Check out my first cue built from Chris H. Deluxe lathe

Cuemaster98

Cuemaster98

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This is a SRG Full splice blank model that I used to build my first cue. The cue is just a plain 4 points, 4 veneers cue with a 3/8-10 pin and plastic ivory collar joint collar and a quality shaft that we got from Joe at Cue component. It took me about 4 weeks to get the shaft taper near the final size, cut it little by little every week...the shaft is straight and plays good...I hope it stay that way!

I really wanted to test the quality of my blanks so decided that I should just pick one blank randomly to see if I'm able to build a cue of it. My goal was to learn the process of cue building so that I understand better how our full splice blank can be used by cue builders to build quality custom cues.

I'm happy to say that my cue plays great!! Vass is probably the first person to have hit with my cue and he liked the hit. I had my own custom "memory taper" and the 3/8-10 joint is piloted (Not great as it not snugged enough) but I did sand the joint to make sure that it smooth and feel as one piece with the shaft on. My finish on this cue really suck!! I used a wood sealer from Chris and super glue from dollar store? (5 glues for a buck!!..figure you couldn't go wrong). Of course...my finish probably the worst that I've seen on a cue..super glue sting my eye and the fume smell.)

Anyhow, the butt taper and part of the shaft taper were borrowed from a cue builder friend. I set the taper bar and shaft bar according to a cue that I really liked. I had help from a few cue builders with regards to basic cue building techniques...(Chris Video was really comprehensive...and answered most of my questions). I'm quite happy with the playability of my first cue (It very straight (Not perfect like scrugg, tascarella, etc)..the shaft is perfect and I think the butt may have a tiny wobble or it could be that the cue butt end is off. The pin was installed straight and Chris lathe really helped with the precision!!

Anyway enjoy!!! BTW...I'm taking offer on this cue....LOL...would not be offended with low offers. Just wanted to say that I've built a cue and sold it!!! I just don't understand how some of the custom cue builder can sell a cue so cheap now that I been through the process of building one. I've must have spent at least 25 hrs into this cue over 5-6 weeks. If I'm lucky to sell this cue from $200++...that only $8.00 an hour. I'm ordering Chris leather wrap fixture, so this cue will have a leather wrap installed. Cue currently weigh in at 18.9oz (Shaft is 4.2oz)...will probably be around 19.5oz once I'm done.

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hay man as honest as i can be i really do like that cue. hope you tuen a big enough profit to keep you going (making cues that is)
 
Greetings All,
Well, I guess the only way to go at this is to stir the nest for a while & see what pops out.
The man states that he has 25+ hrs. in the building of this cue and I'm guessing that's very conservative, not to mention that it's not done yet and that doesn't include mtrls. costs. Now, as he states : "If I'm lucky to sell this cue from $200++...that only $8.00 an hour".
Now comes an individual that says : QUOTE=poolcuemaster]I'll offer 1 hundred bucks American.--Leonard[/QUOTE].
Well, now we're talking $4 / hr. What's wrong with this picture ? Am I alone in thinking that this is one of the reasons that the art of building cues in America is in the dumpster ? The man has time & effort in building this cue and should be paid what it's worth, not insulted. He builds some of the most awesome full-splice blanks that I think I've ever seen and he should be encouraged & fairly compensated for his efforts. If he did nothing but build full-spliced blanks for the rest of his life I would think he could wind up a very wealthy man. His efforts should be encouraged and not undermined. $4 / hr. ???
Ok, the next part of this is a question regarding the choice of the piloted 10 pin. Why ? IMO, it's not only not necessary but actually takes away from the 'hit'. It does this by removing the surface area of both the shaft & the handle where the vibration would travel across the joint. There's no contact area other than the rings & the joint collar. Unless you were going for something very specific in the 'hit', I would stay away from it (IMHO). Personally,
I like to be able to 'feel' the cueball in it's purist form.
OK, I'm done stirrin, let's see who's jumpin.
 
