This is part four of Kim Walker’s pool cue “How It’s Made” series—read parts one, two, three-A, three-B, and four to round out your knowledge.
To prepare the butt sleeve, first we need to cut the ends off the sacrificial dowel, and drill and bore the sleeve to fit the main cue dowel.
After the butt sleeve is ready, prepare the rings by lightly sanding them flat. Glue the butt sleeve and the rings on the main cue dowel using Gorilla glue.
Be sure to line up the rings and points on the rear of the cue with the rings and points on the forearm. Put the assembly in the glue fixture and squeeze it all together. Let the Gorilla glue set up until tomorrow.
To finish the assembly, we need to make a butt cap. Cut a one inch long piece of black Juma in the band saw.
Drill the piece of juma with a ¾ inch drill, and then prepare the rings.
Cut the butt sleeve to size in the lathe and glue on the butt cap and rings, making sure the rings line up with the other rings and the points.
Be sure to plug the center hole in the dowel so it doesn’t get glue in it and lose the center.
Now that the butt assembly is all together, we will hang it for a few days to allow the glue to completely set. Then, it’s back in the lathe to smooth it out and put the proper taper on the butt.
The butt is left about .05 inches over size, then left to hang for a week to make sure all the pieces have stabilized.
If you’d like to talk to the author, Kim Walker of Southern Cue Systems and Walker Custom Cues, you can send him an email at southerncuesystems@bellsouth.net or contact him on Facebook. Photos: Flickr/Steve Maw(featured.) Process photos provided by author. Editor: Hannah Blue