Looking to buy wood in bulk & info on cue parts please :)

mrkdenton

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
How's it going to all the cue builders in az land. :). My name is mark Denton and I bought Darin hills cue shop back in June. And I'm about done remodeling my 30x40 old shop, turning it into a half game room/apartment And the other half the cue shop. And I was hoping to get some advice from you veterans on the ins and outs f cue building if you please. And I was also hoping I could get some info on where to buy all my woods,pins, veneers, tooling, etc at the best prices. Also if any of you guys have a big lump sum of wood you would like to sell now. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have been reading the ask the cue maker section for a few years now and I really admire how you guys alway chime in and help out a newbie when there starting out. It's really amazing the character it takes to help out complete strangers in this world. And you guys got that for sure. So I hope you guys bare with me as I'm sure I will be asking some stupid questions n here. Lol.

Sincerely mark Denton.
 

Kim Bye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
You bought a full shop and don`t know where to get parts?
There are about a handfull places that sells parts for cue building in USA.
What did you buy, and what do you need, sorry I can`t help you with wood supplies, but there is quite a few vendors you can buy from.
If no one else responds, you can PM me.
 

mrkdenton

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Sorry if I wasn't clear in thread post. Parts as in all parts to build a cue. Not machine parts. Thanks for your reply.
 

Kim Bye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Sorry if I wasn't clear in thread post. Parts as in all parts to build a cue. Not machine parts. Thanks for your reply.

Yes I understand that. pins, ferrules, DBL etc.
If you tell us what you got as of today, in terms of tools and machines, that might help.
 

JC

Coos Cues
If I were you I would scour the archives of this forum. Contained within are tidbits of leaked information you can fill in the puzzle with. Budget for stuff you neither need nor can use that you will try out. Then come back and scour the archives some more. It's pretty much all here if you take the time to find it. You will miss it until you have the right questions in your mind. Which will only come with trial and error.

JC
 

mrkdenton

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
If I were you I would scour the archives of this forum. Contained within are tidbits of leaked information you can fill in the puzzle with. Budget for stuff you neither need nor can use that you will try out. Then come back and scour the archives some more. It's pretty much all here if you take the time to find it. You will miss it until you have the right questions in your mind. Which will only come with trial and error.

JC
Thanks jc. Appreciate the advice
 
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mrkdenton

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Yes I understand that. pins, ferrules, DBL etc.
If you tell us what you got as of today, in terms of tools and machines, that might help.

I bought darrin hills shop. He had a pretty detailed list of things for sale in the machine section. Type in the search if u like. " Complete cue shop." It comes up first. His list is way better then what I would be able to type at the moment. Lol.
 

Kim Bye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I bought darrin hills shop. He had a pretty detailed list of things for sale in the machine section. Type in the search if u like. " Complete cue shop." It comes up first. His list is way better then what I would be able to type at the moment. Lol.

Well you certainly have the tools to make cues.
 

JC

Coos Cues
All the tools. But not all the knowledge. Lmao.

Looking at the list of what you bought It's hard to imagine you need much of anything except maybe some fresh adhesives to build a bunch of cues.

One step at a time and when something doesn't go right research that step and refine. Building cues is a string of individual skills blended together into the finished product.

Again once you have good questions you will find the folks here will give you good answers if you can't figure it out. That's been my experience. They will also ridicule you from time to time so have thick skin.

Just do it, you have nothing to fear but fear itself.:)

JC
 

mrkdenton

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Looking at the list of what you bought It's hard to imagine you need much of anything except maybe some fresh adhesives to build a bunch of cues.

One step at a time and when something doesn't go right research that step and refine. Building cues is a string of individual skills blended together into the finished product.

Again once you have good questions you will find the folks here will give you good answers if you can't figure it out. That's been my experience. They will also ridicule you from time to time so have thick skin.

Just do it, you have nothing to fear but fear itself.:)

JC

Yeah I hope to have my shop done and set up by Christmas. Or before the end of the year. I hope. And I figured I would start trying to build some sneaky petes. And old dufferin and old bar cue conversions. I've been collecting a lot of old bar Cues over the last year and have like a 100 or so saved that I think would be pretty good conversions. Darrin had around 150 shafts in different stages of completion. But I bought 50 shaft dowels and 50 handle dowels from Jazznpool
Here on az. To my untrained eye they look great. But what are you guys thoughts on his shaft dowels and handle wood blanks. Do they produce a great shaft etc. thanks for the info guys. :). I super appreciate it.
 

