Fig. 1.
For the shaft of the cue no wood is better than good English ash, which must be naturally, not artificially, seasoned. This shaft, which should be stiff, yet full of vibration, should be as “true” and straight as possible, and straight in the grain.
The length of the cue, including the tip, should not be less than 4 ft. 8 in., nor need it, even for very tall men, exceed 4 ft. 10 in. Nineteen men out of twenty will be best suited by a cue of from 4 ft. 8½ in. to 4 ft. 9½ in. in length, 4 ft. 9 in., as given by so many writers on billiards, being the best average length for the cue. When wear and tear has made the cue too short, it should be sent to a good firm of billiard-table makers to be “spliced,” particulars of the length and size of tip required being given.
The size of the cue-tip is another nice point. Cue-tips (fig. 2) are made in five sizes, measuring respectively 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 millimetres in diameter.[[15]] A very fine tip is altogether a mistake, and one of from 10 to 12 mm. is recommended, 11 mm. (about 7
16 in.) giving an ideal tip. To affix the cue-tip, a process fully described in the writer’s book, “Hints on Billiards,” and other works, cue cement, liquid glue, or wafers, which last are handy and easily used, may be employed. Glass-paper, it may be added, should never be used to clean the cue, or to “rough up” the surface of the cue-tip, whilst coarse sand-paper should never be seen in a billiard-room. The cue, when it needs cleaning, should be well rubbed, first with a damp cloth, and then, to polish it, with a dry one. The best way, again, of preparing a new tip for play, or of renovating an old smooth one, is to tap it well with a fine, heavy file; a rough file would tear the upper leather all to pieces.
Fig. 2.
The ideal weight for a cue is 15½ oz., but a player may suit his own fancy in the matter within an ounce or so, either way, of this weight, whilst a cue of 14 oz. or 14½ oz. is heavy enough for a lady.
In connection with cues chalk may find appropriate mention, and no better chalk can be obtained than Spinks’ green chalk, sold by Messrs. Burroughes and Watts. This firm may, in particular, be mentioned as turning out a first-rate billiard cue, and they put plenty of wood into their cues in just the right place, viz., just above the butt.
Finally, mention may be made of travelling cues, made in two joints, which, packed in a handy leather case, are extremely convenient. They may, it is true, possess a slight tendency to warp out of perfect truth, whilst, too, the connecting screw must, however slightly, affect the balance, but these are almost infinitesimal drawbacks. With one of these cues a spare top joint, already tipped, will be found a friend in need on occasion.
J. P. Buchanan.