retirement cue?

[Marie's husband]

Crazy question, but I have to ask.. a little background info first.

Traditionaly in the military when a member retires they receive a Shadowbox that displays the members military accomplishments, such as Ribbons, Medals, different command logos, advancements, etc.


I personaly would like to have many of these item incorporated into a cue made instead of having a Shadowbox.

Where I see some major problems would be the Ribbons.

My plan was to make them out of veneers so that they could be installed behind the handle of the cue going horizontal when the cue is lying on the table. The configure would be just like they would be worn on a uniform.

The problem I am having is, there are over 100 vertical lines within the 16 ribbons, and if any of them are the slightest off, then it looks like crap. So any suggestions on how to do this process would greatly help.

I have attached a picture of some ribbons (they are not actually mine), but I just wanted to show an example of how many different colors, lines and widths of each color there actually is just in case someone didnt realize what I was trying to explain.

Thank You in advance...

 

[cueman]

What you are talking about doing would be a super hard thing to do with inlays or veneers. You might want to consider using a photograph or decal.

 

[Marie's husband]

What you are talking about doing would be a super hard thing to do with inlays or veneers. You might want to consider using a photograph or decal.

Thank you for the reply, and yes, it is super hard. I actually have tried to make these already already out of veneers and after I completed 6 ribbons I put them together two create two rows of ribbons. That is when I realized that I needed to ask for assistance due to difficulty in keeping the vertical alignment aligned.

I was hoping for some trick to keeping small pieces like this "square", as in a tool or a jig of some sort that a jeweler might use or ?


What another option might be is to just install the ribbons themselfs in the cue and then seal them up like the Meucci's do on there handle wraps.

 

[ChampionsRepair]

Very cool and unique project!

I was hoping for some trick to keeping small pieces like this "square", as in a tool or a jig of some sort that a jeweler might use or ?

I think you might find the necessary precision tools that you will need by looking for products geared toward miniature ship builders. A precision miter box with fine cut saw modified with an adjustable stop to produce square pieces with consistent lengths would be invaluable.

If I were to undertake this type of project I would glue oversize width pieces onto a sacrificial strip of wood with an L shaped profile. Butt each piece of veneer up against the raised portion and then trim them down to the final dimension together. I would think that uniform strips ready to inlay could be produced using this technique.

Good luck!

 

[ChampionsRepair]

Forgot to add the potential for issues by trying this type of inlay on a tapered cylinder. It might be best to leave a small gap between the rows or have no taper at all in the portion of the cue that receives the inlay strips. Tapering the inlay strips and grooves is also possible but would require considerably more work.

 

[JAlan]

Very nice idea! I think this would be neat if you could do it under a clear window in the buttsleave..I'm thinking like the old Palmers that had clear windows with the foil under them, instead in this case you could have some sort of image or something of the ribbons arranged.

Just an idea! I'm probably partial because I absolutely love those old window cues

 

[Marie's husband]

Very nice idea! I think this would be neat if you could do it under a clear window in the buttsleave..I'm thinking like the old Palmers that had clear windows with the foil under them, instead in this case you could have some sort of image or something of the ribbons arranged.

Just an idea! I'm probably partial because I absolutely love those old window cues

I was thinking the same thing at the beginning stages if this project, but due to the size of the ribbons, and the size of other items such as Chief Anchors and Warfare pin the windows would end up only having a small line dividing them so I decided to just not do the Windows.

Thank you for the input though, I really think this is a fun, but tough project and enjoy hearing others inputs.

 

[Marie's husband]

Forgot to add the potential for issues by trying this type of inlay on a tapered cylinder. It might be best to leave a small gap between the rows or have no taper at all in the portion of the cue that receives the inlay strips. Tapering the inlay strips and grooves is also possible but would require considerably more work.

Thank you for the miter box suggestion, and as for the taper, that is why we decided to do the ribbons on the very bottom of the cue because there is little to no taper required.

Only problem now is, where to put the world map?
Yeah, I would like to have a flat old school style world map laser etched or scrimshawed on the cue and have very small inlays within the map of all the places I have went to. I'm thinking if I go wrapless, that portion could be used, but the taper may really become an issue..

 

[lenoxmjs]

You could also have them airbrushed on and cleared over.

 

[West Point 1987]

What about purchasing the lapel pin versions of these ribbons and cnc'ing them in or put them in a lucite beveled window?

How about scratching the shadow box idea and doing rings with the ribbons in veneer colors, separated/spaced with ebony or ivory or nickel? You could do the rows of ribbons that way, stacked in rings and lined up to give the effect of the shadow box, but vertical in the butt sleeve instead of horizontal...

The only other classy option is to have a color scrimshaw done on an ivory window...

 

[Marie's husband]

Just a suggestion, maybe instead of doing a world map, do a timeline. Actually gives more information than a simple map.

The reason behind the map would be to mark all the ports that I have been to over my career.

Unfortunately, but fortunately, I was stationed in the same location for over 20 years so I really can't list my different duty stations. I do have a plan to incorporate my different commands logos and dates in the points.

Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[joe c]

another option

You could look into having it scrimshawed.Here is a link he does really great stuff.
http://www.scrimshander.com/
call him and go over the details to see if he could do a nice lay out of your husbands years in and the metals he has earned.

 

[Marie's husband]

What about purchasing the lapel pin versions of these ribbons and cnc'ing them in or put them in a lucite beveled window?

How about scratching the shadow box idea and doing rings with the ribbons in veneer colors, separated/spaced with ebony or ivory or nickel? You could do the rows of ribbons that way, stacked in rings and lined up to give the effect of the shadow box, but vertical in the butt sleeve instead of horizontal...

The only other classy option is to have a color scrimshaw done on an ivory window..

Thank you for the suggestions and I did look into using the lapels. The drawback is the size of them. To keep the rest of the items around the ribbons to match in sizing I would have to use miniature anchors and eaws wings resulting in some gaps between items that just doesn't look that good in my opinion.

I do like the rings idea, but if I do that then I wouldn't be able to do another idea for the rings, As you know, the Navy uses many different styles of knots, I'm hoping to be able to incorporate a rope looking material into rings that have different style very small knots coming out of the rings.

Again, thank you for your input its greatly appreciated.

 

[Marie's husband]

You could look into having it scrimshawed.Here is a link he does really great stuff.
http://www.scrimshander.com/
call him and go over the details to see if he could do a nice lay out of your husbands years in and the metals he has earned.

Thank you idea and for the link, the work he does looks amazing. Going to have to see the cost of it, I retired from the Navy, not Microsoft,,,,but then, I only will do this once so I better do it right.