Spliced Butt Blanks

Busbee Cue

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
This may be the wrong place to ask, do any of the cue makers out there sell spliced butt blanks? Bocote,coco or purpleheart butt with figured birdseye fronts? Any info would be appreciated. Thank you.
 
Busbee Cue said:
This may be the wrong place to ask, do any of the cue makers out there sell spliced butt blanks? Bocote,coco or purpleheart butt with figured birdseye fronts? Any info would be appreciated. Thank you.


How finished do you want them? Are you talking about Q blanks WITHOUT points?...JER
 
I have plenty of the 4 pointed spliced blanks in Coco, Bocote and Ebony. They do not have any veneers, if that is what you are looking for.

They are baseball bat sized (not really .... just way oversized).
 
I know this is kinda taboo for a lot of people here but www.cuecomponents.com has them for sale on their site and ocassionally on e-bay........ I just havent heard anything to good about them......:)
 
Prather also sells the full sliced blanks (veneered) and Schmelke sells the full spliced blanks non-veneered in a variety of exotics.
Mike
 
I'm looking for some myself, but not the Schmelcky (sp) blanks. I've heard that they are too skinny to work with. Also, just called Prather, there stuff is too espensive.:(
 
I just got two of Schmelke's blanks in to try. They are far from skinny, or at least the ones I got werent. They were about a inch and a half at the butt, wolld have made a heck of a club.
One was nice Cocobola with real good birdseye forearm. The other had a geargous piece of Rosewood but the birdseye wasn't that great. Overall they are pretty nice and plenty big to work with.
 
shoutout33 said:
I'm looking for some myself, but not the Schmelcky (sp) blanks. I've heard that they are too skinny to work with. Also, just called Prather, there stuff is too espensive.:(

I don't know who told you that Schmelke blanks were small as they are way over-size and there is plenty of room for any bumping that may need to be done. Most of the different people who are selling full-splice blanks are getting them from Schmelke and reselling them at a profit.
Dick
 
Okaaayy. I heard this from a few cuemakers (no, I'm not mentioning any names...) that said that the have found that the Schmelke blanks are on the skinny side. I'm just saying what has been told to me. Plus, I've heard that some cuemakers have issues with their glueing procedures as well. Not knocking Schemelke or anyone who uses them, this is just what I have heard.
 
Hello,


I buy my sneaky pete blanks from schmelke, and I find them to be plenty big, use nice wood, but I agree that there glueing techniques are'nt the best. I just finished 9 Sneakys and will be selling 4 of them at discount because the glue lines have big gaps in them and would need too much attention and finishing to fix, we offer sneakys because some people just want a good sneaky pete. I'll still buy the blanks from them though.

Bryan Fisher
Fisher Cues
 
Alaskin Assasin said:
Hello,


I buy my sneaky pete blanks from schmelke, and I find them to be plenty big, use nice wood, but I agree that there glueing techniques are'nt the best. I just finished 9 Sneakys and will be selling 4 of them at discount because the glue lines have big gaps in them and would need too much attention and finishing to fix, we offer sneakys because some people just want a good sneaky pete. I'll still buy the blanks from them though.

Bryan Fisher
Fisher Cues

The lack of glue can be cause for aggravation once the finishing proccess has been started. After my final turning but before the final sanding, I blow compressed air along all glue lines on a cue to blow out any dust and see if there is a lack of glue. I then run some thin super glue along glue lines to seal and then take 5-min.epoxy and spread into what ever glue lines that are present and then do my finish sanding. This has about cured any problems I used to have from an air bubble or a small divot where the finish won't cover.

Dick
 
Question about the blanks coz I haven't tried Schmelke or Prather, how do their points line up?
 
hadjcues said:
Question about the blanks coz I haven't tried Schmelke or Prather, how do their points line up?

Schmelke's are usually within a 1/4", usually closer. There is plenty of wood for bumping. Their center at the butt of the butt is usually dead on but the center at the joint end is always off. I've always done my bumping at the rear of the cue as it takes more movement to make a difference in point length but with the center at the front of the cue being out it makes it a little more difficult.

I've often thought of making a set-up for building full-splice butts for Trappers but I doubt if I can buy the wood as cheaply as Scmelke sells the butts. It would be nice to do though just so veneers could be installed.

Dick
 
rhncue said:
Schmelke's are usually within a 1/4", usually closer. There is plenty of wood for bumping. Their center at the butt of the butt is usually dead on but the center at the joint end is always off. I've always done my bumping at the rear of the cue as it takes more movement to make a difference in point length but with the center at the front of the cue being out it makes it a little more difficult.

I've often thought of making a set-up for building full-splice butts for Trappers but I doubt if I can buy the wood as cheaply as Schmelke sells the butts. It would be nice to do though just so veneers could be installed.

Dick
Always re-center drill the blanks when you get them in or you will throw the point out massively on your first turn. I brokered a deal for them to buy about 7000 pieces of purple heart last year. I know what they paid and know why we could barely buy the wood in the blanks for what they sell them for. If we buy wood one or two pieces at a time we pay top dollar. Buy it thousands of pieces at a time and the price goes way down. This is another reason our International Cuemakers Association members get shaft wood for about 70% of normal price. We buy pallets at a time and pass some savings on to the members.
Chris
www.cuesmith.com
www.internationalcuemakers.com
 
I have some that are off center like that at the joint, but the points are lined up perfectly, so I know they will run off if I use those centers. They're off enough and noticable enough that I can see it by eye looking at the face. What's the deal with that anyhow? It would make things alot easier if the centers were inline with the points when you get them. Guess It would be extra work. I was wondering Myself, If I should indicate then re-face and re-drill the centers, or If there was a better way to keep the points running true?


Greg
 
The pieces are joined when the wood is still square. (I'm pretty sure)
Even if they got the points even on the first cut, any warping that happens as they get turned is going to throw the points out of alignment. What I do is find the lowest point and shim that side in my lathe chuck when I cut a new center. Then when you turn it down, you will leave more on that side, and take the long points down.

If the points are even, put it between 2 centers - dial indicate at the tips of the points. Poke a new center with your tailstock little by little, till your indicator says all is well.
 
Last edited:
Sheldon said:
The pieces are joined when the wood is still square. (I'm pretty sure)
Even if they got the points even on the first cut, any warping that happens as they get turned is going to throw the points out of alignment. What I do is find the lowest point and shim that side in my lathe chuck when I cut a new center. Then when you turn it down, you will leave more on that side, and take the long points down.

If the points are even, put it between 2 centers - dial indicate at the tips of the points. Poke a new center with your tailstock little by little, till your indicator says all is well.



Thanks Sheldon,

Yeah the points are as even on mine as I could hope for, so indicating the points until I get the center correct may work for me.

Greg
 
rhncue said:
Schmelke's are usually within a 1/4", usually closer. There is plenty of wood for bumping. Their center at the butt of the butt is usually dead on but the center at the joint end is always off. I've always done my bumping at the rear of the cue as it takes more movement to make a difference in point length but with the center at the front of the cue being out it makes it a little more difficult.

I've often thought of making a set-up for building full-splice butts for Trappers but I doubt if I can buy the wood as cheaply as Scmelke sells the butts. It would be nice to do though just so veneers could be installed.

Dick

Thanks Dick... wanna build up that kind of set up too... but for the same reasons... maybe in time:)
 
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