Blades to cut tips

Guerra Cues

Guerra Cues

I build one cue at a time
Silver Member
Hello,
I have tried and tried and have not been able to cut a tip flush with the ferrule, not able to cut at all :(
So... Can you guys go to www.specialtyblades.com and click on curved blades? Would that be an appropriate blade and more "cut" frendly?
This company also designs blades and if any cuemaker/repairman could design a blade to make the job easier, that would be super nice. Any more ideas to do tips on a lathe without using blades? I am using tool bit and sandpaper now after damaging a few ferrules on some firewood ;)
 
utility blades. i buy then in bulk. when they get dull toss them and grab a new one. sharp is the key

you have to find the right angle holding the blade
 
its funny but i use both hands. i put the chuck under my left arm (without touching) and hold the blade with both hands. my left hip is against the machine and im facing the tailstock. this gives me free movement with the blade .

you just need to find the right angle to cut into the tip. it can be scary at first but once you get it its easy
 
You need to hold the blade angled a little so it cuts against the direction of the lathe turning. If you are holding the blade on the opposite side of the cue with the blade edge sort of pointed toward you, run the lathe in reverses.

Kelly
 
Kelly_Guy said:
You need to hold the blade angled a little so it cuts against the direction of the lathe turning. If you are holding the blade on the opposite side of the cue with the blade edge sort of pointed toward you, run the lathe in reverses.

Kelly
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he's new to cue repair, not retarded
 
poolplayer2093 said:
he's new to cue repair, not retarded
Click to expand...

Well it must be something since he said it won't cut at all, and since I can't see what he is doing, I thought of one possibility. Thanks for the information.

I guess now we shouldn't make suggestions to people who have been damaging ferrules for fear we call them retarded.

Kelly
 
Kelly_Guy said:
Well it must be something since he said it won't cut at all, and since I can't see what he is doing, I thought of one possibility. Thanks for the information.

I guess now we shouldn't make suggestions to people who have been damaging ferrules for fear we call them retarded.

Kelly
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my bad. you conclusion was a logical place to start
 
I've seen Ron Geyer use carpet blades. They seem to work alot better than utility blades and their size make them more manageable. I hope this helps.
 
poolplayer2093 said:
my bad. you conclusion was a logical place to start
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It's all good.

I didn't mean to write the post like I knew that was his problem. Starting with the word "You" in my original post may have given it a tone I didn't intend...I meant to only make a "what if" suggestion.

Kelly
 
Home Depot sells Stanley heavy duty utility knife blades. They are thicker than most of the cheap imported blades, and they cut great. They often have a special where they have two 100 packs of blades in a single blister pack for $10. That is 200 blades for $10. The normal price for these blades is $20 for 100. I bought 800 of these blades for $40 :) a couple months ago. Check them out, they might still have the special packing of blades.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Home Depot sells Stanley heavy duty utility knife blades. They are thicker than most of the cheap imported blades, and they cut great. They often have a special where they have two 100 packs of blades in a single blister pack for $10. That is 200 blades for $10. The normal price for these blades is $20 for 100. I bought 800 of these blades for $40 :) a couple months ago. Check them out, they might still have the special packing of blades.
Click to expand...

The blades are not the issue, the issue is how I use them.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Home Depot sells Stanley heavy duty utility knife blades. They are thicker than most of the cheap imported blades, and they cut great. They often have a special where they have two 100 packs of blades in a single blister pack for $10. That is 200 blades for $10. The normal price for these blades is $20 for 100. I bought 800 of these blades for $40 :) a couple months ago. Check them out, they might still have the special packing of blades.
Click to expand...
exact blade i use
 
poolplayer2093 said:
he's new to cue repair, not retarded
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Hey buddy,
To be honest I do feel that I am having a blond moment.
The shafts I have been using are junk and I can abuse them without problem.
I am doing something wrong for sure.
 
Kelly_Guy said:
You need to hold the blade angled a little so it cuts against the direction of the lathe turning. If you are holding the blade on the opposite side of the cue with the blade edge sort of pointed toward you, run the lathe in reverses.

Kelly
Click to expand...

OK. When I am cutting the tip it feels that I am cutting with the flow that the lathe is spinning and I do not get any resistance. That might be able to tell you something.
 
I hold the blade similar to Lebow's video. However, I made a modification to his technique.

I wanted more control over the blade, instead of letting the entire blade rest on the tip.

I pivot the blade against the side of my tool, and the other end of the blade does the cutting. How this works is I take the very tip of the blade and put it into the side of my tool. It bites into the tool without slipping, and forms my pivot point. It gives me a tremendous amount of control. This works much better with carbide tools than HSS tools. The reason is the shank of a carbide tool is actually soft steel with paint on it. So the tip of the utility knife blade has a much easier time digging into it to form a pivot. I've been using this method for about 3 years or so. Never had a mishap, and always felt very safe about it.

I made a video a while back, but its right off my DV cam. So the file is uncompressed and a GB in size. I don't know how to edit it to put on youtube.

Attached is a still photo that should get teh point across.

The main thing to get out of this is you have much more control when you use a pivot. Its the same idea as on a router table where you should use a starting pin when you can't use a fence, to ease into the router bit in a very controlled way.
 

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As far as direction of spindle, on my picture, the spindle is going forward, the normal way. Works for me. I go full speed on my Hightower small lathe.

There are two things to experiment with: angle of blade relative to axis of shaft, and tilt of blade in your fingers (perpendicular to shaft direction).

Also, since you are using junk cues, experiment with cutting the ferrule with this technique, once you figured out the tip cutting. The reason I say this is because you will find it is very difficult to cut the ferrule. So you will be more confident working near the ferrule that if the blade touches it, it won't become damaged.

I hope I don't get flamed for that last paragraph, but it is the truth.
 
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