Quality Takes Time

A high quality hardwood cue will always play and feel more solid than the more mass produced graphite cues, but there is far more work and time, producing this higher quality wood cue & cutting corners can lead to a cue that warps. It can take us up to 12 months to make your high quality hardwood cue.

The Creative Process

DRYING – (6 - 9 months)
The wood is cut to length then air-dried for at least 2 months before being kiln-dried for another 2 months to bring the moisture down to between 10 and 12%. After being kiln-dried, the wood then has to be allowed to acclimatize for at least another two months. This process is essential in making the wood as stable as possible, before working it, as it continues to breathe.

PRE-LATHING – (1 – 2 months)
After the drying process has taken place, the timber is then lathed to a general top & bottom shape a little bigger than the required finish size. As the timber acclimatizes again, the lathed pieces are left again for another 1 – 2 months to do any further bending that they need to do to stabilize. After the wood has finished adjusting, the top & bottom pieces are straightened & shaped a little more.

THE FINAL SHAPING (up to 1 week)
It is then at this point that the two halves of the cue are joined using a combination of high quality engineering glues & a cleverly devised joining method. When the middle join has set, the cue is weighted and then handcrafted to its final shape & then progressively smoothed. The brass ferule & rubber bumper are then fixed.

THE FINISH (1 month)
The cue is finished in an oil combination finish that locks the original coats into the wood, and seals the cue shaft. To allow each coat to soak in & dry correctly, this oil finish takes up to 4 weeks. When the oil combo has hardened the cue is buffed to a smooth silky feel.
For painted cues an extra couple of days are taken to soak the wood, settling the grain, before the artist creates their masterpiece. The painting is sealed with a triple protective coating before the oil combo finish is carried out.

THE TIP
Finally we fix the Elkmaster or Diamond tips with special engineering impact glue.
This is because most hard glues such as Araldite go brittle after about 3 months causing the tip to come off. The glue we use is designed to fix rubbers on the inside of car doors and thus stand up to continual impact.

All cues come with a 12 month Replacement Warranty against
1.) Any bending or structural cracking of the shaft due to the drying of the wood under normal conditions
2.) Any structural damage to the shaft, at the ferule, joiner or at a fault in the wood, that has occurred through normal cue use.
Please contact us for details.