PRESENTATION OF THE CUE

Composition :

A pool cue is made up of two parts that fit together at the middle of the cue:

Process of fabrication :

This video is showing the steps of the making of a billiard cue.

How to choose a billiard queue ?

The pool cue is fully customizable:
 

• Total weight (accuracy 5 g)
• shaft length (precision CM)
• shaft diameter (accurate to 1 / 10 MM)
• Choice of wood
• Choice of colors (from a chart of colors)
• Engraving of one's name

THE WEIGHT OF THE CUE

It is necessary to adapt the weight of the cue depending of the game :

• usually less than 500 g for series games
• more than 500 g for 3 cushions game

It is difficult to foresee the right weight of a personal cue

There are three main methods to increase slightly the weight of the cue.

Use a heavier shaft :

Frédéric CAUDRON uses the same bumper for series games or 3 cushions.
He changes only the shaft to increase or decrease the total weight of his cue:

• BALKLINE > Total weight 520gr : length of the cue 1,40m and shaft diameter 11mm
• 3 CUSHIONS > Total weight 535gr : length of the cue 1,42m and shaft diameter 11,4mm

With a thicker wood or a longer shaft, the total weight increases
 

Put a screw :

Here is an example of a 25g screw:



For the 5 pins game (see the end of this article) a full device is fitting balance and weight
 

Put a grip :

The weight benefit is about 15g to 25g.
With a grip, we can play with no crispation of the fingers on the bumper

Note that it exists plastic transparent grips or leather grips.

Christophe, player in the ABSD billard club, explains us in video how to put a grip:
 

CUSTOMIZATION

Color's choice :

My cue bumper has two colors choosed in a panel of colors.

With stradivarius' cues, you can choose the colors of the billiard cue in a color chart:



Here is an exemple of my cue:

Essence of wood :

This is a summary of the currant different woods for the butt
Each wood specie has its own density and particular color shown as above ( by a clic on the picture ):

Wood design :

Old cues purpose a lot of wood design.
Clic on this picture to discover a Belgium Website proposing old cues:

CUES FOR ARTISTIC BILLIARD

Every player of this game is due to have at least 4 cues :

1. one for massé-shots and piqués-shots (*)
2. one for follow shot with backspin ( with a shaft very rigid - kevlar or composite )
3. one for whip shots ( with a very supple shaft )
4. and a normal cue for the other shots. ( * )

(*) : this cue is very special :

• the shaft is short,
• the tip is 14 to 15 mm of diameter,
• its weight is 800 g to 1 kilo.

Here are some photos of cues for artistic billiard taken during a tournament in November at Florange:

CUES FOR THE 5 PINS GAME

Their shaft are made of composite:

• To better convey the energy of the shot to the cue ball
• To eliminate any parasite movement

They are heavy (> 600 G) in order to obtain the best rolling of the played ball

Some models of billiard cues: (thanks to Michael CARREAU)

PRESENTATION OF THE TIP

Description :

Located at the end of the cue, the cue tip is the part that comes in contact with the cue ball.

It sticks on a plastic ring ( the ferrule ) which is itself screwed on the tip of the shaft.
- cue tip - ferrule - end of the shaft



- End of the shaft




 

Composition :

The cue tips can consist of three different materials:

• Leather
• Skin agglomerated

The cue tips are carried out in leather technology mono-layer or multi-layer technique (multiple layers bonded with glue).

Mono-layer cue tips

Multi-layer cue tips

The multi-layer cue tips are more expensive but they last longer.

Hardness :

They are divided into 3 ranges:

• SOFT (tender cue tip)
• 1 / 2 HARD (intermediate)
• HARD (hard cue tip)

HOW TO CHOOSE OUR CUE TIP ?

For free games, the 'soft' tooltips seem to be good.

The next list shows the density of a lot of tip brand.

Soft cue tips need more maintenance than hard tips to have a correct level of quality.

The next list shows the density of a lot of tip brand.

Soft cue tips need more maintenance than hard tips to have a correct level of quality.

Soft tips are recommended for free games.

List of density

FORM

The cue tip must not exceed the width of the diameter of the shaft.
The cue tip must be slightly rounded to provide a better contact with the cue ball.

Ideal forms of a cue tip:

There's 2 angles in his form

Examples of non-compliant cue tips:

It is too flat



It goes beyond the diameter of the shaft

STEPS TO PUT A TIP

This animation presents the different steps to put correctly a cue tip: