Slasher said:What are the most popular clear finishes that are being used by top cumakers today.
Thanks very much in advance.[/
Hi Slasher,
Most of us, use auto-clear-coat.
The nice thing about clear coat, is for todays finishes on cars, it's not nessesary to wax and buff the car. Of course with cues, we all buff and buff and buff and , and,
you get the picture.
Juston, thanks for your kind words. My new combo-repair lathe is coming along at a pretty good pace. Hope to have it for the Hopkins show.This all depends on Janice's out come and her Dr's at the hospital.
To Edyie, Janice is going back in on March 3rd. Operation is on the 4th. Should be ok. Please guys, keep grandmaw Blud, [ Janice] in your prayers. What a gal she is.
blud
PS, keep coming with those good questions about cuemaking.......
blud said:B- Jamming, The 6 tooth will produce a smooth cut for the butt. The butt is much stiffer at this stage. However you can do the same thing with the 3 wing cutter, if you just slow your feed rate down a bit, and don't take a big bite of wood.
Tool push off can be caused when the tool is dull or the feed rate is to fast, or in this case, the tool is developing push-off because it's creating a lot of wind on the side of the shaft. [Also taking to much wood off at one time].. You won't see so much of this when turn-cutting butts as compared to shafts. Shafts, being smaller in dia., will give easer.
The turning rate of the shaft[ RPM's] and the feed rate, [how fast the router is moving ]and also how the RPM's of the router, all come into to play here. I have seen the same router, same RPM's and feed rate with the same tool, and the cuts wil be a little differant. Can't explain that one. But, been there done that.
Too many teeth will cause tool-push-off. Too few will do the same thing. Just find a good feed rate for cutting shafts [about a 6 minute pass] and then a good turning rate [about 100 RPM's] and a RPM speed of around 26 to 30,000 RPM's for the router.
With my CNC saw/lathe, [it's got 4 heads] The 10" saw blades turn at 3,650 RPM's. The feed rate for the finish cut is 8 minutes, and the shafts are turning at 96 RPM's. The shafts look as if they had been run through a sander. Very smooth, but I still sand them just before the paint goes on. This works well for me. The normal hogging cut feed rate is about 4 minutes.......
If you continue having problems, try these steps I have out laid, or call me. [830-232-5991]
Just take your time when cutting butts, or shafts. The finish cut on either butts, and shafts, should be about .004 thousandts over the finished size. Now it's a little bit big and will allow you to clean up the rings and any cut marks left by the cutters. Now you just sand and prep the butt and or shafts for paint.
blud
Great, you gonna make me jealous of Blud's table saw taperer.cuewhiz189 said:hey fellas......i would say you would be amazed to see that cnc taper machine leonard has.....so wild but damn its perfect.....i have held many cue and shafts right after they come off of it and i promise they are almost smooth enogh to play with......its amazing.....a damn table saw of sorts on its side.......its worth the cost of a plane ticket just to see his shop.....ill bet there aint another cuemaker out there that can even touch some of the things he has.......i would not want to get into a contest of who could make more cues and not compromise qaulity.....cause he would come out on top 100 out of 100 times......unbelieveable ......ill bet there are engineers that cant do what he does with machinery and if they knew how they would change jobs,lol.......maybe one day when the cue worl isnt so sniey he might show some detailed pics of his machinery......i promise it will make your mouth water to see it and the you will shit all over yourself to see it in action.......juston coleman
Joseph Cues said:Great, you gonna make me jealous of Blud's table saw taperer.
Jeesh, cutting down 1 inch rods to around .920 by .600 cones take a ton of time on lathe with a router. F~!@&r is so freakin' noisy too. Screams like a giant cat on heat.
If I had the cash, I'd get me that simple table saw taperer or the Perske motor.
Indianaguy said:Would any of the cue makers on this board mind telling the different ways that the butt of a cue can be constructed? Im talking about how the pieces are assembled. Full splice, half splice, screws, dowels, etc...
What are the steps usually taken? If adhesives are used, which do you prefer (not brand name, just type)?
Just the other day I had a cue maker tell me of a cue he was asked to look at that had broken. He said that the cue (from a WELL known builder) was joined together with a biscuit at the forearm. Im sure no one would think that this is a proper method.
cuewhiz189 said:and yes i can even be witness to those new motors that blud uses as to how queit and fast they are .....i told you guys he has some of the coolest stuff on the planet.....id like to pry that big melon(lol) of his opena dn be able to do that kind of shit......upsets me that his own son wont take advantage of it....but donald is a pretty smart fella in his own right.....could be a deadly combination but understanding all .....sometime things are best as they are ......juston
hope all is well and hope you knock em dead at the hopkins show....cant wait to see those drawings you showed me in a working model......from paper to machine.......you should right a book on it.....would give hightowers book a headache.......would also be a big seller....j
blud said:Hi Jon, sorry for not replying sooner. Been out of town.
In my experiance, a 3 wing slot cutter worked best for me, when I was using a router. About 2" in dia. worked real good, it had about a 3/16" kerf. and at 30,000 rpm it cut pretty smooth. Just be sure your turning the butt, or shaft at about 100RPM, and your feed rate is about 6 minutes, per 30".......
hope this helps.
blud
mjantti said:Hey, Blud & others. Someone mentioned shaft growth rings in some thread (can remember which). Is there any conclusions to be made about the shaft growth rings ? So is a shaft more stabile if it has more growth rings or is it a question of pure esthetics ? I have a Bear cue with two shafts, one shaft has 5 growth rings (through half a circle, 180 degrees) and the other has 12. Would you say that there is a difference of quality between these 2 shafts ?
Williebetmore said:Cuemakers,
Thanks so much for your input. As a player I only care about performance (a nice looking cue is just more likely to get stolen, and its hard to get enough credits from the wife to buy one). What are your views on deflection (ie. Predator vs. Meucci)?? Do you routinely perform deflection testing on your shafts/cues??
LastTwo said:Blud, everyone says the finer the grain of maple, the better the shaft. The thing that I don't understand is, I look at alot of expensive cues these days, ranging from $1000-$3000, and there is all this fancy work done on the base of the cue, then I go and look at the shaft, and it has all of these rings in it. Basically on some of these cues there is barely any grain at all. Why would a cuemaker put so much work into a cue, but make a matching shaft for it that is a piece of crap? What do you think about that? Are they just trying to get a knowledgeable player to purchase a better quality shaft?
FAST_N_LOOSE said:Blud,
What Would You Charge For 2 13mm 30" Ash Shafts, The Trim Collars Are Simple Rings With Veneers. If You Need Pick I Can Send Them. Also Can You Do Custom Tapers, Or Match The Taper On My Current Shaft? Thanks For Your Time.