Saying Hi! I finally pulled the trigger :)

sileighty_guru

sileighty_guru

5A Grade Wood Pecker
Silver Member
Hey everyone!

I have been saving for what seems like eternity so that I can start setting up a small shop to build out of...Two weeks ago I started to pull the trigger on supplies and equipment. I started to renovate what little room "she" will let me have to build out of!

Please feel free to "like" my page (link below) and follow the process as it happens. I will be posting to that page as a blog to show the process and struggles I run into as I grow. I have been collecting cues for 10+ years and playing the game for over 23 years now. I have been a member of the APA for I believe 14 years now and am never happy at where my game sits!

As for cues I hate designing them and having others build them (I have control issues)! As for woodworking it's not "new" to me as I build custom poker tables before this venture, however lathe work has be digging back to my school Shop days! I will have plenty of questions along the way, and would appreciate any input good or bad! I prefer the bad so that I can avoid any problems in the future smile emoticon

If anyone has any start-up advice I would love to hear about it!

Thanks,
Aaron Astle
AZB (Sileighty_guru)

https://www.facebook.com/doubleacues I will update this at least once a week with any progress (lots of photos) :thumbup:

UPDATE.... Some photos of the start-up

















 
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Wow ... this is a tough time to start a cue shop but I am sure you will enjoy every minute you spend working on a cue.
Well ... perhaps not every minute but most of them ... LOL!
Its a great thing to do.

If I can ever be of help sharing what knowledge I have feel free to call anytime.

Willee
361-563-1303
 
WilleeCue said:
Wow ... this is a tough time to start a cue shop but I am sure you will enjoy every minute you spend working on a cue.
Well ... perhaps not every minute but most of them ... LOL!
Its a great thing to do.

If I can ever be of help sharing what knowledge I have feel free to call anytime.

Willee
361-563-1303
Click to expand...

No time is a bad time to start a hobby!

Best advice I could give I " keep it fun ". Taking orders took the fun out of it for me. Building what I want when I wanted. Gave me my hobby back. Of course if you are wanting to start cue making as a business. It's a tough time to start.

Good luck. I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Larry
 
If your avatar is your shop helper with her standard issue uniform she can join my team. For knowledge of course. Spoda warm up soon but I could make an acception and turn the heat up. Maybe.

When I started I had little knowledge and lots of ambition. No I have knowledge and little ambition. Do at least one little thing EVERY DAY to keep the focus. Even if that little thing is planning your work weekend before it gets here and gone.

Plan twice as much time for each task that you think it will take. Mental victory if you accomplish more vs. let down when you do not.
 
Good luck and as everyone mentioned, have fun. That's the most important aspect.

Goes without saying, once something becomes not fun any longer, then it's a chore.

Altho, some chores are fun. I like shopping for groceries, and then eating them.

I started my River of Wood a couple of years before I got a lathe and related equipment.

And my River doesn't look anywhere as nice as yours. I tell everyone that I have a Ton of wood. Which is kind of a Fib, cause it's only about 500 lbs.

Ummm, on your Face Book page, you were talking about some AAAA shaft wood and very old sunken wood that you have. You said that you were going to put one on a Jump Cue.

That scared me a bit cause I figured, that Jump Cue is going to have the nicest shaft ever for a jump cue.

You will end up making some nice cues if 100 plus yr old wood is getting put on a Jumper.

Nice card tables also. It helps that a person is familiar with wood working.

Will be looking forward to update pictures of the Shop in Progress.
 
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Why is it a tough time to start a cue business? We don't see any problems and all our clients are doing well and talk of business being pretty good at the moment; both beginner through top tier.

OH WAIT! Yeah, it could not be a good time if those attempting to make cues have extracurricular activity or habits such as a full time job or perhaps spending too much time on news forums. If you're priced right and offer quality product, the sales will follow and they're certainly out there. From what we see, those who built a business and brand are all doing well.

Anyone starting out needs to be realistic. You're not going to sell 6 point inlayed cues right out of the box. And, anyone complaining needs to perhaps take a few steps back and reassess their position and product.

I guess it has to do with what circles one travels in and what level of the food chain you're in as well. Yes, keeping it fun to a degree can make all the difference.

Good luck to all.
 
Joe Barringer said:
Anyone starting out needs to be realistic. You're not going to sell 6 point inlayed cues right out of the box. And, anyone complaining needs to perhaps take a few steps back and reassess their position and product.
Click to expand...

I think this is a good point to make. I see so many new cue makers go from asking questions one week to building a cue that is above their skill level the next week.

Just because you can doesn't mean you should... Take it one step at a time and be deliberate.
 
Thanks everyone for the words!

