Inlay Question/Problem

T

Thepip

David
Silver Member
Good morning cue makers I have a question about having an inlay added to my cue.

I am having a Luther that usually works on fancy inlay work on guitars and banjos make am inlay design for me for my pool cue. I just want to make clear he is only making the inlay he is not working on the cue itself. He is a top notch designer and I have seen his work up close and it's amazing. He will be making me 4 inlays for the butt of my cue and here in lines the problem/question I have. The inlay is going to be made of blue Paua Abalone shell Blanks and I don't know how thick the inlay needs to be or the height and length. I want the inlay to be big enough to be understood when looking at it and I know it needs to be a cretin thickness because the cue will have to be turned down a little.

I thank you in advanced for any information that you can give me.
 
Thepip said:
Good morning cue makers I have a question about having an inlay added to my cue.

I am having a Luther that usually works on fancy inlay work on guitars and banjos make am inlay design for me for my pool cue. I just want to make clear he is only making the inlay he is not working on the cue itself. He is a top notch designer and I have seen his work up close and it's amazing. He will be making me 4 inlays for the butt of my cue and here in lines the problem/question I have. The inlay is going to be made of blue Paua Abalone shell Blanks and I don't know how thick the inlay needs to be or the height and length. I want the inlay to be big enough to be understood when looking at it and I know it needs to be a cretin thickness because the cue will have to be turned down a little.

I thank you in advanced for any information that you can give me.
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The width of your inlay and diameter of the cue in the pocket area will be needed to give you a safe thickness.
 
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I think you would be better off to have a cuemaker do the inlay for you. It will be very difficult for someone to cut the pocket in the cue for a hand cut design that may have variations between the four. If he does the inlay he will have the design for the pocket.
 
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I agree with both responses, If I were to measure my cues butt end how do I find diameter of the cue in the pocket area? Its also hard to find good work local that could do both. The person doing the Inlay would be making it with CNC and Auto cad so the design will clean. The cue maker has the harder work to try and cut the pocket in the cue for a hand cut design that may have variations between the four. So i am trying to come up with what would be close to a size shape.
 
The variation of this is that the inlay will be cut into an ebony square and the square will be cut into the cue.
 
Don't forget you will have to refinish the cue.

If it has a wrap you will need to pay some more cash if you want the job done right.

Sometime it just ain't worth it my friend.

Sell the cue and buy a new one with your inlays from the start.

Best advise maybe?

Rick
 
You are not the first person to tell me this my friend. I love my playing cue I just don't want to switch and don't have the money to get a custom cue done. I am trying to work with what I have already. any measurements you can provided will help.
 
Rough estimate comparison, for flat bottom pocketing, if your work piece is roughly 1.22 an inlay of .65 wide at .140 deep with pocketed with a standard 1/32 endmill (.140 max cut depth) will be as far as you may want to go... You may be able to go a "tad" wider with a slightly thicker sleeve. The wider you go, you risk washout and loosing the edge of your inlay... Good Luck
 
Give the design to a cue maker ........ have him make the inlay and also cut the pocket for it to sit in.............

Having 2 different people do this is just asking for trouble..............

Kim
 
Thank you Skins for this information, it's over my head but I am sure the person creating the inlay will understand it. For me it's either the size of a quarter or the size of a dime.
 
Thepip said:
Thank you Skins for this information, it's over my head but I am sure the person creating the inlay will understand it. For me it's either the size of a quarter or the size of a dime.
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Thepip

Actually, it's not very likely that your luthier will understand about the differences between doing an inlay into a flat guitar and a round pool cue.

As has been said, you would be well advised to contact a cuemaker about doing the whole job. He will be able to measure you're cue and look at the design you want. He can then tell you if it will be doable or not.


Royce
 
skins said:
Rough estimate comparison, for flat bottom pocketing, if your work piece is roughly 1.22 an inlay of .65 wide at .140 deep with pocketed with a standard 1/32 endmill (.140 max cut depth) will be as far as you may want to go... You may be able to go a "tad" wider with a slightly thicker sleeve. The wider you go, you risk washout and loosing the edge of your inlay... Good Luck
Click to expand...


Hi,

Good info but as a point of clarification on butt sleeve inlays that are .750 or wider I use .0313 micro mills that are .240 in length.

Rick
 
Thepip said:
I agree with both responses, If I were to measure my cues butt end how do I find diameter of the cue in the pocket area? Its also hard to find good work local that could do both. The person doing the Inlay would be making it with CNC and Auto cad so the design will clean. The cue maker has the harder work to try and cut the pocket in the cue for a hand cut design that may have variations between the four. So i am trying to come up with what would be close to a size shape.
Click to expand...

In theory... an inlay made using an AutoCAD file to gen CNC code, should be able
to be fit exactly into a pocket CNCd by any competent cue maker... in theory.

IMHO - unless you have two parties willing to devote LOTS of time for free to climb the learning curve
for this project, you could buy several inlaid cues for the money it should take to do it.

A humble suggestion: if you are able to herd all the cats needed to proceed - have them do a "test run"
using plywood and a 2 x 4 before cutting on the playing cue you like so very much...

Just a thought.

Dale
 
Thepip said:
Thank you Skins for this information, it's over my head but I am sure the person creating the inlay will understand it. For me it's either the size of a quarter or the size of a dime.
Click to expand...

You're going to sand it flush with the cue and put a finish on it ?
 
whammo57 said:
Give the design to a cue maker ........ have him make the inlay and also cut the pocket for it to sit in.............

Having 2 different people do this is just asking for trouble..............

Kim
Click to expand...

This is the advice I would give also.
 
scdiveteam said:
Hi,

Good info but as a point of clarification on butt sleeve inlays that are .750 or wider I use .0313 micro mills that are .240 in length.

Rick
Click to expand...

That's why I said "standard"... You can always get deeper cut depth end-mills.. I have access to some where depth is 12 times diameter starting at .0045 and up... Your ".0313 micro mill" is a standard 1/32 end-mill with a deeper max depth.. The same cutter I have access to goes to .375... Most of my work is done with standard depth tools...
 
Thank you all for the information and it's all good advice, I have a good starting point for the cut of the inlay and what will be needed on the cue.

I completely understand the challenges this project will bring to both parties. There are a lot of great cue makers out there and I would love to commission to have a new cue made but sometimes you have to work with what you have and what is local to you.

Time and money are always a factor and some people have a better skill set then others, we see this all the time with scrimshaw work or buying a 4 point blank from one person and having another make the shaft to have a 3rd person finish and wrap the cue. There will be adjustments and test that will have to be made to complete this build but this is what my budget calls for and I thank you all for some basic measurements and ideas for how to complete this. When finished i will post again.

Thank you.
 
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