General Category > Oddball
Making Pool Cues
Hugh Currin:
I've been taken down another rabbit hole. This one to build a "nice" cue stick for billiards. I play so poorly I know I'd feel foolish walking into a pool hall with a very nice cue. But, if I built one myself it would be more a talking point than my pool play. SO, a plunge into another rabbit hole.
This one has been fun though. Turns out cue making is a pleasant cross between wood working and machining. Some very tight tolerances for wood working on the order of a few thousands, but for machining pretty loose tolerances of a few thousands.
The process involves cutting long tapers in wood. The best machine for this would be a metal lathe with a router (or high speed spindle) on the tool post. The stock is rotated slowly while the router cuts the stock as the lathe carriage is used for feed. An offset tailstock, or better a tapper attachment, or best yet cnc sets the shape of the taper. Variations of this for "points". Then some "accurate" joint machining in a 3 (or 4 jaw) in the lathe. An accurate cnc router with a fourth axis would work well also.
I jigged up the Sherline lathe on my cnc converted knee mill. This as I don't have a long bed cnc lathe or cnc router. This worked well but the 42" table (and somewhat less travel is challenging). Also set up a dividing head for cutting "Vs" for points.
So far I've built one test cue of maple and walnut. The machine and process seems good, although improvement is needed here and there. I'm real happy with this for a first attempt.
So far it's been a fun building experience. I'll likely make one or two more this fall using more exotic woods. But right now we're traveling, headed for South Dakota, then Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, & Nevada. Hopefully I'll have the Internet to follow the forum. Fall cues and, with luck, an engine during the winter.
Thanks all.
crueby:
Great work! How did you do the curvy design with the multiple colors? Same on the stripe in the diamonds? Did you machine your own hardware for the joints? Very cool, and enjoy your travels!
Kim:
Wow! You should feel pretty happy about that result! Very nice.
Those inlays (or whatever it is) are really nice. And is that some kind of string you've wrapped around the end to get that nice grip part?
Now I know who to come to for a custom pool cue (when I take up pool, that is!) :ROFL:
Kim
Jo:
Very nice 8)
Jo
Hugh Currin:
--- Quote from: crueby on May 17, 2023, 03:55:12 AM ---Great work! How did you do the curvy design with the multiple colors? Same on the stripe in the diamonds? Did you machine your own hardware for the joints? Very cool, and enjoy your travels!
--- End quote ---
The strips of color are from colored veneer, 0.03" thin poplar wood. The points are made by cutting a 90deg V slot into the forearm, from zero at the point to deep/wide at the base. Then layers of veneer are laid in and covered with the point blank, in this case walnut. It's all epoxied together and them turned back to final diameter. That exposes the strips of veneer as an outline of the point.
The curvy section in the butt is called a Celtic Knot borrowed from wood pen turnering. I've never turned a pen but found it on the Internet. A square block is cut at 45deg almost through. Then the slot is filled with another material, in my case the same veneers as the points, and glued into place. The block is sanded square and slot are similarly completed for all four sides. The square block is turned round and this pattern emerges. Lots of tutorials on YouTube.
I didn't make the shaft (front part) as that is most critical and big manufacturers use some high tech methods. So I bought a shaft from Cuetec. Upon inspection I found the pin (the threaded steel piece that holds the shaft to the handle) isn't the 3/8-14 thread they advertise. It's most like a 9mm-14TPI that you can't buy. So ya, I had to make the pin. At least the threads are TPI which was good for me.
Thank for looking in.
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