We're going to build Matts cue using Gabon Ebony for the forearm.

The forearm will have six points in a long and short configuration. Both the long and short points will be fabricated using Hard Rock Maple and Purpleheart. The Maple will be used for the hardwood veneer, and the Purpleheart will be the prominent wood in the point.

We start with a piece of Gabon Ebony 1.5"x1.5"x12". That piece is turned round on the lathe, then prepared for mounting on the milling machine. By the way, this particular forearm is cored with a Hard Rock Maple dowel. We'll talk about coring a cue and the benefits at a later date.

The Gabon Ebony square is turned round, drilled to accept the laminated coring dowel, then turned to be perfectly round and true in size.

In order that I can install the points, I need a "V" groove cut into the forearm as you see below. There are other machines that can be used to cut this "V" groove, but I prefer using a milling machine for greater accuracy.
Since this will be a six point cue, obviously I will need to cut a "V" groove for each point. I'll make the cuts for the short points first.

The image below shows one of the "V" grooves for a long point being cut. I stopped the machine from running for photo clarity. A wicked looking tool huh?

Since the hardwood veneers are going to be Maple, I epoxy the Maple into the "V" grooves for the short points first. The picture below shows the point material epoxied in place, wrapped with plastic wrap, and bound with a piece of surgical tubing to act as a clamp. Surgical tubing works better than anything I've found to date.

I allow a full 48 hours for the epoxy to cure before removing the plastic wrap and tubing.

The forearm is then mounted on one of the lathes and the excess point material (in this case, the Maple) is turned flush with the Ebony.

The forearm then goes back to the milling machine for another "V" groove to be cut into the Maple as shown below. This "V" groove will accept the Purpleheart wood.

Below you see the Purpleheart wood cut into perfect squares. It's almost ready to be installed as points, but there's still another step to go through.

I first cut each square into two pieces (on a diagonal) using a bandsaw or table saw.

Now it's ready. The rubber bands are holding the Purpleheart in place only for the purpose of taking the photo.

Just as I did with the Maple in the preceeding steps, the Purpleheart is epoxied in place, wrapped with plastic wrap and surgical tubing, then allowed to cure for another 48 hours.

The plastic wrap & surgical tubing is removed and this is what it looks like. Looks nothing like a pool cue does it! Well, read on, we're nowhere close to being finished.

The forearm then goes back to the lathe for another turn. By the word "turn" I'm referring to placing the forearm between turning centers and removing the excess point material, and no more than 5/1000" of the Gabon Ebony. In every step of building cues with points, I want to be working material that is straight, smooth, and is the same size on both ends. I want to see what's actually happening as I cut the "V" groove in. There's no room for guess work here!!!
One mistake and I will have to start over again.

Okay, so now we have essentially a three point cue. But all three of the points we have cut in so far are short (approximately 7.5" in length when the cue is complete). Remember? We're building a six point cue with long and short points.
As far as building the points, we're only half way complete at this point (pardon the pun please). We still have to cut "V" grooves for the long points and install the point material

So back to the milling machine it goes to cut the "V" grooves to accept the long points.

As with the Purpleheart in the preceeding photos, I've prepared the Maple squares for the long points and have sawn them dianonally. They're now ready to epoxy into the "V" grooves I just cut.

Like this.

Same as with the short points, I epoxy the Maple for the long points into the forearm, wrap everything in plastic wrap and surgical tubing,

allow the epoxy to cure for 48 hours, unwrap it, turn it smooth on the lathe, then cut the "V" groove to accept the Purpleheart point material.

Now I'm ready to epoxy the Purpleheart points in place.

Epoxy the purpleheart in place, wrap with plastic wrap then surgical tubing, and wait another 48 hours.

About now, you might be thinking this is really boring! Far from it, believe me. If I make a mistake early in the project, it will definitely show up later. I'll say it again, "there's no room for guess work". Every cut I make is correct...It must be!!

Remove the plastic wrap and surgical tubing, and now we have all six of the points in place.

Back to the lathe it goes to remove the excess point material, and this is what we finally have. If you look again at the photos above, you will see the points were not sharp at the tips.
Each time I turn the forearm on the lathe, the points begin to sharpen a bit more, as well as becoming slightly shorter in length.

Once I'm satisfied that everything is properly built, (and with this cue it is!), the forearm is ready to joint to a handle as shown below. Then comes the long process of gradually turning the assembly on the lathes in very small increments. From this point the cue is turned on a regular schedule, removing no more than 15/1000" of material each turn. In the picture below, this cue has been turned twice. You can also see the taper of the handle has began to form.

Matts cue is to receive Recut and reversed points into the butt sleeve as well. They are accomplished using the same technique as above.
As I progress with this cue, I will add pictures to this web page.

So there you see it...How recut points are built...Or at least the way I build them.
Naturally, I won't say that my way is the only way, but I do feel my methods and techniques are proper, and they do produce great results.
I hope you enjoyed your visit.

Okay, now we fast forward several weeks. The butt sleeve and the decorative rings have been made and installed on the handle.



The Ivory joint collar has also been installed and the cue is now ready for the Radial joint screw to be installed.



The cue is now approximately .015" (fifteen thousandths of an inch) oversize. One more turn on the lathe and it's ready for the automotive clear coat to be applied. First though, I'll be matching up two Predator 314 shafts to the cue. Once the clear coat is cured, wet sanded, and polished, a black Monitor Lizard wrap will be installed.

It won't be long now Matt.