The V Splice handle

TATE

TATE

AzB Gold Mensch
Silver Member
Eugene Balner built his early ebony blanks full splice in-house using a very small asssortment of shop tools in 1965 - 1966. They were truly hand made! They used the V splice under the wrap about 25 years before Burton Spain did! palmer built these because Brunswick no longer made ebony pointed cues anbd the supply of old ones had dryed up.

Palmer abandoned the V splice because they felt a glued up tenon was a better connection. In those days the glues were not waterproof. The V splice is actually a very strong connection and these early Palmers hold together nicely.

I've taken this pic to show some of the in-house Palmer built forearms. These are the early ones which were not as fancy as the later models.

Left, A Paradise with a Spain forearm, to show the comparison.

Second from the left, Viking with a Palmer built handle/forearm. Viking used an assortment of blanks from Spain to Helmstetter to Wico. The cue with the round inlays is a Viking from 1966 on a Palmer built blank.

Third from left, 1st catalog #5 Palmer

Forth from left, 1st catalog #9 Palmer.

Beside the V splice, another feature to ID the Palmer's is the unfinished veneer stack on the inside points. Palmer didn't finish the veneers with a bevel because they would be hidden anyway, they're just cut flat.

I want to thank Joel Hercek for taking the time to steer me in the right direction when I was sniffing this out. Joel uses this splice today in his fine cues.

Chris


v_SPLICE.JPG
 
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Boy, if I have some of those blanks, I'd make them into sneaky petes. LOL
None of that fancy collars with pearl or whuttever you call them.
Just hard collars and big pin.

Great find as usual Chris.
If you see a Petersen blank, I'd trade you some IPT balls.
 

Palmer abandoned the V splice because they felt a glued up tenon was a better connection. In those days the glues were not waterproof. The V splice is actually a very strong connection and these early Palmers hold together nicely.


Reminds me of IBM telling Bill Gates nobody is going to want home computers.
 
TellsItLikeItIs said:
As always, nice job Tate.

Were their (specific) thoughts on the subject below made public?
Click to expand...

No, they just scrapped the idea.

This V splice under the wrap idea was a pretty smart one. They couldn't use solid ebony for the handle due to weight issues (boring out wood and coring it was not comon back then). It was probably revived by Burton years later because he never trusted the typical forearm-to-handle connection, and he recognized that this is a strong joint. This splice gives a cue maker a lot more surface to glue and it's not all just end grain. It will be sealed from absorbing moisture, the bane of end grain. With modern epoxies, the wood would fail before the joint.

Like Joey said, they scrapped a great idea.

Chris
 
TATE said:
No, they just scrapped the idea.

This V splice under the wrap idea was a pretty smart one. They couldn't use solid ebony for the handle due to weight issues (boring out wood and coring it was not comon back then). It was probably revived by Burton years later because he never trusted the typical forearm-to-handle connection, and he recognized that this is a strong joint. This splice gives a cue maker a lot more surface to glue and it's not all just end grain. It will be sealed from absorbing moisture, the bane of end grain. With modern epoxies, the wood would fail before the joint.

Like Joey said, they scrapped a great idea.

Chris
Click to expand...
Great stuff Chris!

I feel like I'm missing some information, thought. I've read about Burton Spain "solving the problem" of the ebony handle weight by creating the splice shown above, in the 1980's, and Joel Hercek learned it from Spain. But Hercek pointed you in the direction of the above information, which as you said, means Balner came up with it much earlier. I'm confused!
 
Kinda ironic that the sytem replaced was better than the fix.
Didn't they have dovetail or finger-joints then?
Or wood threads?
 
It's shame to cover up the V splice. I wouldn't mind having a wrapless cue with that splice showing. Of course. this would require more descorative maple handle.

Chris, your photos look live it has 2 "V" in the splice whereas ones John Davis is making have 4 "V"s. Am I correct and does this mean anything? Do you kow if Joel Hercek use two or more?
 
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runscott said:
Great stuff Chris!

I feel like I'm missing some information, thought. I've read about Burton Spain "solving the problem" of the ebony handle weight by creating the splice shown above, in the 1980's, and Joel Hercek learned it from Spain. But Hercek pointed you in the direction of the above information, which as you said, means Balner came up with it much earlier. I'm confused!
Click to expand...

It's a long, long story, but Joel was originally under the impression that Burton invented this idea too, but he had also seen a much earlier cue that had this same connection so he had his doubts. He wasn't sure if this old cue was was originally built like this or who built it, but he was sure it wasn't Burton.

Since the first one I saw was on a Viking, I thought it was Helmstetter. I asked Viking several times, but they wouldn't admit it wasn't their forearm. Iasked them to send the pics to Gordon - nothing.

I then sent pictures of the Viking to Peter Balner and he said "what the heck is a Palmer blank doing on a Viking?". He recognized it as a Palmer shop built blank. I started cutting wraps off of some of my cues and found more. That's when I found out Viking used Palmers too. Wild huh? I know it's original on the Viking because when I removed the wrap there was a date and some notes in pencil when it was re-wrapped in 1968.

I just want to say Joel Hercek is a wonderful person. I really liked talking with him. He could care less who invented what, he just wants to get things straight.


Chris
 
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Jazz said:
It's shame to cover up the V splice. I wouldn't mind having a wrapless cue with that splice showing. Of course. this would require more descorative maple handle.

Chris, your photos look live it has 2 "V" in the splice whereas ones John Davis is making have 4 "V"s. Am I correct and does this mean anything? Do you kow if Joel Hercek use two or more?
Click to expand...

Yes, you are correct. What happened was John was working with Joel to make a comeback, buying some of Burton's old equipment, etc., and was originally going to use the same exact connection Joel uses. However, in order to differentiate their work, they decided it was better for John to make his own version - so it's a double V splice - at least, that's what I call it.

Chris
 
JoeyInCali said:
Kinda ironic that the sytem replaced was better than the fix.
Didn't they have dovetail or finger-joints then?
Or wood threads?
Click to expand...

I've done some woodworking as a hobby. A dovetail is better for 90 degree connections because that's how it "locks".

They had to work with what they had. I think the best way to connect these parts would actually be a finger joint as you suggest, with some long thin fingers made and glued up before the wood is turned. They only had a table saw and a band saw in the shop.

On a table saw, finger joints are made using dado blades and chippers, with a jig. The wood is placed on end and the whole jig slides over the blades. The blades need to be really sharp. Ebony would eat up dado blades like crazy.

So, the V joint was simple, quick, and easy on equipment. They probably made it on a table saw with a simple miter attachment or sliding jig.

Chris
 
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TATE said:
It's a long, long story, but Joel was originally under the impression that Burton invented this idea too, but he had also seen a much earlier cue that had this same connection so he had his doubts. He wasn't sure if this old cue was was originally built like this or who built it, but he was sure it wasn't Burton....Chris
Click to expand...

Chris, this is great information - I'm really grateful that there are a few others on this board who 'have to know' the origins of this stuff - makes the board a great place to visit. I concur about Joel Hercek - I truly enjoy every conversation I have with him. While lots of cuemakers are fun to talk with, he's just an incredibly nice, mannerly gentleman.

PS - I can't believe you rip the wraps off your cues, just to see what's underneath! That's further than I'm willing to go for the sake of knowledge.
 
PS - I can't believe you rip the wraps off your cues, just to see what's underneath! That's further than I'm willing to go for the sake of knowledge.


He needs an x-ray machine.
Edwin and Zeiler do it that way.:D
 
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