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Let's cut to the chase, He doesn't make the blanks, he imports them from China. So it's up to you if you want to defend an "American cue maker"
It's a free country so he can do what he wants and sell it for what ever he wants. Notice the runout in the shaft wood(cue components special) and cheap super glue finish(can you say yellow in the future). On another post he had one of his blanks made by an unnamed Master Cuemaker, yeah right!!!.
 
The hourly wage goes up two ways. What once took 25+ hours, should eventually only take 3. What once sold for $200 should eventually cost $500.
That is if the cuemaker can hack it. Lots of competition, and lots of run of the mill cues mean that a cuemaker has to rise a bit above to ever make it more than a hobby.
 
KJ Cues said:
Greetings All,
Well, I guess the only way to go at this is to stir the nest for a while & see what pops out.
The man states that he has 25+ hrs. in the building of this cue and I'm guessing that's very conservative, not to mention that it's not done yet and that doesn't include mtrls. costs. Now, as he states : "If I'm lucky to sell this cue from $200++...that only $8.00 an hour".
Now comes an individual that says : QUOTE=poolcuemaster]I'll offer 1 hundred bucks American.--Leonard.
Well, now we're talking $4 / hr. What's wrong with this picture ? Am I alone in thinking that this is one of the reasons that the art of building cues in America is in the dumpster ? The man has time & effort in building this cue and should be paid what it's worth, not insulted. He builds some of the most awesome full-splice blanks that I think I've ever seen and he should be encouraged & fairly compensated for his efforts. If he did nothing but build full-spliced blanks for the rest of his life I would think he could wind up a very wealthy man. His efforts should be encouraged and not undermined. $4 / hr. ???
Ok, the next part of this is a question regarding the choice of the piloted 10 pin. Why ? IMO, it's not only not necessary but actually takes away from the 'hit'. It does this by removing the surface area of both the shaft & the handle where the vibration would travel across the joint. There's no contact area other than the rings & the joint collar. Unless you were going for something very specific in the 'hit', I would stay away from it (IMHO). Personally,
I like to be able to 'feel' the cueball in it's purist form.
OK, I'm done stirrin, let's see who's jumpin.
Click to expand...

You're serious aren't you!(?)
 
Nice Job

For your first cue, looks great.

I am not a big fan of a Super Glue finish. If your going to go to the trouble of making a Cue you should use a UV protective finish (except for the case of maybe a Sneaky Pete someone wants to look old and yellowed.

I like the shaft to have to squeeze fit, I prefer the Radial over the 3/8 10 for this.

On price,its a buyers sellers market. How high will the player go, how low will the Cue Maker go? I bought a Harvey Martin once for $100.00, the seller needed the money so he could lose gambling some more:D
 
Thanks for advice guys...here my second cue that I put together. I used one of my short splice blanks that I sell....added the pin, modified the butt cap with a leather cover....really like the feel and look...I didn't do a good job on the butt cap with the leather or the leather wrap...I had a dull razor knife..so it didn't cut the leather well. The seam is off and not even straight. This will probably be my style of butt cap...I don't know if anyone have done it this way before...it look sharp to me.

The wrap was done hand free so it kinda ugly but will do...as the cue is stiff and plays great!! 19.7oz (shaft is 4.1oz)...strong and dense cue. The stainless steel joint is still oversize at .865 and the shaft is about .848. I like this cue but will rewrap the cue again once I get Chris wrap fixture. Again finish suck...tried by spraying shellac...I had an undercoat of sealer underneath before spary...built an outdoor spary booth out of cardboard and sprayed outside...this is a lot nicer than the super glue...but had to wait about 40 hrs before I can wet sand...still needs to be buffed.

Just got some epoxy finish from Atlas that I will be trying on an 8 points that I'm building. I'm changing my taper bar to make the taper of a southwest and the two shafts are from Joe Gold shafts...they good...I used the worst one on my first cue ...it has straight grain..but does run out at the end. I have about 10 shafts that are first grade from Pen blanks...that are perfect..just hope I don't mess them up.

