A brief introduction to cue building . . .
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Brad Barnhart
Thanks Dave for the information, & yes, I am still interested. If nothing else, for the knowledge. I'm not necessarily interested in taking up the habit of turning cues, but, to have the know how might be handy some day. Thank you again gentlemen for your time & responses.
Brad,
For starters I recommend you buy my cue lathe for two grand! Then you can buy my exotic wood for another thousand, I never got serious about making cues. My shaft blanks were only six or eight dollars a pop, then I had to add stabilizer, need fresh air to be around that stuff! Of course as I turned down the blanks the cull rate was over fifty percent with quite a few being snapped when they had already been turned a half dozen times. You can buy the hardware a half dozen places, most of it can be found in my junk drawers. It takes awhile to learn the difference between crap and quality, they look just the same. Joint and buttcap material is usually sold by the inch. I still have a three foot piece of joint material somewhere, that was a hundred dollar bill.
In all seriousness, I would make sure your cousin is really interested as a one off pool cue will cost you at least several hundred to build, as much as he can buy one from an experienced maker that will last. Also, when you start with splices and inlays and such you need things like jigs and fixtures, special blades, a bandsaw that is tuned to a "T", and a milling machine or router table that is dead nuts on. As others have said, there is no margin for error anywhere in a pool cue.
Plan "B" is to buy a $150 shaft and a $200 full splice blank. Cheaper blanks can be had, so can fire wood. Chances are you will ruin the first few blanks so starting with two by fours might be the best idea!
If you get caught up in cue making you will soon have a small fortune in equipment and wood, and enough poisonous chemicals and finishes around to qualify as a superfund site when you die. From what I have seen the life expectancy of a full time cue maker is about 20-25 years, something to do with those chemicals and finishes. Amongst other things, CA glue kills. A householder using a few drops now and then isn't an issue. Someone deciding to finish cue butts with it . . .
I have a cue lathe better than anything you can buy, a NC router for cutting inlay pockets and inlays, a handful of hardware and supplies that I haven't traded or given away yet, and a book. The book by Chris Hightower isn't much but it works well with the Taig based lathe. I gave Joe Barringer's DVD's to a friend. When all is said and done anything you can watch, read, or even learn in a five thousand dollar class offered by a few people is only a starting point. You have to learn what works for you.
Joe at Cue Components will sell you a half dozen or so partially turned cue shaft blanks, should get one or two useable ones out of that. He has the full splice butt blanks too I believe. He can fix you up with anything and everything to build a cue. Go to his website and read awhile to have a good idea what you want before talking to him. Joe is a great guy but not known for tolerance and patience sometimes. My favorite cue supplier, others haven't given me the shaft, I paid dearly to get shafted!
All of my cue building stuff is in storage. I turn bowls and vessels on a standard wood lathe. A tiny fraction of the headaches and with a little care I might live a little longer than I would making cues. By the way, the cue builders, not makers, at AZBilliards.com are by and large a great bunch of guys. Go to the cue builder specific forums and search a little then ask questions, you will get plenty of help. There are other cues to build besides full splice and somebody will probably sell you some well dried wood to build a cue or two if you get to know a few of the builders. Don't buy cheap pins and inserts unless you want a crooked cue. Stay away from ivory, silver inlays and rings, and rock inlays until you know your business. Inlays need to expand, contract, and move with the wood. A simple theory, usually overlooked!
One pool cue will probably teach you how to drink and smoke if you don't already or cost you a couple three hundred out of pocket on drink and smokes if you do!
Hu