Well put.
But in the long run it's still just a high tech program doing the hard stuff my friend. And I'm sure if your CNC went down I'm sure you could do just as good???
"High Tech"? Yeah, it's high tech... except for one thing you haven't considered. I built all my CNC machinery myself, much of it more than 20 years ago. My
first one came before there was ANY CNC machine available for less than $150k+, and no multi-axis stepper/servo controller available for less than $10k - so I wired it myself from single-axis drivers (conveyer belt controllers) with the help of some very smart college students who were into the fledgling field of robotics.
Before that I used pantographs, and my very first one of
those I built myself - 5:1 ratio and hand-formed patterns.
Before THAT I bought pre-cut MOP inlays and cut them into the cues using a hand-held Dremel router and X-acto knives. So there's a few cuemakers still alive who have worked at the
same low-tech level I have, but none lower tech.
I understand the syndrome of a cuemaker who is only capable of pantograph work feeling like CNC machinery is kind of "cheating", and to a "hand inlayer" a pantograph must seem like cheating, too. But none of it is, and with the cheap and easy-to-build CNC equipment that's available today the only reason I can imagine for any cuemaker to NOT pursue CNC is they're either scared of it or too broke, or both.
But you are right building the cue is the work and in doing that you really only had a 5% edge over me according to your statement above. In that case most builders as well. I may not know much about you I may not know much about your cues but I do have to say to come after a nobody cue builder that put a smile on my face.
"Come after"? Give me a break. I'm disputing the bullshit concept that pantograph inlay work is somehow more "pure" or "noble" than CNC work. I would dispute such a concept with
anyone - I never heard of you, so it didn't actually dawn on me that you even were a cuemaker until you said so just now. Jim Stadum put it best when he said, "The only truly hand-made cue is one that the maker carves out from start to finish with a pocket knife. After that we're all just using machinery of one type or another."
Because that was my 1st real cue #1 on my own bring yours out! You have one thing on me Sir. It's not money not equipment it's TIME! And I have a lot of it to grow and learn. So in closing congrats on your win it is a beautiful cue and see you this year.
And just remember smile it's all good.
Actually, I've posted photos of my first 4-point on this forum a number of times. It predates most of the early inlay work I did on cues, with the exception of a few "sneaky petes" I dropped some MOP guitar inlays into.
And I'm looking forward to seeing the "something strong" you're bringing this year, now that you've got your old school inlay machine up and running. Who are you having CNC the patterns for you?
TW
(PS: I don't make a point of bringing this up much, but I also collect cues - and with the exception of one Jeff Prather cue I bought in 1993 all my cues are as "old school" as it gets. And most are pretty damn
old to boot. I love old-school cues, but I'm driven to
create more original and interesting pieces in my own career.)
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