Cutter..you're mocking one of the best cuemaker in this country. If you can't see the quality in that cue, you don't know what quality is!! I have commissioned some of the top cuebuilders in our industry to make cues from my full splice blanks. The 8 points is the first one, I will post more of these as they come in...I will not disclose any cue builder name, as my purpose is to show the quality of our full splice blanks and to show that you can build a high quality cues if you have the skills. That 8 points cue has uneven point, chip in one point....but this gentleman was still able to true it and make it look perfect. I think you should have a closer look at the quality of that cue.

BTW...anyone know where I can get the thick brass ring or silver ring. I can't find it anywhere. I love the classic thick silver ring on my scrugg and the thick brass ring on this cue.

Here are pics of my second cue ever that I've put together...well not really mine..as I didn't put the cue together from scratch like my first cue.

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cutter said:
Let's cut to the chase, He doesn't make the blanks, he imports them from China. So it's up to you if you want to defend an "American cue maker"
It's a free country so he can do what he wants and sell it for what ever he wants. Notice the runout in the shaft wood(cue components special) and cheap super glue finish(can you say yellow in the future). On another post he had one of his blanks made by an unnamed Master Cuemaker, yeah right!!!.
Click to expand...

Wow Man,
You come out the box kinda hard with the critique; and it's early yet. OK, who poured vinegar on this guys Wheaties ?
Given this guy's (cuemaster98) phone #, he's doing this in the states which means he's got the same bills & overhead as you, me or anyone else. It costs money to do business in this country. Personally I don't care what his nationality is, where he went to school or what his sexual preference is, he's doing his work under the same conditions as the rest of us, so to speak. Point being, would you build cues for $4/hr ? He's not yet said that he's willing to work for $4......But he's being asked to.
Sorry bout the Wheaties
 
I think everything you can make yourself you should. If you don’t make as much as possible on the cue then you haven’t built it you have assembled it. Or in your own words “cue that I put together” you didn’t build it or even make it you assembled it! Don’t get me wrong buying blanks from you or Prather are a good way to learn how thing are put together. But not the way, I think a reputable cue builder would do things. I don’t think any would want it known they were making cues from production blanks and even if so, I would hope they would not sign them unless they signed them custom conversion or somthing like that, other wise I think it would be a little misleading. Just my .02 cents on the matter.


Old_Newbe
 
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Okay, I'll say it. He is starting out with basicly a house cue (very nice spliced etc) but still basicly a House Cue. He used Super Glue for a finish. Where in the heck can he have 25 hours in it?????????

Clock me on it, to be nice, show me where 20 of those 25 hours are.

As far as where the Splice Stock comes from it matters not. If your looking for woods to make Cues from we have Maple in the USA and not much more.
 
Well...I have one machine (deluxe cuesmith..still learning how to use it)...the shaft for this cue alone was 8-10 hours work...I'm talking about setting the machine and setting the shaft taper bar..tweeking it. Adding ferrule and tips and I think sanding took most of the time for me...as I made some mistake with my shaft taper and opt to sand it down with 220, 320, 420, etc.... The butt took the remaining about of my time.. fiquiring out how to bore the weight bolt, bumper, taper again took a heck of lot of time as I borrowed the butt taper from a friend by using his cue as a gauge.. I was learning how to use the dial indicator to check the straight of the joint... I guess if you talking about just machine time...than it probably no where near it...all I know if that I'm spend quite a bit of time in the shop over the last 5-6 weeks building this cue.

I'm slow but I'm sure more experience cue builder can make a quick turnaround on their investment with my blanks....However be Warned...you need to let these blanks sit for 2-4 weeks in your environment before making your first pass. I have new builder that turn them down to quickly and warped on them....you really do need patience when building cues as I'm sure you are all aware of.