Snooker Theory

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I just wanted to wish you well in your adventure Mrkdenton, I am learning slowly by reading the forums and trying to learn as I go too. :thumbup:
 

PRED

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Saw mills, wholesalers, bring your trailer. Deal in board ft. Eye every inch of each

You need the proverbial "river of wood" to match your turn-key setup. Fifty shafts will get you into your first cues, about five years from now. Five hundred shafts would be the right number to establish seasoned shafts for your cues in the future. You can add more inventory each year(couple hundred) to maintain that consistency of quality shafts.

The same for other woods. Buy as much Gabon Ebony and Mexican Cocobolo you can afford. Get that river flowing as well. If you can by old growth Brazilian Rosewood, do it. Pass on the reclaimed stumpwood. My guess is you will strike out here. Again, buy as many pieces of each you can afford, hand picked instead of mail order. Boards of 8/4 x 72" would be my pick over turning squares. That is not going happen with Ebony easily. You will need point stock too and turning squares leave nothing but dust, plus having the same wood used in each cue is a desirable and highly marketable feature. Cut it up and date it, use it when it has aged properly.

Buy Maple, tight straight grained hard rock, Birdseye, and curly by the 8/4 board too.
Hand pick the boards, no mail order.

Doing veneers? cut, dye and glue up your own. Points, rings, fronts, handles Inlays, get Ivory now, while you still can. Exotic woods? They never get cheaper so buy now in sufficient quantities.

A quality, heavy band saw will be one of your most used machines to get that high quality stock cut into the sizes you can use. Get the best you can afford, my choice would be one with a 3/4" blade capacity. You will need another band saw for metal cutting, same quality here on a slightly smaller scale.

I don't know how many lathes you bought but take a look at Ernie G's shop, a dedicated metal lathe for every operation in cue building requiring a lathe. Precision at every step without having to retool anything.

CNC machines for tapering and inlaying, again, dedicated to the operation at hand. The heavier the better for the inlay machine. Spindles, mills, and lathe tooling need to have redundancy for obvious reasons, get the best.

Buy raw stock and make your own parts, separate yourself from the mail order cue makers, it will be worth it in the long run. Others should not be offended by the previous statement, everyone's situation is different and one should never pass on the opportunity to separate from the pack. It gets you noticed and if you have high quality work it will create an insatiable demand.

Scrap the man cave and use every inch of the area for one thing- making cues.

Once you develop a cue that has the feel you want, stick with it, consistency rules.

This may seem over the top, but I like cues like that. What's the saying? - Unnecessarily well made.
 

whammo57

Kim Walker
Silver Member
do you have chris Hightower's book and DVD's ???? that is a good place to start..... and take the previous advice and click ARCHIVES on the bottom of the page and read ALL... yes ALL the ASK THE CUEMAKER...............

you jumped in with both feet............. I hope you can swim


Kim
 

mrkdenton

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
You need the proverbial "river of wood" to match your turn-key setup. Fifty shafts will get you into your first cues, about five years from now. Five hundred shafts would be the right number to establish seasoned shafts for your cues in the future. You can add more inventory each year(couple hundred) to maintain that consistency of quality shafts.

The same for other woods. Buy as much Gabon Ebony and Mexican Cocobolo you can afford. Get that river flowing as well. If you can by old growth Brazilian Rosewood, do it. Pass on the reclaimed stumpwood. My guess is you will strike out here. Again, buy as many pieces of each you can afford, hand picked instead of mail order. Boards of 8/4 x 72" would be my pick over turning squares. That is not going happen with Ebony easily. You will need point stock too and turning squares leave nothing but dust, plus having the same wood used in each cue is a desirable and highly marketable feature. Cut it up and date it, use it when it has aged properly.

Buy Maple, tight straight grained hard rock, Birdseye, and curly by the 8/4 board too.
Hand pick the boards, no mail order.

Doing veneers? cut, dye and glue up your own. Points, rings, fronts, handles Inlays, get Ivory now, while you still can. Exotic woods? They never get cheaper so buy now in sufficient quantities.

A quality, heavy band saw will be one of your most used machines to get that high quality stock cut into the sizes you can use. Get the best you can afford, my choice would be one with a 3/4" blade capacity. You will need another band saw for metal cutting, same quality here on a slightly smaller scale.

I don't know how many lathes you bought but take a look at Ernie G's shop, a dedicated metal lathe for every operation in cue building requiring a lathe. Precision at every step without having to retool anything.

CNC machines for tapering and inlaying, again, dedicated to the operation at hand. The heavier the better for the inlay machine. Spindles, mills, and lathe tooling need to have redundancy for obvious reasons, get the best.

