How to make a cue for billiards. What and how billiard cues are made. Making a handmade cue

The playing qualities of a billiard cue directly depend on how and from what it was made. Let's talk a little about how cues are made in modern workshops.

What are cues made of?

What are cues made of?

All materials must be of high quality, the dried wood used is carefully selected and processed, it must not have knots or cracks. As a rule, the material is prepared in advance, then it is given time to “curl”, and only after that they start processing and actually making a billiard cue - a playing instrument. All bars that have led or that have shown some other defect are eliminated.

What wood are cues made from?

Almost all high-quality billiard cues are made from several valuable types of wood. high density. For the manufacture of the turnyakovy and typesetting (saw) part of the cue, hard and very hard wood is used, for example, sapelli, amaranth, limewood, padauk, black hornbeam, wenge, lemongrass, rosewood, bakote, cocobolo, macasar, ebony and a number of other materials. In this case, “cuts” can be connected different breeds wood, which has a positive effect on the playing properties of the cue. The cuts can be different shapes: classic - Viennese, web, crown, flower, tulip and others. Shafts Kiev self made made only from hornbeam. Factory cues are usually made from maple.

Making a handmade cue

The first stage after the selection of materials is sawing (or blanking of glued parts). The parts of the cue prepared at this stage are glued together. At the same time, when making a handmade cue, the composition of the glue can also be changed in such a way that its hardness after drying is equal to the hardness of wood. Then billiard cue will transmit impact energy without distortion. The blanks are glued together under pressure. After gluing, the cue blanks are sent to the dryer, where they rest for some time. And only after that, the processing of the cue itself begins: all its parameters, dimensions are set, and a shape is given. If we are talking about two-part cue, then a twist is inserted. At the same stage, weight is added and the balance of the cue is done. What is important - at this stage, all actions are usually performed manually, using skins, blades, planers, without using a lathe. Why? Because, according to the masters, turning in the preparation of the future cue, a huge amount of internal stresses of the wood arise, even if they are small - but they can greatly affect the playing qualities of the cue. In good workshops, they try to avoid this. After that, the cue is cleaned. A logo, inlay or almost any image of the customer's choice is applied to it - up to rhinestones. In the case of factory cues, a logo is usually applied. After that, the cue is covered with wax or varnish and polished. Each cue is tested: buying a handmade cue, you can be sure of its high playing qualities.

Making a cue in the factory is faster and easier. At industrial production cue gluing is not performed, turnyak and shaft are made of maple on a lathe. The next step works lathe governed by computer program. The cue is given the desired shape. The drawing is applied - also on the machine. After that, the twist is installed and the turnyak can be attached to the shaft. Next, the cue is varnished - again automatically.

Characteristics of wood species for billiard cues:

Ramin: density - 670 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 3.0

Maple: density - 650 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 4.0

Hornbeam

Beech: density - 650 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 3.8

Oak: density - 700 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 3.8

Ash

Lemon: density - 700 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 3.6

Amarilla: density - 800 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 4.5

Karelian bareza: density - 700 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 3.5

Sapelli

Lacewood: density - 650 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 3.5

paduk: density - 750 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 3.8

Furnambuc: density - 800 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 7.2

Amaranth: density - 870 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 5.0

Sucupira: density - 900 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 4.9

redhart: density - 900 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 5.8

black hornbeam: density - 750 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 3.5

Bog oak: density - 950 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 5.7

wenge: density - 850 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 4.2

Palmyra: density - 700 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 4.0

Tulipwood: density - 860 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 4.5

Zebrano: density - 770 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 3.3

Rosewood: density - 900 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 5.5

Bakote: density - 940 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 5.5

cocobolo: density - 850 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 4.3

Zeerikot: density - 950 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 6.0

Kingwood: density - 990 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 4.4

Grenadil: density - 1080 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 7.0

Macassar: density - 1100 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 6.5

Eben: density - 1150 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 8.0

flaming ebony: density - 1200 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 8.0

moon ebony: density - 1250 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 8.0

Bokout: density - 1300 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 8.1

snake tree: density - 1350 kg / m 3, Brinell hardness - 8.3

Samples of wood for making handmade cues (coating - varnish and coating - wax):

How to straighten a cue

Take a solid board, the cue is attached to it first with a thick end using a strong rope. At the place of curvature (determined in advance by rolling the cue on flat surface), between the board and the cue we put a spacer (for example, a simple pencil). Pull the other end of the cue to the board. We do not pay attention to the fact that the bend is decent. It should be 2-3 times larger (and, of course, directed in the opposite direction) than the curvature itself. Adjust this to the thickness of the spacer.

