JC
Coos Cues
I got interested in building cues because I love pool and I love wood. After joining this site in 2011 I read this forum and it's archives for countless hours. In 2013 I spent a couple of hours at my friend Sheldon Lebow's place where he showed me his shop and a quick overview of what he had going on. It was the coolest thing ever!
Eventually, I decided to give it a shot.
So here I am a half a dozen years in and tens of thousands of dollars spent on my hobby, which fortunately I can afford. And I'm coming to the realization that I simply do not enjoy the finishing part of it. I have built a lot of cues using Chris' epoxy finish and have it down pretty well really. It takes me a long time but they come out good. But I loath doing it. Have dabbled in some other materials but not enough to perfect anything.
A couple of years ago I posted a thread here about having sent a cue to Scot Sherbine to finish for me and took some heat for it and got some good feedback too.
But lately I've come to the conclusion that there is no equal to automotive clear coat.
I had 6 cues completely finished sitting there staring me down for a month with no finish on them. I finished one with water base because it was a gift for my brother and a good tester. Finished another with epoxy as usual and it came out good. And I sent the other 4 to Pennsylvania and they came back looking stunning in very short order.
I am now seriously considering giving up on finishing my cues and having Scot do them all for me. He's younger than I so it could very well be a lifetime arrangement so to speak. I know I could learn to shoot clear coat but it would require a lot more time and expense to do it safely. And I am out of space completly at my shop. And the truth is I still think I would not enjoy the process. And building cues is a hobby for me that I started doing because I enjoy it. Most of it that is.
So I am weighing the pros and cons. The upside is obvious. I get the best finish to highlight my other work and my cues will have a durable beautiful finish and I don't have to do it. The cons? It almost doubles the cost of each cue and then there's my ego. But I'm not in it for the money anyway. I make more money every day at my auto repair shop than I could ever do building cues.
Proficient must enjoy doing this work as they offer it to the public. Besides I suspect Scot has employees doing the work anyway. I haven't asked but I suspect that's how it is. How is that different than me hiring someone on site? After all my auto tech's do the vast majority of the actual wrenching at my shop. Is it different?
I'm just afraid that if I continue stubbornly insisting on doing what isn't fun for me that I may just quit altogether. And I don't want to. The design and construction is still relaxing and rewarding. I also have had almost as much satisfaction building my CNC machines and jigs and such as the cues themselves. Just got my first CNC router setup for inlays and ring billets and I'm like a kid in a candystore with it.
This is my conundrum.
Comments?
Thanks,
JC
Eventually, I decided to give it a shot.
So here I am a half a dozen years in and tens of thousands of dollars spent on my hobby, which fortunately I can afford. And I'm coming to the realization that I simply do not enjoy the finishing part of it. I have built a lot of cues using Chris' epoxy finish and have it down pretty well really. It takes me a long time but they come out good. But I loath doing it. Have dabbled in some other materials but not enough to perfect anything.
A couple of years ago I posted a thread here about having sent a cue to Scot Sherbine to finish for me and took some heat for it and got some good feedback too.
But lately I've come to the conclusion that there is no equal to automotive clear coat.
I had 6 cues completely finished sitting there staring me down for a month with no finish on them. I finished one with water base because it was a gift for my brother and a good tester. Finished another with epoxy as usual and it came out good. And I sent the other 4 to Pennsylvania and they came back looking stunning in very short order.
I am now seriously considering giving up on finishing my cues and having Scot do them all for me. He's younger than I so it could very well be a lifetime arrangement so to speak. I know I could learn to shoot clear coat but it would require a lot more time and expense to do it safely. And I am out of space completly at my shop. And the truth is I still think I would not enjoy the process. And building cues is a hobby for me that I started doing because I enjoy it. Most of it that is.
So I am weighing the pros and cons. The upside is obvious. I get the best finish to highlight my other work and my cues will have a durable beautiful finish and I don't have to do it. The cons? It almost doubles the cost of each cue and then there's my ego. But I'm not in it for the money anyway. I make more money every day at my auto repair shop than I could ever do building cues.
Proficient must enjoy doing this work as they offer it to the public. Besides I suspect Scot has employees doing the work anyway. I haven't asked but I suspect that's how it is. How is that different than me hiring someone on site? After all my auto tech's do the vast majority of the actual wrenching at my shop. Is it different?
I'm just afraid that if I continue stubbornly insisting on doing what isn't fun for me that I may just quit altogether. And I don't want to. The design and construction is still relaxing and rewarding. I also have had almost as much satisfaction building my CNC machines and jigs and such as the cues themselves. Just got my first CNC router setup for inlays and ring billets and I'm like a kid in a candystore with it.
This is my conundrum.
Comments?
Thanks,
JC