Buy raw stock and make your own parts, separate yourself from the mail order cue makers, it will be worth it in the long run. Others should not be offended by the previous statement, everyone's situation is different and one should never pass on the opportunity to separate from the pack. It gets you noticed and if you have high quality work it will create an insatiable demand.

Scrap the man cave and use every inch of the area for one thing- making cues.

Once you develop a cue that has the feel you want, stick with it, consistency rules.

This may seem over the top, but I like cues like that. What's the saying? - Unnecessarily well made.
That is great info. I really appreciate the detail in your advice. Super much appreciated pred.
 

mrkdenton

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
do you have chris Hightower's book and DVD's ???? that is a good place to start..... and take the previous advice and click ARCHIVES on the bottom of the page and read ALL... yes ALL the ASK THE CUEMAKER...............

you jumped in with both feet............. I hope you can swim


Kim

Lol. Yes I can swim very well. I think. Lol. And yes I bought Hightower DVDs and book. I've luckily had that knack to be good at everything I have ever tried to do in life. Like all phases of construction. I do very well. I own my own little construction company. And rental properties. And so the work on all of them. And I've always been a really good athlete at every sport. So I'm great with my hands. And used to be a great drawer. So I'm hoping I can take any or all that and take my personality of wanting/needing to be the best at anything I do. I'm hoping I can practice and get great at cue building also. I figured worst case senecio if it doesn't take off. Minimum I could do enough cues to have my hobby pay for itself. And when I get closer to retirement and hopefully by then. I will have 10 to 15 years of building under my belt and hopefully turn out a great cue. So that's why I'm so appreciative of you guys giving me the great advice here. So help me jump start this endeavor Cause I'm seeing cue building is a lot like Carpenters. They don't like to share there trade secrets. So I truly am thankful for the replies so far. So please keep the advice coming. I'm soaking it in like a sponge. :)
 

qbilder

slower than snails
Silver Member
do you have chris Hightower's book and DVD's ???? that is a good place to start..... and take the previous advice and click ARCHIVES on the bottom of the page and read ALL... yes ALL the ASK THE CUEMAKER...............

you jumped in with both feet............. I hope you can swim


Kim

That ^. To go a step beyond that, may I suggest that you need a solid introductory. Have you considered hiring an advisor for a long weekend? You aren't like most guys who come on here having just bought a little cue lathe & half dozen shafts. You got the whole enchilada. It would be IMMENSELY beneficial to you if somebody could come to your shop, inventory your equipment & supplies, help you set the shop up for efficient work, walk you through the basics of making a cue, then get you set up with supply distributors. Take plenty notes & don't be afraid to video & pic things for future reference. I'd recommend asking somebody who makes cues most similar to the style direction you wish to pursue.

Take that with a grain of salt. You have a lot of stuff, a fairly large investment. Without some guidance, you're in the deep end. I have no idea what it would cost to pay a maker to help you, if you can even find one, but it would put you light years ahead of the curve and quite possibly make the difference between an investment & an inconvenient waste of money.
 

mrkdenton

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
That ^. To go a step beyond that, may I suggest that you need a solid introductory. Have you considered hiring an advisor for a long weekend? You aren't like most guys who come on here having just bought a little cue lathe & half dozen shafts. You got the whole enchilada. It would be IMMENSELY beneficial to you if somebody could come to your shop, inventory your equipment & supplies, help you set the shop up for efficient work, walk you through the basics of making a cue, then get you set up with supply distributors. Take plenty notes & don't be afraid to video & pic things for future reference. I'd recommend asking somebody who makes cues most similar to the style direction you wish to pursue.

Take that with a grain of salt. You have a lot of stuff, a fairly large investment. Without some guidance, you're in the deep end. I have no idea what it would cost to pay a maker to help you, if you can even find one, but it would put you light years ahead of the curve and quite possibly make the difference between an investment & an inconvenient waste of money.

Yes that is exactly what I'm looking for. Lol. :). I live about an hour north of Kansas City. And would love if a veteran cue builder could come and help set shop up and do all you stated in your post. Help me get going. Does anyone know someone who could do that for me. Thanks for the really insightful post qbuilder
 

JC

Coos Cues
Yes that is exactly what I'm looking for. Lol. :). I live about an hour north of Kansas City. And would love if a veteran cue builder could come and help set shop up and do all you stated in your post. Help me get going. Does anyone know someone who could do that for me. Thanks for the really insightful post qbuilder

If I were in your position and your location I would contact Leonard Bludworth. If he's feeling good enough I bet he would come up for a week or so at a reasonable rate. He offered me to come up here if I would transport him and that was AFTER he called me a liar and I called him a crook. :) But his health may not be well enough now.

http://www.bludworth.com/

JC
 
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