I probably spend a lot of time sanding off finishes and adding it back on and off. Made a lot of mistake..and kinda gave up on the finish. I was also thinking and building my second cue during this time as well. Mistake probably make up for most of the time but I guess I should factor that out of my time.

If I did batches 10 cues...I can see the time been cut shorter..as I don't have to set up the machine for pass etc. Do it all at once would be a great time saver...no I can see why all cuemakers stress the more machine the better.

How much time does it take you to make a cue? what is the standard for a good cue builder?

I'm sure that since it a full splice...adding joint, taper butt, shaft, pin etc...make it a lot faster but it does take time to prep the machine, thinking how I want the cue, measuring the weight of the blanks and each component to figure out the weight distribution, length of the cue...and testing the hit of the cue. Maybe that's why a lot of cue builders by our full splice blanks..to save time!!. I can't see myself...waiting to joint the cue together with forearm and butt sleeve...there definite advantage to doing the handle cue as you can determine the balance better than a full splice but you can also balance a full splice cue using length and components.

I have a lot of season cue builder that have bought my blanks so that they can have filler for the show..they spent most of their time making high end cues that they don't have time for lower end filler. I'm hoping to attract more of this market....right a lot of new cue builders are buying my blanks to generate revenues. You get a full splice blanks for $75 to 140 each...add pin, joint, shaft dowel and etc...you have about $120 to $180 in material for the cue alone and if you factoring in your time...by hours...you can sell their full splice cue for about $400 plus and I've a several client that have sold their full splice blanks with inlay and 2 shafts for $1200 plus. Heck my normal blanks (Birdeye forearm with brideye sleeve are $70 each..but I have a few guys that are just buying them up and selling them for $350 plus each...they are very happy with the blanks and ROI for their investment. The best so far is my SE model...which is basically sold out right now.....these guys get them and turn them into $1K cue by adding ivory joint...diamond inlays..etc.

I will display pics of some of these custom cues in the gallery, some of them are really nice and I know they will be great players as well. All I know is that if I'm able to build a playable cue with no cuebuilding experience at all, anyone can!! (As long as you have the proper equipment)..."The deluxe cuesmith from Chris Hightower make building a cue so simple even a caveman can do it"!!! LOLOL

Regards,
Duc.
 
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On Cue Finishing

Duc, if you have some reason to use yellowing finishes make it easy on yourself. Go to Sherwin Williams COMMERCIAL paint store and get some conversion varnish, you can sand in about 20 minutes

I never figure equipment set up as part of one cue time. I alsohave a little more experiance with a Hightower then you, I can set the taper for Butt in about 5 minutes.

Oh, get yourself a Spur driver for front chuck, it will make sanding and cutting a lot faster.
 
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Maybe I am knocking one of the best cuemakers in the country, then again maybe you only think he is one of the best cuemakers in the country. I'll bet his name isn't Shick,Bender,Capone,Nittie,Mcworter,Chudy,Showman,Searing,Gilbert,Haley or several other of the best cuemakers in the country. So who is it! I'd think someone of his stature would "love" the publicity.
 
Hey Tom,

How does a spur driver help with sanding and cutting?? I'm justed started using the hightower lathe 5-6 weeks ago....we used this machine to do repair work, I thought it would be a waste not to try and built a cue from it.

I'm not really setup to do auto finish....is epoxy finish just a bad as the super glue? Honestly, at this point I will probably try the finish you mentioned...I don't mind the finish yellowing...like the classic look on a cue.

I guess, I'm not a cuemaker/cuebuilder yet...I'm just putting component together...maybe one day I will decide to make cue but for now..I'm just going to experiment and learn from my mistake.

Old_Newbe, didn't szamboti, balabushka, gina, etc and other great cuemaker used full splice blanks from someone else to make their cue? I guess it was maybe in their early cuebuilding stage...and they started to build their own?
 
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