You left off the part at the end of that newsletter where he offered $500 to contact me.
To Joe - If you're not banned, and I misunderstood, I'm sorry for the mistake. Shoot me a PM Joe, I'll give you all you can handle.
cue component doing shady stuff beware
- Thread starter amonkire
- Start date
You left off the part at the end of that newsletter where he offered $500 to contact me.
To Joe - If you're not banned, and I misunderstood, I'm sorry for the mistake. Shoot me a PM Joe, I'll give you all you can handle.
My mistake, I thought you were.
Do I look banned!?
Just more misinformation about us.
Just more misinformation about us.
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Do I look banned!?
Just more misinformation about us.
Oh, wait a minute. Did it expire or did the administration just give you a little more leash?
3/17/2025 - I spoke with Dwight of Cue Components today. Cue Components has a new owner and new management. He offered to accept a return of the TIGER tips I ordered and recommended I send them to TIGER for evaluation. As all the complaints here were under the old owner, perhaps we can give the new owner a fair shot. Dwight told me they make their own tips with names similar to the "named brands" but don't list them as a TIGER, KAUMI, etc., product. He was receptive to a suggestion that these "similar" tips state or note "out brand" or not a TIGER, KAUMI, etc., tip." I hope to see this change on their site. Nonetheless, the description is not illegal, but a note will clear up any confusion. I could sell my homemade motorcycle as a "FATBOY," but I cannot claim it is a Harley Fatboy. The buyer is responsible for verifying what he is buying, and Cue Components responds to emails and phone calls from the new owner and management.
I am a local cue maker and repairman. I am attempting to sell all the major U.S. cue maker stock products online; however, I have them customized, including different stains, wraps, joint types, shaft sizes, etc.
I am a local cue maker and repairman. I am attempting to sell all the major U.S. cue maker stock products online; however, I have them customized, including different stains, wraps, joint types, shaft sizes, etc.
It is a tough call. I have bought businesses and changed the name instantly, I have left the name intact. I did business with Joe for years with absolutely no problems or problems made good to a ridiculous degree. An ivory order came in short. Joe replaced the missing ivory and sent the total original order again too. I thought he had misspoke when he said that, nope, exactly what he did.
Joe said he made 98% of his customers happy. He also made most of the big players in cue building happy. Joe was often shipping out what amounted to an eighteen wheeler load of merchandise a day. If I bought Cue Components I wouldn't change the name. It is respected in the industry by many. Even small players like me got respect because I didn't order a ferrule and two tips at a time.
Hu
I think tweetem(sp) does or did make tips. They own a handful of brands I believe. I think some tips are still made in England, not sure of that. The smell from tanneries is enough to gag a maggot. Not really though, no shortage of maggots around a tannery. Unless a tip maker does their own tanning they have no real quality control.
Hu
i was referring to layereds. tweeten's are made Chicago.
Still unprofessional in calling people at Atlas's city "clowns".
Last thing i got there was a no-name tip that came apart the second the blade touched it. He banned me from buying anything after i complained. Glad he sold the place. Have heard good things about new owner.
In all fairness that can happen with any layered tip. I had moori twos do the same thing. The reason I don't like layered tips. With a single layer it is either good or bad. Multilayer tips can have any layer bad. They scavenge hides from dead animals and they can sit around and decompose before tanning then the tanning process itself can badly damage hides. There are almost endless ways to tan hides and some do more damage than others. Some of the cheapest ways to tan hides do the most damage. I'm pretty sure the tip makers buy tanned hides to start with, maybe even split hides, so they are starting out with pigs in a poke.
I see some synthetic tips showing some promise. I'm not counting any chickens yet but it seems like synthetic tips are long overdue. There were rules making them illegal but I doubt if anyone cares.
Hu
Great to see that Cue Components is under new management. If I was Dwight I would do a lot more to distance my from the previous owner and his antics. Continuing with fake/copies/inspired by tips doesn't look good. I know he probably bought the inventory and there's nothing wrong with getting rid of that stuff at discount prices, but once you're out, start selling a Cue Component tip, you can get just about any look and as many layers, thickness etc. you want as long as you order 1000 tips minimum. Personally I don't dig the stock pictures used throughout the site, but I guess they needed some pictures quickly the get the site up and running.
It was the ONLY tip i've ever seen do this. A good cuemaker was doing the install. Just a cheapass knockoff tip sold by a colossal asswipe.
I have seen a handful from different brands. I was doing a good many tip installs for awhile. That is the only justification for some of the tip prices. If I provided the tip and it came apart then I paid for the loss. If the customer brought the tip to me I told them the risk and told them that I wouldn't bear the loss. A lot of cue repairmen scrape the tip to shape. Many more cut with a negative rake on the blade due to the bevel. Yet more use a blade held loosely in a retractable handle that can cause grabs. I cut with very close to a zero rake or a slight positive rake. That will rarely make a tip come apart because there is no pressure to speak of when cutting them. Having a fairly strong machinist's background was a big help dealing with tips, all cue processes. Burnishing a tip was still a risky operation and caused a few to come apart.
Hu
I think Joe blamed just about every customer for installing tips wrong, and it's certainly can be an issue. I sell a lot of tips and some customers send me pictures of their installation and wonder if there's something wrong with the tip and close to 100% of the time these issues are user error.
But I do about 1000 tips a year and I'm pretty confident in my parting blade technique, essentially machining the tip to very close to final size, then a carbide utility blade and the minimum amount of sanding possible and I never have tips delaminate, except for customers that have brought me Morakami tips from Joe, so these are junk based on personal experience. Obviously that's all on the customer. It's one of the reasons I charge more for installing tips when the customer brings their own tip.
The tip i had was 'installed' with a fresh blade and proper speed. As soon as he(Joel Weinstock, good local builder) put the blade to it the tip started coming apart. Absolute pos. Went back and looked at Ebay buys and it was a 'Samson'. More like Sanford-n-son, pure junk.
I don't blame all installers. It is often an issue particularly with cue repairmen that aren't builders. As mentioned, one problem is that they don't consider the bevel on most blades when considering cutting angle. Cheap utility knives with retractable blades that rattle around are another issue. Quality blades make a big difference too. Heavy duty plain steel blades are the dullest of all closely followed by bulk blades. The carbide blade like you are using makes the chances of a quality install much higher.
Your technique is very much like mine and neither puts much pressure on a tip. My biggest risk is a bad layer when burnishing. Like you, I warned customers of the risks and told them I wouldn't stand behind tips they purchased elsewhere and maybe had purchased counterfeits or had been pretty rough on the tips in storage.
Having gotten crap layers in name brand tips that showed up on my playing cue in play I went back to single layer tips on my cues. Playing with layered tips was mostly testing for customer sales anyway. I like a medium to soft tip and have decades of satisfactory use with sorted Elkmaster tips, dudded or not. My playing style doesn't involve many hard shots anyway. Closer to straight pool style regardless of game.
Everyone's experience will vary with different tips and I have been mostly retired since Katrina destroyed my shop and river of wood. Ida got the last of my wood included several gross of shaft blanks and my exotic wood, most of it eight years old or older. I could have called on friends to get enough wood to scrape by but the roof was off of my shop and my machinery in the weather covered by tarps. I lost two homes and two shops to hurricanes in less than twenty years after a lifetime of minor damage. I have had all the fun I want!
Hu
Cue Components
Member
This is Dwight, We are certainly working on the pictures they should be up in the next 1-2 months. =)