time.

i assure you,me not lining them up has absolutely nothing to do with laziness,it is just that when i started i was told it wasn't a big deal and most guys actually didn't line them up.i see now i may have been misinformed.

SW actually takes time to make theirs not line up on the butt.
 
It makes no difference in playability or determines if a cuemaker is good or not. Some do it, some don't, no big deal. I do it because ringwork is a major design component of my cues, and I have only eight dashes so they have to be kinda lined up or it looks funny. Guys with 12-20 dashes have much less to worry about. But structual soundness & builder integrity have nothing to do with it.

Yes, the rings will eventually go past being even. It's especially true for the guys who really crank the shaft on as tight as they can get it. But it'll never go so far past that it's noticeably bad enough to look bad. I line mine up just a hair from being dead center. When somebody cranks it down tight, the rings line up. Or after somebody has had the cue for a while, the faces wear from screwing the cue together over & over & rings will line up. It's not a big deal. Line them up close so the cue's rings look uniform. But nobody on earth can line them up dead & keep them that way if the cue is a daily player, so don't stress it past just making it look nice.
 
shaft rings lining up

If you dont over tighten the shaft, they should stay lined up. Have a 93 Joss. Shaft and butt read Joss custom at the joint collars. Still line up perfect after 15 years. Have seen same cue where the collars no longer line up perfectly. All in how you treat your equipment.
 
masonh said:
what about the second question?

i don't believe over time they will stay lined up.it seems like the shafts always go a little farther after some time.

i assure you,me not lining them up has absolutely nothing to do with laziness,it is just that when i started i was told it wasn't a big deal and most guys actually didn't line them up.i see now i may have been misinformed.

SW actually takes time to make theirs not line up on the butt.
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On a new build, I purposely leave the rings a little short of being lined up. My thinking is, that after some use the threads in the shaft are going to relax/smoothen just a little and the shaft will turn just that little bit extra before becoming tight.
 
When you put a 12 mega-pixel camera lens on a new cue, everything is highlighted. Solely from an aesthetic standpoint, ring-work that lines up perfectly is a powerful selling tool. Just as unaligned ring-work, especially at B and C , will devalue the cue. I personally want everything on a new cue to be perfect, that is just me.
 
if i buy a cue with rings i expect them to be aligned properly. if the cue has matching joint protectors i expect those to line up as well.

guy
 
Graciocues said:
They need to line up. It's a small step and that shows the builder takes his time to do things rite. If a builder is too lazy to spend 10 minutes there what else have they skimped on.
Every ring in the cue should line up.
Just my opinion.
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i agree. they always should line up. its one of the first things i look at. youre good enough mason take your time. it will make you feel better in the morning
 
One of the first things I look at on a fancy cue is the alighnment of points, inlays, rings and logo.

My eye also picks up minute differences in the length of the rings, if they are not the same, it drives me crazy. Black rings on either side of an ivory joint or a metal ring is tough to hide more than a thou or two difference imho.

Courtney
 
I've always lined them up. The trick for me is facing them a hair short of them actually lining up with each other, that way when the 2 faces seat in the final resting position they will then line up with each other. If I don't do that, and was to just face until they line up perfectly, then when the faces seat, yes They will go past My mark, and be out of line with each other. That's the only trick I know of for MY style of building, just something I learned the hardway. Oh I also mark a line parallel with the cue on the Od's of both joined pieces to watch My progress as I'm facing, so as that I don't over shoot My mark, and just keep bumping it in until I reach the point I'm going for. Works for me, but You know, different strokes.

I know some people glue the ring work at the same time they align the 2 halves, nothing wrong with that IMO, but I often glue My rings in earlier on in the build proccess, and just face them off clean when the time comes to join them, so that's why I use this method. I've used the other one too though, Like matching an extra shaft to someone's handle, so I guess truth be told, they both work for Me depending on the situation at hand.

Greg
 
Greg, you are doing it the way I do it. Right or wrong, it works.

A trick I have for it is a dummy that has a male & female joint with a line to mate ringwork up to. The idea is to line up ringwork on every single cue, and be able to build an extra shaft long after with rings that still line up to the old cue. I don't always use it, but it does work well.
 
qbilder said:
Greg, you are doing it the way I do it. Right or wrong, it works.

A trick I have for it is a dummy that has a male & female joint with a line to mate ringwork up to. The idea is to line up ringwork on every single cue, and be able to build an extra shaft long after with rings that still line up to the old cue. I don't always use it, but it does work well.
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Yeah It works well for me too Eric. I kind of play around with seating the faces before the cue gets played too. I usually eyeball the amount I need to be short of, but if I had to guess I may say It's near 1/16-1/8 short. I for the most part just eyeball how short I think It needs to be, and believe It or not I've had success that way. Like You say right or wrong It works and fits My needs.

hmm... that's a thought. I use the marks much the same, but haven't tried using a dummy to match them yet. That could really come in handy when You need to match a handle that is not in hand at the time.

Like some of You have mentioned, I too try to align all my rings, and even try to align any points to them as well. I can still remember back as a cue buyer when those were some of the things I looked for in a cue. I never really had anyone tell Me that wasn't important, I just kind of assumed It was as It was to Me. I don't think everyone is as picky as I was, but I was sure that there were many others that look for that in a cue as well.
 
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I have faced them off until everything was perfectly in line. Then in years to come the faces compress and they are no longer lined perfectly. At this time I rarely make them line up perfectly as all my shafts will interchange on any cue. So if I have 5 shafts with various lengths, tips and diameters and someone wants my cue they can pick their shafts. I also use 12 slot sterling silver rings which is not as noticable as 8 slot. So to answer your two questions. Yes I have done it and Yes they will move in time.
 
I know a few that always line them up , for at least two of them , I added index marks to thier carbide sanding arbors. They just face and sand with them to the index on the arbors and they will line up on the cue.
 
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