Custom Cue #1

I have always wanted to take a shot at making a cue, and this was my first. It is a break cue.

The timber for the butt core and the shaft were imported, while I used locally sourced timbers for the handle and forearm.

Handle is Mountain ash, and the forearm is Mahogony. These were glued to the core with West System epoxy.

Butt sleeve and joint collars are made of Tomahawk. I added some brass rings to dress it up.

Ferrule is capped Juma.

Pin is Uni-loc quick release.

Cue Type

Break

Uniloc Quick Release

Joint Collar

Tomahawk

Rings

Black Phenolic/Brass

Forearm

Mahogany

Points

Handle

Victorian Mountain Ash

Butt Sleeve

Ebony

Construction

Full Maple core

Material

Hard Rock Maple

Ferrule

Juma

Tip

Ultraskin

Tip Size (mm)

13.00

Shaft Length (mm)

736

Turned Maple core was grooved to assist adhesion.
Cored forearm was tapped one end to match thread cut in core to give mechanical as well as an adhesive bond.
Threading core for butt cap. I moved the high speed engraving spindle from my mill to my CNC lathe to cut the threads.
Finished core ready for glue. It is threaded for forearm and butt cap. There is a step down to a smaller diameter for the forearm.
Another view of the finished core.
Handle bonded with West System epoxy. Rings will fit on the parallel section, then the forearm will be glued and screwed to the core.
Rings in place.
Forearm glued in place.
First pass profiling forearm.
Machining the Tomahawk for the butt cap. The end is threaded to screw on to the core. This material will also be used for the joint ferrules and shaft ferrule.
Butt cap glued in place. The new handle was made from Mountain Ash fiddleback. Profiling next.
Cutting the taper on the handle.
Butt ready for final sanding.
Uni-loc Quick Release pin fitted.
Butt was bored and tapped for a weight bolt and cue extension.
Final sanding handle.
Final sanding forearm.
First layer of epoxy finish applied.
The shaft was bored out for 300mm and a carbon fibre core glued in with epoxy.
Sanding Shaft.