Ya cnc and panto sissies! This is how ya do it . This is art, damn it!
Cnc vs non Cnc cues other questions
- Thread starter Dwalk70
- Start date
Complete with a flipflop to level the lathe....LMAO
Quite a few would differ your point.
To a cue maker they are producing art on a cue stick whether it be inlays or paintings of Eagles, Wolves, etc. it's still comparable.
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So having built with both Panto and CNC here was my experience. When I first started doing inlay I would hand draw my patterns 4 times their size. I would cut them out with the scroll saw and hand smooth all the cuts. I then would reduce them by half and build a final pattern in brass or aluminum. The panto would reduce it in half again for the final inlay. It was a long process to go through. It evolved to drawing up my patterns in cad and machining my patterns on the CNC. Eventually I started machining directly on the CNC. The end product is better now then when I started. But if you looked at it like a analog product vs digital my original inlay was hand traced from a hand drawn pattern, the reducing minimized the errors making them less noticeable. At the end of the day the difference is imperfections. Those original inlays would be impossible to reproduce with CNC because they are not perfect geometry. Does that equate to more valuable? Well if one of those cues was the Van Gogh of cues and a sought after one of piece of art...well maybe. But the question is would that be because of the Artist or the process. It is all about the creativity and the artist. If the cue maker uses CNC to make a one of piece of art then being made on CNC has no baring. Now if that same cue is reproduced a 100 times it wouldn't have near the value and to me that is how CNC can be detrimental.
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I agree with your post, but curious what is "perfect geometry"?
My inlay patterns were drawn out by hand with a pencil, ruler, compass etc. Then cut out with a scroll saw. So the geometry wasn't perfect in symmetry. Only as close as I could by hand. The pantograph was used to trace the original to build the pattern at a 2:1 reduction so that would minimize my errors. Then when I used the pattern to cut the pockets and inlays it was reduced again 2:1. Minimizing my errors once again. So the final product looks a lot closer to perfect than the original pattern. When you use cad your geometry is without errors. That is what I meant by perfect geometry.
You don't have to go to Aisa to find someone doing inlay similar to that. I have a friend whom I have know since high school, who is an artist and cabinet maker, had me build him a cue. Then he took it and laid some inlays and checkering in it by hand. Then he started building cues on his wood lathe. Some of them are pretty extensively inlaid by hand. He jokingly says we are mama's boys with our cnc.
I have made many cues with patterns made by hand scatching grooves into plexiglass or with panto graph. I have also panto milled many cues with patterns made on cnc. I have also built many cues that were inlaid with the assistance of our cnc machines. All these things are tools. The comments from others about less skilled people using manual equipment instead of cnc seems a little skewed. I don't think of either as less or more skilled, but just skilled with different sets of skills. That guy in the video is obviously more skilled doing inlay work by hand than most of the cnc guys. But I would guess without some training that guy could not do a single inlay with a cnc machine. Both are skilled. I can out do my son all day long on the panto mill and with non cnc veneer and butterfly work. But he can out do me all day long with cnc inlay work. We both bring different skills to the table in our shop. Who is the most skilled? That this the question that cannot be answered.
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That's a great video. I couldn't tell how they joined the handle and forearm, looked like a tenon and glue?
Hey Joey, Are there any pics of Judd's Dream Catcher Cue that are available?
I just looked in all three blue books and could not find it nor did it come up in a duck / duck search or s google search.