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1.15.2000...Well
folks, another Super Billiards Expo has almost arrived. For
those of you who are looking to learn about cues, this is the
place to be March 17-19th, in Valley Forge, PA.
Among the over 100 vendors that will be present, there will be at
least 30 cuemakers available for you to pose your questions to,
including myself. There will be a WPBA charity event, league
tournaments, singles events, and a WPBA Pro event. If you
are a pool aficionado, then this is the place to be. This
show is everything you have come to expect from pool. If you
would like to stop by & say hi, I will be in booths 9(Y),
10(Y1), 19(Z), 20(1).
In
our last article, we discussed joint pins and some different
cuemakers that use those pins. Now let’s talk about the
material used in the rest of the joint construction. Bear in
mind that some of these materials are also used in ferrules and
butt plates as well. I will do my best to explain the
materials. There are many different materials, and I hope I
do not overlook any. These fall into four main groups:
thermoplastic, thermoset, natural (organic), and metal.
1)
Thermoplastic-any
plastic material that can be melted and retain its original
properties. These materials are generally the softest, and are
subject to deteriorate quicker than other materials.
ABS-colors
are white, natural, and black
PVC-colors are
white, natural, navy blue, gray, and black
MP
Ivory substitute-ivory
colored
Delrin®-colors
are white, ivory, and black
Pearlescent-olors
are white, ivory, red, blue, green, and black
2)
Thermoset-made of paper, canvas or linen cloth, cannot be
melted, but can withstand temperatures to 375º F. Higher
temperature causes material to burn and deteriorate. They
are harder and more durable than thermoplastics. Also more
expensive.
Fiber-
colors are white & black
Ivorine 3®-
soft ivory color
Aegis™-
white
Phenolic-
natural (brown) and black
Linen
based melamine (LBM)
– white with slight ivory streaks
3)
Natural (organic)-
ivory is more brittle than thermosets, making them subject to
weather conditions, and cracking. Wood has a variety of
characteristics. All Ivory, and some woods add more value to
the cue.
Mammoth
Ivory-
“Fossil ivory” is excavated from the remains of Wooly Mammoths
that roamed the earth 10,000 years ago. Only broken parts or
pieces are used in cuemaking.
Elephant Ivory- pre ban,
totally legal
Buckhorn- color is
white with varied discolorations
Exotic woods-
cocobolo, bocote, kingwood, bloodwood, ebony, birdseye, etc…
Metal-
metal is obviously stronger than the rest of these materials.
Brass is softer than stainless.
Brass- color
is almost gold with high shine
Stainless steel-
thin walled, thick walled, color is silver with high shine
All of
these materials have different characteristics, but it is usually
the combination of cost, aesthetics, playability, and durability
that are the reasons for choosing a particular material. I
know that when I build my cues, those are the reasons I choose to
use them, excluding cost, which is not important to me.
I
sincerely hope that this has given you a fine insight into the
materials used in joint construction, and why we use those
materials.
This
article was featured
in;
Amateur Billiard News
Planet-pool.com
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