Shopsmith Forums

derekdarling wrote:Check this out. and also search for 'Billiard Cues' as well as 'Pool Cues'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orI6fddUGF4

Also, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Billiards---C ... id=118937:

"There are many variations in the cues that are made. They are dictated by the game itself. For example, billiard cues are stiffer than pool cues because billiard balls are heavier than pool balls. Other variations include the type of wood that is used which will determine how light or heavy the cue itself is, as some prefer a heavier cue to a lighter one.

A good part of the reason that billiard cues were able to be made so well and attractive was the art of marquetry, which is the art of making designs or pictures with thin pieces of wood, shell or other materials. This art has been a part of billiard cue making almost right from the beginning. Floral, geometric or other inlaid designs have greatly added to the beauty of tables and cues. Precious gems and metals have also been used in this art. Even the art of "finishing," which Stradavari used on his violins, was also used on cues and tables."


Interesting, I didn't know that Pool Cues and billiard Cues are different. Almost makes me want to make one!

Derek

You are correct. Billiards and "pool" as we know it are two different games. Different tables, balls, cues. I did at one point have a very nice, very expensive cue. Won it in a game and lost it the same way. I asked a pro player the worth and he said upwards of $500. So it has been a LONG time since those days and things have changed. You guys know what I am talking about. Wife, kids, mortgage, car payments. I figured why buy one when I can make it.

I couldn't find anything specifically on pool cues but Craft Supplies USA does have a hardware kit for walking sticks and these may be used for two piece cue sticks.
Bill V

Pick up almost any pool magazine and you will fine plenty of ads for parts and supplies.

I was going to build a pool cue until I realized most of the new ones are built of segmented strips almost exactly like fly rods. You take a long strip of wood rip a piece off a seqment width wide and then you plane a taper in both sides so that when you join the various segments you form a round shaft.

The reason is with the segments placed alternating the grain the cue will not warp. Each segment wants to pull in it's direction and that holds the whole thing straight. I think the normal amount of segments is 9 but I know some cues have many more.

That is what is turned until it is perfectly true.

The pro cues often use a contrasting glue color so you have these very fine (read less than a hair width) lines running the length of the cue. Of course if the stick is multi section each section when screwed together the lines perfectly match for the length of the cue.

I suspect some of the pro cues even have a center line of carbon fiber so the shick of the cue hitting the ball can be felt in handle.

Then you go to inlays and marquetry. Again most pool mags list where you can buy what they call legal ivory and other beautiful things to inlay. Gold, silver and abbacore shells seems to be very popular.

The hardware for joints even have changed you have the screw in and now there are quick connects, click ins and etc. Biggest factor here is that the connector hold the cue selections in perfect alignment and each section is oriented exactly the same each time the cue is put together. I'm told a good pool player can tell when the section is shifted even a slightlest amount.

When I saw the construction precision and skill needed I determined pool cue building was way over my head. My feeble attempts at marquetry and inlaying in the past were disasters that I don't even want to think about.

Ed in Tampa wrote:.....
When I saw the construction precision and skill needed I determined pool cue building was way over my head. My feeble attempts at marquetry and inlaying in the past were disasters that I don't even want to think about.

..... which is why you should go ahead and do it anyway! If I'm being paid to do a job, it needs to be done to professional standards, everytime. If I'm doing it for me, or learning, I may aim at the top standards, but every attempt is a new experience, and stays mine only. I guess that's why many of us do what we do... not for the pay, but for the experience.

Derek

derekdarling wrote:..... which is why you should go ahead and do it anyway! If I'm being paid to do a job, it needs to be done to professional standards, everytime. If I'm doing it for me, or learning, I may aim at the top standards, but every attempt is a new experience, and stays mine only. I guess that's why many of us do what we do... not for the pay, but for the experience.

Derek

Derek
I agree experince is a fantastic teacher. But I think some of us tend to... well for comparison we tend to build broom sticks and try to call it a pool cue.

If I see something that is above my mastery level I don't venture in. What I do, do is decide what skills are needed that I don't feel I have mastered and look for a project that I can master that requires those lacking skills. I then develop those skills on that project first.

Case in point, segmented construction. Instead of trying to build a pool cue either without segmented construction ( a cue which would warp) or building one with segments but looking like some thing thrown together I would start to build perhaps a segmented bowl or vase. Something where the segments were fairly large and easier to manage. I would refine how I planed the segments to see how to do it. I would probably experiment with shooting boards, splitting tools, various glues and techniques. Once I had the mastered segmented construction I might even try to construct a segmented shaft say the size of a broom stick.

Another skill that is required for cue building is inlaying and marquetry, also a technique is need to turn something that long yet being able to support it so it was perfectly aligned. One would also have to know and understand the ins and outs of the various connectors, of how cues are glued up and what glue is used in the whole project. Perhaps then after I had mastered all of these I would try the project.

As I said I don't want to build a broom stick and try to pass it off as pool cue. I'm sure we all have seen those kind of "home craftsman" type of projects.