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That is a tricky question. It is more of a judgment call depending on wood species, where the blank was made and where it its going to live it's life. Going from a moist environment to dry one or the opposite, the wood will likely move. So you need to give the wood time to acclimate. Once the...

The Devil is in the detail. The hardest part in finishing a nice blank is knowing when its seasoned well enough that it wont move after its turned. Centering the blank so the points end up even as well as having it balance and weigh what you like is also a consideration. Finishing the blank and...

Depends on the house cue. I have converted quite a few over the years and sometimes you find one with nice tight straight grain. Those ones I save both. I cut it so I get a full length shaft and then find a way to add to the length of the butt. If you do it right you can even out the points and...

Find a big fat house cue with points that are fairly even. You can also try and pick out one with as tight and straight maple as possible. I have converted Duffs, Falcons and McDermott house cues. If you are real lucky you can find an ebony one.

A lot can be learned through house cue conversions. You can learn how to even out points, retaper a shaft, install a joint pin, time a joint so that the grain matches from butt to shaft. You can also use it as an opportunity to learn how to balance out and finish a cue. The nicest thing about...

You have to get the part running in the same axis as the spindle. So the way I do it is I support my part with the tailstock then carefully adjust the jaws of my steady until they touch the bearing. You have to be careful not to pull the part off axis. Your dial indicator won't tell you that. I...

Some times simple is better. This is a setup I use for taper boring forearms after I core a cue. Just a simple delrin collet inside a bearing.

One note of caution when using a 4 jaw for cue work. You have to be quite careful with how much torque you put on the individual jaws. Even with plastic collets it's easy to dent a cue. So when dialing in your part loosen the opposing jaw before tightening the other. These things may seem...

If you put your test bar between centers and the bar runs true, then clamp your chuck to it unsupported by the steady. Now put your dial on the bearings that the chuck is rotating on, do you have any run out? If sp I would try and narrow down where the run out is coming from. I would suspect it...

If you are getting runout it has to be coming from the 3 jaw. I would be looking at my jaws or how the chuck is mounted to its arbor.

Nothing wrong with that, can certainly be useful in a cue shop.

What is the center-to-center distance on your Atlas?

Yes, building up wrap grooves or modifying the groove is a whole other kettle of fish. I always quote separate for those tasks.

It was nothing special, just an embossed cow leather. Not sure what kind of adhesive he used but it wasn't fun to remove.

I think the price is area specific as well as what is involved in each case. I just did a wrap, and the last guy used the wrong glue. I had to strip it off with pliers' bit by bit. Took an hour just to do the prep. The type of leather is also relative, if someone brings me expensive exotic there...

It is all about chip loading. Your feed rates are based on chip per tooth in relation to rpm. Too slow a feed rate in relation to rpm will create more heat. What is your feed rate set at on the machine? Also pay attention to tool height. You should set your cutter so the top of the tooth is on...

The bigger challenge is how you assemble the A joint. If you put too much tension in the joint by overtightening the joint you may have a cue that will warp or develop a wobble. What I do is dry assemble the joint with only enough tension to close any gaps and mark the location on both halves...

Many varieties of phenolic, I prefer canvas based for inserts. Quite robust but not as hard as fiberglass based phenolic or G10.

When I first started cutting my threads with live tooling I would do a test piece from a maple off cut. I would then cut it in half to inspect the threads and check the fit around the pin. With good tooling and not cutting it all out in one pass you can achieve a pretty clean result. What I...