2nd attempt

[Alex Gara]

dont give away any of your secrets catch...not really hard to figure out how to make a simple jig for this...just look on youtube...j6uk. u make great cues yourself so u must have a fair idea how its done ?

I'm not sure that there are too many secrets in cue making, mostly smoke and mirrors. Everyone has their own little techniques I expect but it is mostly hard work and practice. It is not so hard to make a cue, making good or excellent cues is a different matter. j6uk himself has been very open about his methods and has posted huge amounts of pictures and videos of his cue making. Giving a little back wouldn't be so bad would it?

[vmax4steve]

There are no secrets just different techniques and each maker finds their own that works. If they stumble across another that's better then all well and good. I now use the Andy Hunter technique for fitting weights that I saw on one of his youtube videos rather than trying to accurately drill 12 inches up the end of the butt by hand with a brace and bit with the cue held in a vice like I did before. It wasn't as accurate as I thought, couldn't be really.

As for mini butts you can buy this horizontal lathe attachment for a pillar drill if you have one.

[Shockerz]

There are no secrets just different techniques and each maker finds their own that works. If they stumble across another that's better then all well and good. I now use the Andy Hunter technique for fitting weights that I saw on one of his youtube videos rather than trying to accurately drill 12 inches up the end of the butt by hand with a brace and bit with the cue held in a vice like I did before. It wasn't as accurate as I thought, couldn't be really.

As for mini butts you can buy this horizontal lathe attachment for a pillar drill if you have one.

[ATTACH]18767[/ATTACH]

That's an interesting bit of kit Vmax.

I bought a pillar drill a while back and drilled one hole and it burnt out, how's your luck.

I'll be looking for something a bit newer soon!

[Shockerz]

I'm not sure that there are too many secrets in cue making, mostly smoke and mirrors. Everyone has their own little techniques I expect but it is mostly hard work and practice. It is not so hard to make a cue, making good or excellent cues is a different matter. j6uk himself has been very open about his methods and has posted huge amounts of pictures and videos of his cue making. Giving a little back wouldn't be so bad would it?

Not so sure as I agree with there aren't too many secrets Alex.

I've managed a lot of trades in my time and cue making (snooker) is probably the biggest kept secret of all time.

You won't find a book or decent video from a cue maker (professional) anywhere on the full process as it is a small pond and it would open up competition so I can understand why.

Some are good enough to throw you a piece every now and again which is great as I am genuinely interested but getting information certainly isn't easy or we'd just buy a book on it.

J6 is gives a lot back and I have certainly enjoyed his thread.

[vmax4steve]

I bought a pillar drill a while back and drilled one hole and it burnt out, how's your luck.

Mine's still going strong.

[Shockerz]

Mine's still going strong.

Stop showing off!

[Catch 22]

The mini butt was drilled in a drill press . The butt was held by a vice on the drill press table and then drilled . Nothing complicated .
As Vmax said . The butt joints in the bottom can be done with a brace or any other jig . I have tried a few different ways to do it . I've built a jig that holds it true and a sled to slide the drill bit into . Being made from wood it wasn't bad and worked great on a few cues but then wrecked another lol . So wasn't reliable enough .

Working on something new this round so hopefully it's better .

I suppose a drill guide would work as you're only drilling in about 30mm


3/4 and half joints ....forget it lol .

[Catch 22]

Just to add . The contraption for the drill press might work . But for not much more you could by a small bench top lathe that will take a piece up to 300mm IIRC . And would be a lot safer too .

Which if you really wanted could turn you an ebony 3/4 butt .


Using machines though takes away from why I took it up as a hobby . I like using the hand plane and like revealing the splices etc by hand .

I've seen splices cut with table saws and belt sanders , but I'd rather cut the splices by hand .

[Ninja.cues]

Just to add . The contraption for the drill press might work . But for not much more you could by a small bench top lathe that will take a piece up to 300mm IIRC . And would be a lot safer too .

Which if you really wanted could turn you an ebony 3/4 butt .


Using machines though takes away from why I took it up as a hobby . I like using the hand plane and like revealing the splices etc by hand .

I've seen splices cut with table saws and belt sanders , but I'd rather cut the splices by hand .

Catch 22 is right, small lathe is not a lot of money and don't take up much space.
I made a mini butt to match the cue I use at the mo, the one on my pic and as I've used a lathe for year's, it was straight forward to finish off there.
I have found that there are a lot of secrets but a few will help, I've found.
I'm always willing to learn as I would say I know it all but do know plenty about the woodwork trade as I've been in it for long enough and played cue sorted for even longer.

[Catch 22]

I quite like this one ....the two side splices are cut longer than the front and back splices and the sides incorporate a maple veneer .

[jonny66]

I like that, I like the grain pattern in the butt.

[Shockerz]

That's a nice cue mate, well done.

[itsnoteasy]

Spliced like the Thai cue makers, side splices done second ?

[Catch 22]

Spliced like the Thai cue makers, side splices done second ?

It's spliced that way because of the design . I wanted the maple veneers on the side splices .

If I'm making a plain black butt I usually do the front and back splices first and then the sides . If I'm going to add lower decorative splices then I would do the sides first and then front and back . Just depends on the look

[Ramon]

I quite like this one ....the two side splices are cut longer than the front and back splices and the sides incorporate a maple veneer .

Looks very nice !!