Hi Thomas,
Good luck, I have looked into it and it appears all the "top cues" are planed by hand rather than turned.
www.cues.cwc.net (in the workshop section seems to show this )
As for a joint there are special quick release joints probably for a pool cue.
http://arnotq.com/pages/25/25.html
however i don't be able to see a supplier in the uk. The usual suspects do the walking stick kits which include 1 or 2 brass joints which could probably be made to fit.
The other problem that i spose that you will encounter is the "whip" when turning as you will need to get the tip down to about 9mm, so some sort of steady will probably be required.
Weighting will also be an issue as most have some sort of counter weight fitted in the butt.
The other thing that would probably be useful would be to get the ash from a reclamation yard or somewhere where the timber has probably done all the moving its gona do. The last thing you want is for ya masterpiece to turn into a "banana"
I thought that probably the best option was to buy one, which is what i did.
Let me know how you get on,
Aidan.