Just to clear things up I live a extremely busy lifestyle! Why? well OCD does that to person! Combine that with adult wannabe ADHD ;) and you have a recipe for to much work! I do have a full time career to help fund the many activities/hobbies! That along with a better half and our 10 year old boy make for busy busy busy :thumbup: Why start making cues? Because I love woods, always have and appreciate the work that goes into them. Our "area" has little to no billiards support (cue maker/repair wise), when a crappy tip replacement job cost someone around here 45 bucks and falls off two weeks later...really?? I just want to make cues that I like where if they sell I'm just looking to get back to what is invested (my time is irrelevant) to a point, and help the people around here with the sport ;)

My son loves helping around the shop and helping me get things setup (maybe someday he will be able to at least have another hat to wear knowing how to work with wood!)

Plus I have so many nice cue designs I want but don't want others to make them for me!

So to answer the questions about wanting to make money....... That made me giggle, I don't think that this type of hobby will make you money! I do not have any "backing" or "old money" and really don't make that much to begin with! So buying all the equipment and supplies required to be successful are out of my reach! Everything I have I have worked my "a**" off for and that makes me appreciate it a bit more!

I will be starting with the basics and having the first batch of cues hopefully by 2016? By first batch I mean some conversions and a few full splices. I want my wood to sit, even though most of it is already dried.

Thanks Again!
Aaron
 
DanO said:
If your avatar is your shop helper with her standard issue uniform she can join my team. For knowledge of course. Spoda warm up soon but I could make an acception and turn the heat up. Maybe.

When I started I had little knowledge and lots of ambition. No I have knowledge and little ambition. Do at least one little thing EVERY DAY to keep the focus. Even if that little thing is planning your work weekend before it gets here and gone.

Plan twice as much time for each task that you think it will take. Mental victory if you accomplish more vs. let down when you do not.
Click to expand...


If she did I would never get my wood dry :thumbup:
 
I wish you well on your new endeavor. Building cues can be a lot of fun and can be a liitle frustrating at times, but that is no different from most areas of life. Just enjoy yourself and post some pictures once in a while of your progress.
 
cueman said:
I wish you well on your new endeavor. Building cues can be a lot of fun and can be a liitle frustrating at times, but that is no different from most areas of life. Just enjoy yourself and post some pictures once in a while of your progress.
Click to expand...

Thanks Chris I will!

Cant wait for all my goods to get here ;)
 
Updated the original post with some photos :) If anyone wants to follow the progress as is happens you can like my Facebook page, I update it at least once a week with updates and lots of photos!
 
sileighty_guru said:
Hey everyone!

I have been saving for what seems like eternity so that I can start setting up a small shop to build out of...Two weeks ago I started to pull the trigger on supplies and equipment. I started to renovate what little room "she" will let me have to build out of!

Please feel free to "like" my page (link below) and follow the process as it happens. I will be posting to that page as a blog to show the process and struggles I run into as I grow. I have been collecting cues for 10+ years and playing the game for over 23 years now. I have been a member of the APA for I believe 14 years now and am never happy at where my game sits!

As for cues I hate designing them and having others build them (I have control issues)! As for woodworking it's not "new" to me as I build custom poker tables before this venture, however lathe work has be digging back to my school Shop days! I will have plenty of questions along the way, and would appreciate any input good or bad! I prefer the bad so that I can avoid any problems in the future smile emoticon

If anyone has any start-up advice I would love to hear about it!

Thanks,
Aaron Astle
AZB (Sileighty_guru)

https://www.facebook.com/doubleacues I will update this at least once a week with any progress (lots of photos) :thumbup:

UPDATE.... Some photos of the start-up

















Click to expand...
Looks like you have been busy. Did you turn all those blanks? I don't see any dust collecting system in the pictures. If you are working in a spare room of your house you will be finding dust in other rooms that could be hazardous to other family members as well as yourself.

That shop has to be clean and absolutely isolated from the rest of the house. You can't be tracking dust and dirt into the rest of the house yourself. Maybe even add an outside entrance and close it off completely.

And forget about what ever you decide to spray for finish. You have to be very very careful even if it is waterbase. It is a fun hobby but not worth getting sick over. You may want to take a look at your homeowners insurance as well.

You would not want to find you voided your insurance if you had say a fire and they don't pay off because of a wood working shop/business inside a residential dwelling. Especially if you are doing repairs and building cues for profit you are selling.

That facebook page is there for all to see and gives the impression of a business, maybe an illegal business in your home. I am sorry I am just trying to be real.
 
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As I am well aware of all of the hazards working with anything nowadays (12 years and counting in Environmental Health & Safety for my 9-5) The workshop is actually 2 stories! My metal fabrication shop is on the upper floor :) All of my wood is either cut from lumber or squares in the shop, I have a dust box enclosure for the cue-smith hooked to the 4" collection from the metal shop above, and the smaller equipment is hooked to the HEPA vac/dust deputy (I swear by the DD!). As you can see the shop is always clean :) I am rather OCD about life. I do however have one (Dirty/Sloppy Table) on each floor to maintain my sanity! I think you can see it in one of the photos above ;)

As for finishing I am not yet setup for that, there will be an enclosed booth someday in the future! However I have a long ways to go before I need to worry about finishing a cue.
 
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