Search results

I have observed a couple of things while preparing metallic rings for finish. It is all about how light refracts off the metal and how you prep them changes that. I have established a few rules. I always polish my rings separate from the rest of the cue, always sand and polish while spinning...

Your design is possible, but it would involve some reinforcement under the skin sort of speak. You could use a Phenolic sleave at each end of the cue and you install it by creating a face groove and leave a thin veneer of material on the out side. You have to engineer the sleave so as it is...

Where are you in Canada? The cheapest route is to 3d print one. I have done this in the past and they turned out nice. You can even incorporate a soft bumper with the use of TPU. I used carbon fiber filament to print the body.

My log is still sitting... to many other distractions in life. Getting close to retirement so I will have more time to dedicate towards building cues. I have been keeping my eye open for a good sawyer, I may end up contracting this out. It is too nice a piece to risk learning on.

I have spent the last 6 months breaking my fundamentals and relearning and experimenting. And in all of this I have discovered that the grip is huge. If I am not hitting the cue ball down the middle it is usually the grip that is throwing my cue offline. My goal is to have my pre shot routine to...

How big a spot would not having to sink the 8 be in 8 ball? Thoughts

If you like the quality of work you received and the price is right, the rest don't matter. A routine wrap change shouldn't take more than an hour IMO. Having said that I have had some nightmare wrap changes where the last installer used the wrong type of glue and getting the old one off was...

That's good use of a 3d printer.

I have always cored with a steady rest, the steady also incorporates dust collection. It becomes a balancing act of air pressure into the drill and vacuum through the dust collection. I usually core when things are not hugely oversize. I don't see the point of cutting forearm blanks at 1.25"...

As a side note, cutting out your own rings on the cnc is how I do real silver rings. Quite a bit of savings from buying them. You can repurpose the left over for inlay or sell it as scrap silver.

Does anyone know if there was a patent on this design, or if the patent has expired? It wouldn't be difficult to reverse engineer one. I have two and could easily build a replica. There is nothing about the design that is inherently difficult to machine. If there was enough demand, I would...

Does anyone know anything about these ? Good , bad etc..?

With the use of coring just about any wood can be used to build a cue. If you use a decent sized core the parent wood becomes more like a veneer. I bore out the inside of my piece with a taper that matches the cue. So the veneer is not very thick. Having said that the wood you choose should...

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.