Snooker cue project

[JasonOwen]

Just started having a go from scratch at making a hand spliced snooker cue.

Started a blog on my Antique cues website if anyone is interested.
Would muchly appreciate any help, guidance or advice.

http://thecueguru.weebly.com/cue-making-blog.html

 

[Escudo]

Good luck with your cue project Jason.

On the subject of snooker cues, an old boy at my snooker club gave me a cue when he stopped playing. The cue has "Guide dogs for the blind" on the label, do you know anything about this cue. He said he won it at a snooker event some fifty+ years ago?

It seems to be a fairly ordinary cue, one piece with a hand spliced butt.

Interested to know a bit more about it.

Cheers, Tony.

 

[JasonOwen]

Hi,
Yep the guide dogs cues are fairly common. Late 1940's.
They do make quite good playing cues.

Worth having a good look at it as they were given away at charity exhibitions attended by the stars of the day and quite often turn up with signatures in pen on the shafts. Joe Davis, Horace Lindrum, Hebert Holt plus a few others.

Value as it stands, on ebay will be around £60-£70
But with signatures on, especially Lindrum and/or Joe Davis then value goes up to £150-£200.

Hope that helps.

The cue project is going well but could really do with finishing tips and where to source good exotic spindle blanks. Help!!

 

[jonrms]

wow that looks fantastic. how are you going to go about getting the fittings for the centre? will it just be one piece or two?

I assume you have a few or one that is kicking around so you can get rough dimentions for tapering the end down.. and what type of design are you planning on your handle/grip.

That looks amazing.. and I really cant wait to see a final result.. I was thinking if you cant locate a single piece.. ie the tips or the centre lock than dismantling a cheap tacky one would do you fine.. even just to get the dimentions.. I have friends who could probably make you out of stainless steel or copper what ever the new fittings.

but A+ so far.. well done.. i really cant wait and see what it looks like in the end...

 

[JasonOwen]

Thank you, appreciate your encouragement.

I have some indian rosewood to splice on for the butt section. The cue is going to be one piece so no need for any joints.
Fitting the brass ferrule will be where I need a lathe but will cross that bridge when I come to it.

 

[jonrms]

ok well I might give this a shot one day in my life.. i will use a lathe to do the whole project... and have mine in 2 bits....

1 it will be easier to work with and 2 its great for transportation...

I really cant wait to see how this works out for you.. I am here if you need any advice or help searching for bits..... ( i would call it a pool cue ) but hey bloody americans.

 

[JasonOwen]

Got the splices on now and planed down. All is fairly round, so just alot of sanding to do now.
May need to insert some weight inside the butt, need a lathe for this but havent got one so was thinking of holding the cue securely in a vice and then using a hand drill.
Need to drill 8-10mm hole up about 12inches into butt, then insert some weight and plug with a dowell.
Anyone else got any other ideas on how to do this?

Full pic on
www.thecueguru.weebly.com under Cue making blog.

 

[JasonOwen]

Hi all,
Thought you might like to see some pics of the cues Ive made since last on here.
First cue was made 5 months ago and since made 10 more.

 

[marcros]

Very nice indeed. Do they play as good as they look?

 

[JasonOwen]

Yep had some good feedback from their new owners.

 

[stef]

having just got my pool table setup (a nice chunky rene pierre) i will be following this with interests. i intend to make a few things for it, such as cue stand, lights etc..
i didnt think about making a cue, but looking at your work is inspiring !

 

[goldeneyedmonkey]

They look great Jason, top man, top marks! I'd love to make a few of these for a couple of friends of mine... I may bug you in the future for advice if I'm not sure of anything on your very informative blog, if that's alright? I'm thinking of doing something with maybe 4 layers spliced on @ the back end, instead of the more traditional 2.

Cheers mate. _Dan

 

[Beardo16]

Very nice cues you have there.

Im in the pocess of producing a cue and have had the wood settling for a long time.

Do you make the cases to go with these or have you not been asked to produce a case?

Adam

 

[JasonOwen]

Adam hi,
Not been asked to make cases and to be honest I have enough on my hands with the cues.

Good luck with your cue project, its not easy but very rewarding.

 

[Beardo16]

hi jason

The only problem im having with the cue is sourceing the bottoms of the cues which accept the various extensions.

I dont suppose you could tell me where you got yours from?

Adam

 

[JasonOwen]

Have a look on ebay, Mike wooldridge sells some on there. Look up cue joins or joints

 

[L2wis]

Apologies for digging up an old thread, thought it might be better than creating a new thread. My question is, where abouts do you get the ash from for your cues? I'd like to give making a cue a try

 

[Chems]

Market Harbour is not far from me and I usually use Good Timber:

http://www.goodtimber.com/

They will plane and thickness the ash for you as well if you don't have the kit to do it. I think there are some smaller timber yards on your side of Northampton but I'm not sure.

 

[marcros]

the original link has gone, but IIRC the OP started with dowel. I seem to remember that he bought quite a few and rejected about 50%- those that were not perfectly straight. If you can do any detective work on the OP, it would be worth seeing if he still has any of the WIP- it was very interesting and thorough.

for dowel, i use plugitdowel.co.uk

 

[gc]

You can now find it at
http://cuegurucues.weebly.com/index.html