Production cues

[zx24]

Due the production cue manufacturers in china build a cue the same way as the custom cue makers here in the USA? Do they cut on their wood
for months with a lot of passes and build there cues in stages which takes months? Or do they build a cue in a day?

 

[sliprock]

Due the production cue manufacturers in china build a cue the same way as the custom cue makers here in the USA? Do they cut on their wood
for months with a lot of passes and build there cues in stages which takes months? Or do they build a cue in a day?

I would guess each cue company has their own specs regarding the process they use. I doubt that the intervals they use are anything close to what a small maker would use, but who knows. If you are mass producing cues and have the space,equipment and people, the first cue out the door might take a year to produce, but you would have thousands of cues in different stages right behind it. Depending on the size of your operation, you could ship 100's of cues weekly. I was stationed in Japan back in the mid 80's and lucky enough to meet Dick Helmstetter at the Adams' plant. He toured me through, it was really small, with about 12 employees, maybe 6-8 machine lathes. We went into the "shipping" room and there was 2 ladies there packaging up about 20 cues. I don't have a clue as to how many cues they were producing, but at the time that I was there, I was surprised at how small an operation they really were.

 

[cueman]

I would guess each cue company has their own specs regarding the process they use. I doubt that the intervals they use are anything close to what a small maker would use, but who knows. If you are mass producing cues and have the space,equipment and people, the first cue out the door might take a year to produce, but you would have thousands of cues in different stages right behind it. Depending on the size of your operation, you could ship 100's of cues weekly. I was stationed in Japan back in the mid 80's and lucky enough to meet Dick Helmstetter at the Adams' plant. He toured me through, it was really small, with about 12 employees, maybe 6-8 machine lathes. We went into the "shipping" room and there was 2 ladies there packaging up about 20 cues. I don't have a clue as to how many cues they were producing, but at the time that I was there, I was surprised at how small an operation they really were.

With a shop that size I would make a guess of several thousand cues a year going out the door.
But to answer the original questions: I think some Asian manufacturers are still throwing cues together really fast that will warp. But others have slowed things down and are producing fairly stable cues. The equipment is improving all across the industry and so is knowledge. With better equipment and better knowledge the quality is improving in many of the imports. I doubt the attention to minor details and wood selection for imports or even USA higher production manufacturers will equal the better small custom cuemakers.
That being said I encourage all cuemakers to try and find your nitch and run with it, because quality cues can be found most everywhere now. So do something that makes your cues stand out, or you will just find yourself lost in a sea of other quality custom cuemakers.