common mistakes
- Thread starter ratcues
- Start date
tap tap tapMichael Webb said:
Wood almost always warps toward the direction of the grain.
Commo, mistakes
Tap, Tap, Tap (I think Joey beat me to the taps.)
I've said it before and I'll say it again, knowing how to do it is a small part of cuemaking. Knowing why is far more important.
Any info you can get, whether by paying for it or word of mouth is valuable. But it can't replace experience. And that usually involves making mistakes.
Michael Webb said:
Tap, Tap, Tap (I think Joey beat me to the taps.)
I've said it before and I'll say it again, knowing how to do it is a small part of cuemaking. Knowing why is far more important.
Any info you can get, whether by paying for it or word of mouth is valuable. But it can't replace experience. And that usually involves making mistakes.
Experience
Experience is invaluable, but, unfortunately, experience is what you get JUST AFTER you need it
Experience is invaluable, but, unfortunately, experience is what you get JUST AFTER you need it
For me I keep buying the wrong material. For instance I am trying to make a ring like this one.
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=75954
I have another peice of Mother of pearl this size laying around somewhere? Anyways I was hoping to buy material that was 1/8" thick so that I could stick right in ring billet and cut oversize, but the material on the sides are not as pretty as on the face side. If you sand the face side, (or cut, as when you turn everything smoth again) you loose the pretty face. Is ther a polishing technique that brings the pretty back. I have $ 125 lied up and I havn't even made the ring yet!
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=75954
I have another peice of Mother of pearl this size laying around somewhere? Anyways I was hoping to buy material that was 1/8" thick so that I could stick right in ring billet and cut oversize, but the material on the sides are not as pretty as on the face side. If you sand the face side, (or cut, as when you turn everything smoth again) you loose the pretty face. Is ther a polishing technique that brings the pretty back. I have $ 125 lied up and I havn't even made the ring yet!
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bubsbug said:
Sure, it's called sanding. Once in the cue, you turn to final size, sand the cue for the finish normally, and then put on the finish. The finish will fill the slight scratches from sanding and take away the frosted look and it will look as it should.
Dick
Bubs,
Please don't think me critical or self-righteous, I'm just trying to inspire thought.
It would appear that you need to take some initiative and forge ahead on your own without regard to mistakes or waste. Basically, you're not going to learn much by always having someone else talk you through a task. You should also learn to realize your limitations. The Meucci ring job is a perfect example. You shouldn't have accepted the job without sufficient knowledge and the confidence of experience to know that you could complete the job. It's alright to make mistakes and waste some wood, just do it on YOUR wood, not the wood of the client that entrusted you with their cue.
The emerging theme of this thread is that the lessons best taught are the ones we teach ourselves.
What you think you're losing in dollars is what you're really gaining in knowledge. You will have lost nothing.
By the way, you should be able to cut the plastic pearl that you have whatever way that suits you and with proper sanding/finishing you'll get your 'pretty' back. The figure is not oriented to just one surface but the abalone is.
Please don't think me critical or self-righteous, I'm just trying to inspire thought.
It would appear that you need to take some initiative and forge ahead on your own without regard to mistakes or waste. Basically, you're not going to learn much by always having someone else talk you through a task. You should also learn to realize your limitations. The Meucci ring job is a perfect example. You shouldn't have accepted the job without sufficient knowledge and the confidence of experience to know that you could complete the job. It's alright to make mistakes and waste some wood, just do it on YOUR wood, not the wood of the client that entrusted you with their cue.
The emerging theme of this thread is that the lessons best taught are the ones we teach ourselves.
What you think you're losing in dollars is what you're really gaining in knowledge. You will have lost nothing.
By the way, you should be able to cut the plastic pearl that you have whatever way that suits you and with proper sanding/finishing you'll get your 'pretty' back. The figure is not oriented to just one surface but the abalone is.
KJ Cues said:
I agree with your post! The 1/8 inch peice in the pic was a peice that I experimented with. I sanded the side all the way up to 1000 grit. 80, 120 240, 320, 400, 600, 800, and 1000. The preatty wasnt coming back yet, but then againd I didn't have it spining on lathe at 1500 rpms either.
Limitations, I like to think I have none but that's my eago talking. The "Id" I think they call it. I think people who think they have limitations have untaped potential. Can't never did until it tried. I may not get something the first 100 tries put perseverence will ultimately prevail. Thats me in a nut shell. thanks for the help.
P.S. As far as taking on repairs. Perhaps this is bad, but for me it not about money. I am doing it for free. I dont care if cost me a $1000 for this ring i will get it right. For me it's about passion and acomplishment.
bubsbug said:
I seldom ever sand wood or phenolics with finer than 320. Any smoother and all you are doing is polishing. The surface must be smooth but not so smooth that the finish has nothing to adhere to. By the way, why weren't you spinning it on a lathe to sand?
