Beginner cue building question, help with equipment needed.

Kimmo H.

Kimmo H.

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have been doing tips and basic ferrule jobs for a little over year now and the bug has bit me bit on cue making. Or cue maintenance more so:o

I have a ton to learn about different things and building techniques and I plan on buying one of the cue makers manuals found in the internet to get a baseline for work techniques. The machining part is familiar to me, I have been making my living on a lathe for the past 5 years :rolleyes:

But to start with I need some info on the right equipment to get once I get to the point where I can afford a better lathe and some new equipment. My little old CNC lathe no longer supports NC control and is now having some malfunctions occasionally on manual control too so I will be on the market for a lathe soon enough :help:

What kind of lathe would suit my needs the best if I were to do tips, ferrules, cue extensions and shaft & butt polishing / taking down shafts?
Distance between centers has to be 80cm+ for the shafts alone, the lathe needs to be able to cut threads, but how about taking down shafts in diameter? With what should I cut it if I were to make a 12.75 shaft in to a 12.25?
What about the most basic tools to get started? I would like to have the ability to do a mid cue extension one day for myself, what kind of tools are used for driving in the pins / inserts and are there different taps for wood than those used for steel?

And for the chemicals used; What kind of Epoxies do you use when doing ferrules / joint pins? I have used Devcon 2 ton for ferrules, and sometimes if in a hurry Gorilla glue epoxy. All I have tried have held up nice, but I would appreciate your input with these as everyone seems to have their favourites from what I found online :o
What about the finishing? Some kind of lacquer is used to get a smooth & shiny surface but I dont know where to get stuff like this for use with woods. I have painted cars and tractors in my youth so I know how to hold a spray gun as long as I know what to spray with :smile:

I apologize for the noobish nature of my endless list of questions, but I believe that it is smarter to ask what you dont know rather than buying stuff blindly.

I live in Finland so I would appreciate if you could point me out to an European dealer for woods and cue building equipment. I have bought everything I have needed so far from Elforyn.com, its an Atlas EU dealer. Lovely folks to deal with but they dont offer too much tools etc. just a wide variety of materials.

Thank you for reading. Hopefully I will get some guidelines from you all on what to get and from where so I can get started with my little project here :o
 
Kimmo H. said:
I have been doing tips and basic ferrule jobs for a little over year now and the bug has bit me bit on cue making. Or cue maintenance more so:o

I have a ton to learn about different things and building techniques and I plan on buying one of the cue makers manuals found in the internet to get a baseline for work techniques. The machining part is familiar to me, I have been making my living on a lathe for the past 5 years :rolleyes:

But to start with I need some info on the right equipment to get once I get to the point where I can afford a better lathe and some new equipment. My little old CNC lathe no longer supports NC control and is now having some malfunctions occasionally on manual control too so I will be on the market for a lathe soon enough :help:

What kind of lathe would suit my needs the best if I were to do tips, ferrules, cue extensions and shaft & butt polishing / taking down shafts?
Distance between centers has to be 80cm+ for the shafts alone, the lathe needs to be able to cut threads, but how about taking down shafts in diameter? With what should I cut it if I were to make a 12.75 shaft in to a 12.25?
What about the most basic tools to get started? I would like to have the ability to do a mid cue extension one day for myself, what kind of tools are used for driving in the pins / inserts and are there different taps for wood than those used for steel?

And for the chemicals used; What kind of Epoxies do you use when doing ferrules / joint pins? I have used Devcon 2 ton for ferrules, and sometimes if in a hurry Gorilla glue epoxy. All I have tried have held up nice, but I would appreciate your input with these as everyone seems to have their favourites from what I found online :o
What about the finishing? Some kind of lacquer is used to get a smooth & shiny surface but I dont know where to get stuff like this for use with woods. I have painted cars and tractors in my youth so I know how to hold a spray gun as long as I know what to spray with :smile:

I apologize for the noobish nature of my endless list of questions, but I believe that it is smarter to ask what you dont know rather than buying stuff blindly.

I live in Finland so I would appreciate if you could point me out to an European dealer for woods and cue building equipment. I have bought everything I have needed so far from Elforyn.com, its an Atlas EU dealer. Lovely folks to deal with but they dont offer too much tools etc. just a wide variety of materials.

Thank you for reading. Hopefully I will get some guidelines from you all on what to get and from where so I can get started with my little project here :o
Click to expand...


It is good that you have lathe experience.

Buy Chris Hightower's book.

Buy the best lathe you can afford. I suggest a Hightower Deluxe cue lathe.

You don't need a big metal lathe to build pool cues.

You need at least 40 inches between centers. (100 cm)

You do not need a lathe that does threading.

The same taps work on wood as for steel.

To turn down a shaft a small amount.... turn the ferrule down and sand the shaft to match

Use epoxy on ferrules... 5 minute is ok

Use CA gel for tips.

Lacquer is not a good finish for cues

Kim
 
Thank you both for the very informative advice :smile:

I have studied on the subject for the past few days and have reached the conclusion that I am not financially capable of actual cue building and better stay in the repair business.

Again, I want to thank you for all the advices and tips on the matter. AzB can still be a great community, this thread for one proves that once again. I'll post some pics on little projects I have planned on when I get them started and have something to show for :smile: Just small stuff like rear extensions and some phenolic bumpers to get to learn a bit on.
 
You can still start collecting woods that you would like to use in cues should you decide to make some. You have not mentioned what lathe you have currently. A lathe is really good for putting on Ferrules and doing joint work. But cues can be made with a lathe that is shorter than the finished product , but means that a lot of hand work is required. Like the way some companies make snooker cues for example.
 
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