The second way to straighten the cue.

We use a professional hair dryer for this purpose. We set the temperature to the maximum (> 400 degrees centigrade), but I heat the wood to 50-60 degrees (maybe more, but you have to be careful, cauterization of the wood is possible), in order not to burn the wood, you need to "drive" the nozzle and maintain a distance. The heating distance is up to 10 cm, the frequency of scanning the cue surface increases with decreasing distance. As a rule, only the convex side is subject to heating, but with a significant capture of the areas adjacent to the convexity.

We focus on heating the bulge. At the same time, the bulge is mechanically pressed between two points of support and warmed up for 1.5-2 minutes. If the cue is collapsible, then you need to edit each part separately. Mark the convex side with a pencil. We take an old shoe, rest one end on it, and the other on the floor (preferably not a pile carpet, so as not to burn), press down next to the bulge and warm it up. Next, put on the surface and rotate again. When everything converges, it is necessary to perform an important operation - to relieve tension in the tree. To do this, we take a "cloth" or a piece of flannel and vigorously rub the entire shaft (or cue) until it is evenly heated, this cannot be done with a hairdryer. We check on the plane. If there is curvature, it is necessary to repeat everything until we achieve the desired result.

How to make a sticker

Let's take the skin (thick from old boots, for example), sand it with sandpaper to make it thinner, then chop or cut it with scissors, degrease it with Acetone and smear it with glue with a moment, glue it again and fold it into layers, and into your device, and tighten the nuts harder.

According to the experiments of some craftsmen, after several months of playing with a 4-layer sticker, no fundamental differences were found from a cheap store-bought sticker, and a 6-layer one turned out to be softer. Factory stickers have a rounded shape, and home-made ones turned out to be flat and therefore the ball vented a little worse, you can make a small rounded recess in the lower part so that the sticker takes the desired shape from pressure, as for the glue, it turns out you need quite a bit, the layers are between each other and without glue stick together well from pressure.

Hold the cue at hip level with your dominant hand. Grasp the mark on the cue with one hand, closer to the far part of it. There is usually symbol. Grab your hand approximately 10.2 to 12.7 cm from the end of the cue. Ideally, the farthest hand should form a 90-degree angle with the cue.

Most beginners grip the cue too tightly. Keep the cue relaxed but in control.
Your body must be in line with the cue ball. This will help you aim correctly for the strike.
Hold the cue with your thumb and forefinger, you can use the middle one if you want to give the blow more power.

Lean down towards the table. When you take the cue in your dominant hand and choose right place to hit, you should lean lower towards the table so that you can look straight down the line of the cue at the billiard ball. You won't get a proper punch if you stand up straight and get pinched.

Relax your legs and spread them a little, at least a dozen centimeters.

Make an open support with the other hand. Place your other hand on the table 15-20 cm from the cue ball. The closer you are to the ball, the more accurate your hit will be. When your hand is on the table, you should place a cradle on it so that it allows you to balance the cue on your hand and make strikes. Of course, certain types of stops are more or less suitable for various situations. It is best, for starters, to get acquainted with the most common type of stop - an open stop:

To begin, place your hand on the table and spread your fingers.
Place the cue stick between the knuckles of your index and middle fingers in a V-shaped space.
You can adjust the height of the cue tip by raising or lowering your hand.
This will allow the cue to slide when you aim to hit the ball.

Hold the cue steady while aiming. Lean forward and mentally place the tip of the cue stick on the point on the cue ball that you will hit. Techniques for hitting the right place on the ball for more accurate scoring, you will improve later. Ideally, you should hit the cue ball in the center or in the most favorable place to hit, so that the ball rolls where it is needed.

You should be able to see a straight line between the cue ball and the object ball (the ball you want to pocket).

Hold the cue with a longitudinal center of gravity and hit. Gently slide forward with the cue while aiming clearly. If you're not entirely sure about the accuracy of your strike, gently move the cue back and forth against your open stop to feel confident and balanced before you strike. Remember that you need to hit the ball, not push it. Bring the punch to the end, continuing the movement a little after you have already made the punch itself.

