POINTS - FINISH

SPLICED POINTS - When I was collecting cues I looked for sharpness and evenness of points.  Also, I looked for centering of blocks and rings to the points.  Splicing is a very old method of beautifying and balancing cues.  To me this is the best method for making cues, and its hard to beat a nice sharp point in looks.  I prefer to keep all my corners square in my blocks and rings with a pointed point for a traditional look.

Cutting my 90 degree V-groove is very time consuming.  It requires well over 100 cuts for a 10 point cue.  I cut these V-grooves at high speeds and taking very small cuts.  The end result is a clean smooth V-groove.  My 89" sander will put perfect 90's in my point wood with 4 sharp edges.  All points are glued with epoxy with a very tight clamping method (as the picture shows).  I currently make 4, 5 and 6 even points cues and 6, 8 and 10 staggered point cues.  When veneers are used they are also glued with epoxy.  I do some pantograph work but prefer the sharp corner method of making cues.

FINISH - I use automotive clear coat for my finish, this is an extremely durable finish.  Each cue requires 8 to 9 coats, sanding in between coats until desired finish is obtained.  Then each cue is hand rubbed using 4000, 6000, 8000 and 12000 micro mesh for a glass like finish ( jump cues are not hand rubbed).

Click on any picture below to enlarge.

450 well seasoned tapered prongs.	Pick one.  Your imagination is the limit.	Making some 10 point spliced prongs
Next, 5 long points.  Splitting down the middle is crucial to cue's final look.	Gluing up tightly with epoxy, let dry for 24 hours.	10 Coco. pts on Birds Eye 5 Coco., 5 Ebony on B.E. 10 Coco. pts on Curly Maple Sharp and even points.
If you like you can add 10 slot rings to the joint, above the wrap and the butt.	Here is the butt design, glued up and cut down.	Three 10 point cues, glued to handle and cut to size.  Installing joints is the next step.