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I was testing the plastic, all sides (prettyness). Before I went to the hassel of cutting each peice, sanding, test fitting, sanding, test fitting, sanding, testing and sanding a few more times, gluing into billet, putting billet into lathe to cut smooth, more sanding. I though why go through all of this if I can't sand it by hand and get the look im after. I even used steel wool and a grinder buffer.
bubsbug said:
A way to shine softer plastics (acrylic, ABS, PVC, lexan and such) is to pass an open flame over it quickly after your sanding is complete. You don't want it to catch on fire or to melt but just briskly move the object across the flame until the shine is totally back. This comes in handy for places hard to polish like if you want to bore out a piece of acrylic to have someones name encased or such like Vikings and others have done in the past.
Dick
I have found for a lot of plastics to look good before a finish, without the sanding marks, appeared best when wet sanded. The problem is keeping the moisture off of the wood of the cue. I usually seal the wood part with a sanding sealer first. let go for a day. then wet sand the plastic collar with about 320-400, then wipe and see how it looks. If not bad, I then hit with 600 grit then wipe, then sand the rest of the cue to what I want before the finish. Then apply finish.
Good luck. BTW nothing looks good when hand sanded compared to being sanded and buffed on a lathe. Just my 'pinion
Dave
Good luck. BTW nothing looks good when hand sanded compared to being sanded and buffed on a lathe. Just my 'pinion
Dave
To date I have been doing cue repairs for about 5 years, my first conversion cue was completed in the fall of 2006. During this time I have also made a great deal of fire wood, and up here in the Great North West it really helps to keep you warm!!!!!!
But more importantly the information learned from mistakes is very valuable.
But seriously, I think that doing cue repairs before actually building cues is the most important thing anyone who desires to build a cue should do. I can not even compare the knowledge I have gained from repair work to anything else. I have been a pool player for almost 35 years, and I think that I have a decent grasp of how a cue should be balanced, finished and hit. As far as, a cues hit is concerned to me, a solid hit with good hit transmission is best, many people gage their stroke by the feedback they receive by a cues hit.
Last of all, with the advent of all the new machinery assembling a cue has been made much!! much!!!! easier and traditional methods of cue making are no longer the norm for many people building cues. This in my opinion has created a market were we have allot of nice looking designs, with crappy finishes, that hit poorly and will not last the test of time unlike days past.
But more importantly the information learned from mistakes is very valuable. But seriously, I think that doing cue repairs before actually building cues is the most important thing anyone who desires to build a cue should do. I can not even compare the knowledge I have gained from repair work to anything else. I have been a pool player for almost 35 years, and I think that I have a decent grasp of how a cue should be balanced, finished and hit. As far as, a cues hit is concerned to me, a solid hit with good hit transmission is best, many people gage their stroke by the feedback they receive by a cues hit.
Last of all, with the advent of all the new machinery assembling a cue has been made much!! much!!!! easier and traditional methods of cue making are no longer the norm for many people building cues. This in my opinion has created a market were we have allot of nice looking designs, with crappy finishes, that hit poorly and will not last the test of time unlike days past.
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rhncue said:
I have no experience with this other than "polishing" ferrules on golf clubs after sanding the thing flush to the club hosel, but would acetone "polish" some of these plastics ? It might be worth a try, as it is a very easy method and done correctly leaves a shine on the plastic like a factory finish.
Dave, measure once, cut twice, swear repeatedly
ring
I tried for the second time today. Tomorrow we will se what happens, I feel confedent but yet skeptical, we'll see. This is exactaly what I did. I took a peice of my 1/4 stock and ran it through my planner a few times on both sides. I then took it and ran it through my thickness sander a few times on each side. Constantly checking it against my ring billet. I finnaly machined it to proper thickness. I then took it to my other sander where I could square it vertivally and horrizanly. once square and straight I made a pass on the band saw. Now I have one peice ready to install. I took the remaining stocked and squared it up true again with the sander. I made another pass with bandsaw, re-trued again. I did this until all peices were made. They fit really tight, but we will se what happens tomorrow.
I tried for the second time today. Tomorrow we will se what happens, I feel confedent but yet skeptical, we'll see. This is exactaly what I did. I took a peice of my 1/4 stock and ran it through my planner a few times on both sides. I then took it and ran it through my thickness sander a few times on each side. Constantly checking it against my ring billet. I finnaly machined it to proper thickness. I then took it to my other sander where I could square it vertivally and horrizanly. once square and straight I made a pass on the band saw. Now I have one peice ready to install. I took the remaining stocked and squared it up true again with the sander. I made another pass with bandsaw, re-trued again. I did this until all peices were made. They fit really tight, but we will se what happens tomorrow.
cueman said:
I total agree with you , I try make cue , and find my cue's mistake , and
correct them
and next cue I will do better , so I always buy some item from you ,
but little question to you ..
this is my point , because you must try and this knowledge is yours