Let your body remain low to the table until the end of the stroke.
Hold the cue in a relaxed and loose manner. Don't squeeze it too hard when hitting. If the grip is too strong, the cue may break and change the direction of your strike.
Hold the cue with your hand out and support it with your thumb. This will provide better control. Using the thumb, index and middle fingers of the other hand, hold the cue in the right place.

Good afternoon, dear readers!

Examples of cues made in Shatov's workshop

Thanks to a happy coincidence, the other day I managed to visit amazing place- v unique carpentry workshop, which is engaged exclusively in the manufacture of cues for billiards. And not just billiards, but Russian. And not just Kiev, but exclusive handmade cues. And in general, this is not an ordinary workshop, but the workshop of one of the best craftsmen for the manufacture of handmade cues in our country - workshop of Ivan Shatov.

workshop manager Ivan Shatov at work

The workshop team received me very warmly and with great pleasure shared with me all the subtleties of the process of making cues. Alexey Shatov conducted an exciting tour of the workshop for me. Today I will share this valuable knowledge with you.

general form workshop

master Alexey Shatov

The most important thing about a cue is the material from which it is made. The tree must meet many criteria: first of all, it must be both super-strong and very flexible. In addition, handmade cues are real works of art, which is largely achieved through the use of several types of wood with different grain structures and colors. Due to such stringent requirements, the range of wood species used is quite limited and is represented mainly by exotic species. For example, the impact part of the cue (shaft) is in most cases made of hornbeam (density 750 kg/m3). The rest of the cue can be made from rosewood, merbau, wenge, padauk, coco-bolo, ebony and even the heaviest tree in the world, snakewood (1400 kg/m3). The quality of workmanship, the combination of breeds and, ultimately, the beauty of the product depends entirely on the imagination and skills of the master.

material for cues - bars of valuable breeds

The wood is delivered to the workshop in the form of blanks, which have previously undergone a long process of natural drying (for some species, this period can reach a year or even more). The raw material stays in the workshop long before it is used: the already dried bars must be aged for at least three months directly in the workshop before they go into work - to establish the necessary humidity.

planer-thickness machine

First of all, a blank is made from a bar right size. In this case, a high-precision planer-thickness machine is used. Due to the high density of the processed wood, the machine knives wear out several times faster than when processing soft wood. At the output of this stage, perfectly even blanks 30x30mm in size are obtained.

sawing the desired angle on a band saw

Next, the workpiece goes to band saw with the thinnest blades (0.35mm) - to ensure the cleanest cut. The photo shows that with the help of a tsulagi (special device), washed down occurs at a special, strictly specified angle. This angle itself is hallmark masters and each master has his own.

knives for finishing the part after the band saw

Despite the thin blade, the band saw is unable to cut desired shape- at the end of the cut there will always be a right angle (step). To bring the cut to perfection, custom-made knives are used that have exactly the blade angle that is required.

final fine-tuning hand tool

perfectly precise connection

Then, in the same way for band saw similar elements are cut from other breeds or a different size, depending on the master's intention. After that, the entire workpiece is placed in clamps for gluing. To splice elements into a single whole, it is used epoxy resin. Resin is better than glue for this type of work, as it has more long time setting (about 30 minutes) - it is possible to slowly, accurately assemble the workpiece. In addition, PVA glue has some elasticity even after hardening, which is unacceptable for a cue, as it can give additional play. The resin, after curing, is completely monolithic.

the workpiece is clamped into clamps when gluing

After the final hardening of the resin (in a week), the workpiece is prepared for the next stage - processing on a lathe.

workpiece before turning

the workpiece is placed in a lathe

One of the key stages is the selection of the right amount of lead for the cue handle. The cue is balanced in a special way. Often, when making a cue to order, the customer has wishes, including the desired weight of the cue.

lead rod

Finishing grinding is carried out exclusively by hand on a special self-made abrasive stand. Painting is carried out at the request of the customer: it can be varnished or natural oil, which is the most popular at present.

devices for finishing manual cue grinding

Also in the workshop there was a place for a machine with CNC control. It has a carving cutter and a burnout laser. It is mainly used to apply the brand of the master to an already almost finished cue.

CNC machine

examples of works by Shatov's workshop

I express my gratitude to the workshop team for the excellent opportunity to get acquainted with the process of making cues, with the workshop itself and with finished products!

Dear readers, tomorrow you will find the most exciting part of the report - photos finished works Shatov's workshop. Who can't wait for tomorrow, look right now at