Shhhhhhhhhhh!!!! You weren't suppose to mention that we send freebies or samples! What are you trying to do; ruin our reputation. :grin: And for those of you who would like to chime in and say something sarcastic, please allow me. We don't need anyone trying to ruin our reputation as we do a fine job of that all by ourselves. OK, so now there won't be any need for controversy on that subject. Back to the topic at hand...
It's nice to see many of you exchanging cutting schedules. Our cutting schedule is varied because we also sell the shafts we produce but we have to cut them in line with what we also use for our own cues (when we make them). So, our cutting techniques may not be appropriate for you but works wonders for us.
I'll share something with you and I don't want to go back and forth over it. So take it for what it's worth. Doweling is very intrusive; no argument there but no matter how you go from square to round it's intrusive; it's only a matter how intrusive. When we dowel our shafts, yes some have a slight wiggle (and I mean slight) and we don't care because we're not using them as 1" dowels. Some are downright wobblers which we discard; those are very few. You have to understand that some wood just doesn't want to be a shaft no matter how hard you try. The doweling gets a lot of the movement out of the stick. Our process works well for producing stable shafts and that's our largest concern.
A side note: the shafts you purchase have a lot to do with the movement. If you buy shafts from a guy doweling them in the back of a pick-up truck, call me crazy but you're asking for trouble. If you buy your shafts from a guy who needs money to buy more wood and doesn't care about how he dries his wood, call me crazy but you're asking for trouble. There are many guys buying wood from a particular fast dry artist. His wood is cheap so they buy it and wonder why they lose up to 50% due to movement. The faster he dries his wood, the faster he can sell it and the faster he can load up his kiln again. Time is money and when you're looking to make money as fast as you can, drying time is only a hindrance so dry it as fast as you can. That's his motto. Who is this guy? Well there are three of them and you all know them; some of you buy from them. Hey if it's working for you and you're happy with your purchases, then stay with it. I'm only making an observation based on experience and knowledge.
ACA Suppliers: This won't endear me to anyone but as you all know, I call it like I see it and I don't pull any punches. I'm not a politician nor a diplomat and don't ever plan on being one. I don't remember who said it but someone mentioned the ACA only to stick it up my butt as a list of worthwhile suppliers and that he assumes they (the suppliers) know what they are doing because they are ACA listed suppliers. The problem is just because you are listed on the ACA web site as a supplier, that doesn't mean anything. If you can follow along, if you don't create controversy, if you keep your mouth shut and you have the $100 application fee, this will put you on the ACA list of preferred suppliers. Mickey Mouse could be a supplier! We're not on the list because we choose not to be on it and I have my own opinion and I'm not afraid to voice it. Let me go on record as saying that the membership list of cue makers at the ACA is impressive and I have great respect for each and every cue maker who is a member. The sad part is that they can't grow the membership to more than 43 cuemakers is a shame. How many cue makers are out there doing simply fantastic work and are not members? The list of cue makers who are not members is equally as impressive. Sorry I had to bring this up but someone just had to stick it in so here's my take on it.
Back to cutting:
We let the 1" rounds sit to relax as they've been traumatized. They sit and relax with pina coladas on the white sandy beaches of Daytona for about 4 to 6 weeks. At that point they are tired from relaxing and looking for action. We oblige them and put them on our
4 head CNC and cone them immediately down to .750 x .960. Too aggressive you say? Well, we don't think so and it works for us. We then dip them in Resolute (now we use Shaft Dip) and hang them for a month or two. From this point we go down from there from .750 to .675 to .625 to .575 (dipped again in Resolute; now Shaft Dip) to.550. All cuts are a minimum of 4-6 weeks apart and sometimes more depending on our laziness.
Now the keyword here to remember is that our shop is professionally run. We have air condition in the summer. We have heat in the winter and we have dehumidifiers running all the time. The shop also has 8 fans on the ceiling constantly circulating air 24 hours a day. Our shafts are immediately hung from the business end immediately after each pass. We don't let them sit around for a day or two or until we have the time to hang them; we make the time. The program works for us and it works quite well as we ship shafts all over the world with complete confidence.
This program may not be for you. The way you cut your shafts rests soley on your area, humidity or lack of, and how it's set-up with temperature control. If you are working in a garage with no heat or A/C - that's a problem. How you work and the results you achieve are in direct correlation.
Final cuts and "parking" shafts. We cannot "park" our shafts at .860 due to the fact that we're resellers of fine shaft wood. I think .860 is a tad too small (for us as resellers) and would strive for .875 but if .860 works, then go for it.
As far as final passes. YES!! It is imperative to take your final passes slowly. Our final pass runs about 14 minutes.
I hope this proves helpful.
And on that note, I am out of here: Happy 4th! :grin:
