Thailand Snooker Cue Range – Handmade Snooker Cues

Here at Snooker Crazy we have decided to stock a snooker cue range from Thailand; Why? because Thailand cue makers have pretty much got their hands on most of the ash, maple and exotics nowadays so they certainly have the best choice with their huge stocks and cue making skills.

Working with wood is second nature to the Thai culture and with the emergence of the now established Asian cue brands like Omin, Niche, Ton Praham and Maximus it comes as no surprise that cues from Thailand are now among the best cues in the world.

We wanted to stock a range of cues from Thailand with a beautiful selection of exotic woods so naturally this region was our first port of call. It has taken us a little while to find a cue maker that fits our requirements and we also like to finish the cues ourselves and fit our own type of cue tip to compliment the requirements of a UK snooker player.

We have tried to capture a cross range of images from most stages of the cue making process to give you an idea of where our cues from so we hope you enjoy the background information.

We hope you enjoy the article and if you would like to view our Thai Snooker Cue Range then you can click here.

Ash

Well it’s not going to come as a big shock that I mention the vast quantities of ash that Thailand have available to them.

Cue makers are importing large stocks of North American (Canadian) ash so when it comes to choosing the best grain patterns and densities they certainly have no shortage of choice.

Cue making has been on the rise for some time now in Thailand and that automatically goes hand in hand with sourcing premium wood!

Exotic Woods

There’s certainly not a lot of point sourcing and storing vast quantities of Ash if you don’t have any exotic woods to compliment the shaft.

Obtaining exotic woods is not new to Thailand so apart from the countries natural stock that is at hand, they already have supply agreements in place in various other countries to compliment their cue making activities and boy do they have some nice examples in stock.

Order to size?

Well not really.

Most exotic woods come in all shapes and sizes and the skill is knowing where to make those all important cuts to get the most out of each piece of wood.

Wood is not cheap so wastage is kept to a minimum to ensure export prices are kept as low as is possible.

Methods are kept as simple as possible in the cue making process so there aren’t these huge industrialized factories churning out mass produced cues so each cue is produced as an individual within the process and doesn’t come off a factory line like other countries we have tried!

Exotics are Cheap?

Exotic woods are by far the most expensive woods in the world so you have to be a real expert to know how to deal with each type.

Just sticking one piece of wood to another can be done but woods of similar densities and properties should be used to make them compatible in the cue making process.

Nobody wants that awful ping noise when two totally incompatible woods are glued together and a cue ball is struck!

Splicing Ebony

By far the most popular wood used for splicing is ebony and it’s certainly getting rarer by the minute.

The standard weight (and density) of ebony is perfect to fit to most cue shafts without the need to add weights (in most cases that is).

It will be interesting to see if man made products eventually replace ebony as the wood availability declines.

Here we can see some pre-cut ebony splices ready to be attached to the ash cue blank.

Ash Cue Blanks

The first part of the shaft making process is to get the ash boards into a workable cue blank (or dowel) ready for splicing.

This is completed by first cutting 2″>

Two lengths are generally used as standard as you may require an ash dowel for either a 3/4 cue shaft or a 1 piece shaft.

Splicing

As you can see here the planes are a little different to the UK modern planes expected but not too dissimilar to our planes used by older craftsmen.

You can see here that the cue maker has slightly stained the shaft so the accuracy of the splicing is a lot easier to see prior to the ebony butt splices being added.

The splicing and cue diameters are continually checked with the vernier you can see in the picture.

Fine Tuning those Splices

To get 4 splices that are accurate on the top and bottom it is necessary to take intricate cuts at each stage.

The closer you get to the end of any stage, the less wood you remove and the more careful you have to be.

If you go in heavy handed you will soon find yourself starting again with a new piece of wood and a lot of firewood in stock!

Splicing

Once splicing has been completed and all the splices have been glued the cues are stored to let them bond and settle.

As you can see in the picture, the tried and tested old methods are customary in the Thai cue making process and there are is little need for lots of clamps.

Once the cues are ready, they are moved on through the various sanding processes.

Are the Cues Finished Yet?

Well the snooker cues look like they are nearly there but unfortunately not.

All the splicing has been completed and the cues are now ready for ferules and butt joints to be fitted.

Once fitted, the cues will then be carefully packed and shipped off to the UK for the final parts of the cue making process.

Finishing in the UK

Once in the UK, the cues are allowed to settle for a while to acclimatise and then they go through the various stages of finishing until they reach that smooth surface and deep wood look that we all love.

At Snooker Crazy, we like to add an Elkmaster Milk Dud tip as they provide good grip and can be shaped without mushrooming. This way you get that great feel you expect from a pressed tip with the grip of a laminated tip.

Once we are happy with the finished product, we add one of our badges and the cue then goes on sale.

Here are a few of our increasing range of Thailand Snooker Cues; as you can see, the choice of woods are certainly not standard but they are eye catching to say the least!

Well I hope this article has given you a little insight as to the origin and travels of our Thailand Snooker Cue Range and the effort it has taken to get them to this point.

If you would like to take a look at the individual cues that we have in stock then please click here and watch out as we aim to increase this substantially in the near future with many different woods and patterns.

Good Luck!

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