Making a cue case

[hurricane147]

My aliminium case has seen better days,and I fancy having a go at making my own.I've got a 2 pc cue in a 3/4 case but my extension doesn't fit and a 1pc case is impractical.So i'll probably go for wider case 3 wide intead of 2.Any advice greatful mdf or ply? Best ways of constructing?

[ste bed]

i tried to make my own case a while ago out of solid maogany and the ends where a nightmere the best way i would say if you are making it out of wood is go buy 2 pieces of a nice hard wood ie oak which are the right lenght and wide enough and roughter out the slots for your cue to sit in then you wont have to bother glueing and screwing ends just put some hindges on and a few catches to keep it closed and if you choose a nice hard wood you should be able to get a realy nice finish to it although it might be slightly heavier than some other cases.

[crispian jones]

cue case

Is it a wooden case you intend on making ?

[adam_s_101]

If you dovetail the ends you shouldn't have a problem

[hurricane147]

yes want to make it out of wood and cover with vinyl/leather.Are the handmade cases made from solid timber and then covered then? I thought they would be made from ply/mdf to keep the weight down!

[crispian jones]

have sent you a PM !

[hotmog]

I bought a wooden cue case, that had obviously been hand-made, at a car boot sale for 50p a couple of years ago. It was 3/4 length, 3-compartment wide, and made of oak if I remember rightly, with a green felt lining and dovetailed joints.

I didn't buy it for myself, but I thought it might do for my team captain whose own case was falling to bits. It was a lovely bit of work, but unfortunately it proved to be totally impractical for carting around London on public transport as it weighed a ton. The poor guy didn't like to appear ungrateful, but it was obvious that the thing was becoming an unbearable burden, and arriving physically half exhausted is not the ideal preparation for any snooker match. He seemed very relieved when I suggested that he might instead prefer to use an aluminium case I had that was surplus to requirements.

The moral is - wood is good, but just be aware of the practical implications of going down that route.

[Tenko 127]

Hurricane,

If you are going to cover it I would suggest you use ply or MDF. With both, remember to use watered down PVA glue to soak in and it turns the wood into steel. PM me if you want more info. Despite 30yrs as a cop, I qualified as a cabinet maker and know what I'm talking about

Use thin on the long sides, bit thicker on the top and bottom and at least half inch on the ends to give a good joint on the sides. When all the pieces are cut give them 3 coats of watered down PVA which soaks in and hardens, then glue together. When you drill the holes for the hinges and catches, put watered down PVA in to harden up the holes before you put the screws in.

[hurricane147]

Tenko
thanks for the advice.would ply be the lightest option?What thicknesses would you use?I think it would have to be a reasonable thickness to fix together? Would it be best to screw or pin ? Someone suggested dovetailing timber ,this would be better for joins but I think it would be heavier,and might not hold its shape? Thanks for the advice.

[Tenko 127]

Hurricane,

I can't find the facility to send you a private message so I'll have to post it here Sorry about the long post.

Hardwood would be the best option but to keep the weight down you would have to use thin material, and if it wasn't kiln dried to the correct water content level it would almost certainly warp. If I was using hardwood I would dovetail the joints and then finish with varnish, not covered with vinyl or leather.

What you need to be aware of is that when you coat wood, be it real wood, MDF or ply with varnish, glue or paint the surface will tighten up and pull the wood into a curve. As an example, in the last couple of centuries quality furniture was made mainly of mahogany, which has a fairly bland grain feature. So cabinet makers faced the drawer fronts or table tops with veneer such as burr walnut which looked much nicer. However, they then had to glue mahogany veneer on the opposite side to stop the wood curling due to the tightening of the glue on the burr walnut side. This is something you need to be very wary of when using very thin material.

I'm assuming you are making a half size case. If you are, I would use 5mm MDF. Cut the top, bottom and sides to size then make the 2 ends using double thickness 5mm with the inner piece cut smaller than the outer so that the inner piece fits inside the front and back and the outer butts onto them, in effect making a rebate on the ends. This gives a greater gluing area.

I would then coat all the pieces before assembly with watered down PVA, first coat 75 water, 25 PVA. Next couple of coats 50:50. Do each piece coated all at once otherwise you'll encourage the tightening and curling process I mentioned above.

When finished,and completely dried, I'd use a 2 pack epoxy such as Araldite to glue the joints. You can get various epoxies at model shops, 5 min, 10 min, 15 min drying or setting times (used in making model aeroplanes).

When you fit the inner felt and the outer covering use glue very sparing so you don't encourage the warping mentioned above.

When fitting the hinges and catches, use thin screws and drill pilot holes so as not to split the MDF when you screw in the screws. Put watered down PVA into the holes using a cocktail stick and let it set to help preventing splitting when you put in the screws. When you screw the fittings in, put a bit of epoxy in the hole before you screw in the screw.

It should then last for donkeys years

[bongo]

Why don't you just buy a case?!

[hurricane147]

Thanks Tenko,
can't pm you. will the sides and top/bottom glue together ok or will it need a rebate as descibed on ends?

[Tenko 127]

Hurricane,

If you imagine laying the bottom of the case on the table and standing up the front and back on top of it, they should be 5mm shorter in length than the bottom. Cut one end piece to fit the width of the bottom and fit outside of the front and back then cut another end piece to fit inside the front and back. Glue those 2 pieces together before full assembly. You've made an end piece with false rebates which will give extra gluing area on the top, bottom, front and back. If you still haven't got it I'll see if I can draw a picture and insert it.

I can't believe there isn't a facility to PM one another

[hurricane147]

I don,t understand all the computer jargon about pm's .
ferret(administrater) did post something in another thread. I sent a pm to crispian in this thread.