What is a "blank"?
- Thread starter JimS
- Start date
dave sutton
Banned
a blank is when a cuemaker makes a forearm or in your case a full splice cue for another cuemaker to finish. no joint , no pin, no wrap, no taper.
Here's some blanks by John Davis, Burton Spain's former partner in business:
http://www.palmercollector.com/JohnDavis.html
http://www.palmercollector.com/JohnDavis.html
Some guys call everything a "blank". There are shaft "blanks", sneaky pete "blanks" Chris hightower even sells leather wrap "blanks". and ferrule "blanks". One of these days I am going to call him up and order some tip "blanks"!!! Pritty much any part of a cue that is left unfinished can be called a "blank"
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cuemaker03 said:
As it should. When talking about cues, any piece of a cue that is going to be made into a finished part for a cue is a blank. A whole cow hide would not be a blank but a piece that has been skived to the correct thickness, embossed and stained now just needing to be cut to the final size and installed is a blank. A Maple board or even a dowel is not a shaft blank but a dowel that has been graded for straight grain, little minerals or sugar and ready to be turned down to a shaft is a shaft blank. Any thing that has had the basic steps to be made into a component and just waiting for the final steps is a blank. If you bought pieces of leather that had been stamped or cut out of a whole hide and the process stopped then these would be tip blanks waiting to be pressed and finished into tips.
Dick
can someone explain em the difference between a short splice and a full splice in terms of construction and differences in playability... and waht you cuemakers would prefer for your playing cue...
thanks
Giovanni
ITALY
thanks
Giovanni
ITALY
I love all these answers. LOL!!!!!JimS said:
A "blank" is a term used in many industries describing an unfinished piece that has undergone the basic pre-manufacture steps. In cuemaking, a "blank" normally refers to the forearm wood.
A blank has nothing to do with who made the blank. A cuemaker can make and use his own blanks. He can make a forearm blank and leave it in any stage. You can have a square blank completely unturned, or a pre-turned blank, several thousands oversized.
The blank can be a half-spliced blank, the most common for a pointed cue. It can be a full length full-splice blank, which one might use for a sneaky pete. Or it can be a short full-splice blank (aka shorty blanks) where the the whole full-splice blank is only 16 or so inches normally with ebony as the aftwood. A full length full-splice blank with ebony in the back tends to be entirely too butt heavy. Hence, the start of short full-splice blanks, a technique unused by 99.9% of cuemakers
And a blank doesn't have to have points. It's perfectly correct to see plain blanks. Some people will make cored forearms, and keep them in incomplete status for sale or for use. Those would be cored forearm blanks.
So, the difference between using a blank vs. making a titlist conversion for example is that one was using a piece of construction that was never a cue to begin with, and the latter was one using a cue and cutting it down.
And Burton Spain didn't only make full-splice blanks. He was a pioneer in the half-splice.
In the image, you'll see pre-turned and non-turned half-splice Szamboti blanks, a full length Spain blank and Titlist blank (or maybe both Titlists), and two cue blanks that have the half-spliced forearm (Spain?) joined to a handle but are not jointed . (Photo Courtesy of Pete Tascarella).
Fred
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IMO, the vast majority of cuemakers say the term "short splice" incorrectly. But, as the term has passed on, it continuous being used.veilside81 said:can someone explain em the difference between a short splice and a full splice in terms of construction and differences in playability... and waht you cuemakers would prefer for your playing cue...
thanks
Giovanni
ITALY
Burton Spain was the pioneer in this technique, and he called it the "half-splice." He also made "short blanks," which were short length full-splice cues compared to his normal full-length full-splice. THat's where I think future cuemakers got confused, IMO.
There are photos across the internet, but the full-splice is the standard cross V finger splice, often seen in house cues. It provided a very high amount of gluing surface for the two pieces of wood. The half-splice is really a lamination inlay technique, inlaying a square of wood in a V-groove of another piece of wood. It's the most common way of making pointed forearms today.
I won't argue construction or playing advantags since I don't think there's a definitive answer.
Fred
dave sutton
Banned
cuemaker03 said:
perfect ......
New Question
John Davis made Blanks for Burton Spain.
Joel Hercek was taught cue making by Burton Spain, I understand from what I have read.
Joel makes his own Full Splice Blanks. Are Joels and John Davis Blanks made the same way ?
Do they both use the same type of Splice ?
Thanks for any info.
John Davis made Blanks for Burton Spain.
Joel Hercek was taught cue making by Burton Spain, I understand from what I have read.
Joel makes his own Full Splice Blanks. Are Joels and John Davis Blanks made the same way ?
Do they both use the same type of Splice ?
Thanks for any info.
Tommyd1 said:
Joel makes both a full splice & 1/2 splice for his Qs & yes they are the same as Davis'...JER
John Davis made blanks with Burton, and then without Burton.Tommyd1 said:
Yes. And with the equipment that Spain and Davis developed.
Not really. Many years have gone by between then and now. In fact, Davis bought back from Joel some of the original equipment. Surely, Joel lhas changed his processes since he was able to sell back that equpiment.
To my knowledge, the second joint that John Davis uses under the handle is unlike anyone else's. So, that would be a definite no.
Fred
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