j6 cue stories

[DeanH]

very nice looking cue that, how whippy is it (being hornbeam)? or maybe should ask, how would you rate the stiffness of the shaft?

[j6uk]

this is a cue from our own cue collector and nice player garysnooker
this hornbeam was in a bit of a state in the corner of his snooker room. it was 15oz with no weight, had no ferrule or tip, not straight, lumpy, and its splices had opened up
anyway its been ferruled, debumped, weighted and re-spliced so its coming on nicely

[vmax4steve]

You could use a tool to make a set size birth and drop in a pre-shaped weight such as the shaft of a dense steel bolt, something with plenty of carbon in its make up. Inevitably, the weight would be longer because it's not lead, but I can't see that affecting playing unless lead has less ping that steel? Maybe it does?

Longer weight and the balance point moves further toward the butt end. It's a difficult process to drill straight by hand into the end grain of the ash from the butt end far enough up the shaft to get a balance point above 15 inches for cues over 16 oz's which is why I do what I do when splicing the first two hardwood splices. I basically cut a long notch about twelve inches up the ash for the hand drill to follow, but I have to be very carefull when drilling that the bit doesn't move out of the notch I've cut by biting into the grain and following that instead.
It can take me two hours to drill that hole, stopping to check that everything is straight every 1/4 of a inch. Pay myself £10 an hour and that's £20 just to drill a hole, so if I billed a customer the same way that a garage bills for a service and itemise eveything that's been done my cues would cost the same as a Parris, but without his reputation I wouldn't have any takers.

[vmax4steve]

Exactly how I make my cues, no mention of how he weights them though which is a bit of an oversight. I myself don't have a lathe and it's this weighting of cues that I find most difficult because I have to do it during the planing and splicing process by cutting into the ash butt after the first two splices have been glued on to give a hand drill something to follow.

Then I roll and hammer some lead into a dowell shape, tap it into the hole and block off the hole with a piece of hardwood dowell. A long and fiddly process that can easily go wrong so I will be buying a lathe sometime in the spring and then it will be possible for me to make some jointed cues and mini butts and the like as well.

[Byrom]

after iv tested any cue i make and i think it will make a decent playing then i'll be happy to let it go, otherwise it goes in the fire

Not many people do this and the cue world would be a better place if others did the same. Unfortunately cues are not always made by people with a passion for the game

[Jgra]

Fair enough how much do you ask for them ?

[j6uk]

after iv tested any cue i make and i think it will make a decent playing then i'll be happy to let it go, otherwise it goes in the fire

[Jgra]

Good luck with that then , you planning on selling some ?

[narl]

10 minute mark onwards is interesting.

[j6uk]

next plan is to make it up with the little woman or i'll be on the end of another 180.. then get my back over the jig and finish the few above. i do have another i think might be special but thats a few weeks away
i will be letting things go so i can free the work space

[Jgra]

so what next you planning on making and selling some of these very nice cues ?

[j6uk]

this cue is a poker with some give at the top end
specs are now:
57.5
9.2
28.25
16bp
17oz

the final cut for this cue



iv not had a shot with it yet but doing the resonance test its got more of a ring to it now iv taken it down to 57 and 8.5

[j6uk]

in playing terms with these cues im now on a 50. the next stage is to try and win the frame and make a ton, so good position is needed

[j6uk]

I'm guessing that some cue makers don't spend as much time as you do on the finish of the cue. Having renovated a few cues to a natural finish, I know just how hard the chevrons are compared to the rest of the timber and how sanding can result in a bumpy finish. I'm guessing a lot of cue makers avoid this by simply filling any grain?

you've lost me a bit on the grain filler, what is this and what do you use?
iv found that no one does things the same way in getting what they want from the wood they use

[j6uk]

no it doesn't rifile, though that can depend on the wood. its all about the wood

Does this mean that the chevrons are slightly pitted? Cheers J6.