Darrin Hills Point Cutting Fixture

DD Custom Cues

DD Custom Cues

Cues by Drew
Silver Member
I just got this from Darrin a few days ago and he did an awsome job building this for me. He's quick and does great work and also keeps in touch with you through the whole process. He's a good and honest guy to deal with here on AZ. Thanks Darrin.
 

Attachments

  • jig1.jpg
    jig1.jpg
    5.4 KB · Views: 737
  • jig2.jpg
    jig2.jpg
    6 KB · Views: 723
DD Custom Cues

DD Custom Cues

Cues by Drew
Silver Member
de893ddc.jpg
[/IMG] Here's more pics
 

Attachments

  • jig3.jpg
    jig3.jpg
    4.6 KB · Views: 684
  • jig4.jpg
    jig4.jpg
    5.3 KB · Views: 715
Last edited:
scdiveteam

scdiveteam

Rick Geschrey
Silver Member
Hi,

Darrin's stuff rocks.

I have 4 machines in my shop that he worked on or built and the tolerance accuracy on my cues are directly proportional to Darrin's great skills as a machine mechanic.


Rick Geschrey
 
Last edited:
GBCues

GBCues

Damn, still .002 TIR!
Gold Member
Silver Member
On a more serious note, it's always a pleasure to see another picture of one of Darrin Hill's machines. He's got a great creative mind for new "toys".

I'm glad he's feeling recovered enough to get back into it!

Gary
 
Mc2

Mc2

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I am confused.

Please don't take offence. I am not seeing anything on your fixture that couldn't be made in less than an hour with the very mill it is setting on. I would encourage you to build your own fixtures next time. I believe that most of the best Q builders make their own. Mr. Hill may have done a great job however if you can build a good cue than this would be an easy project. ????

JMHO.
 
scdiveteam

scdiveteam

Rick Geschrey
Silver Member
Mc2 said:
Please don't take offence. I am not seeing anything on your fixture that couldn't be in less than an hour with the very mill it is setting on. I would encourage you to build your own fixtures next time. I believe that most of the best Q builders make their own. Mr. Hill may have done a great job however if you can build a good cue than this would be an easy project. ????
JMHO.
Click to expand...

Jim,

I think you make a good point but one hour is not realistic to make a set up like that with a repeatable accuracy. I have known Darrin for 10 years and have spent at least 500 hours working with him.

There is no way that Darrin would build a rig and just send it out without testing & cutting points with it.

I don't own a mill in my shop and use a point cutting machine and table the Mr. Hill engineered and prototyped. I cut my points at .920 & taper the cues down to .837 and my points are perfectly square everytime. Now what is that worth.

I do not have a machinist background, before I started building cues I was an advanced underwater mechanic skilled in all trades. From my perspective I understand that when you need professional work done you hire a professional and expect professional results. Darrin and I are very good friends and I insist on paying him $ 75.00 per hour for any jobs he performs for my shop. It has always been a great value for me. He never wants to charge me but I know that if I take time from him and don't pay him I would be stealing food off his family's table. Time is Money!!

Finally I concur with you in your advice when you tell people to do their own work and that is smart. I for one have spent thousands of hours honing my machining skill sets and modifying my equipment to achieve exacting repeatability in my process control. Taking CNC classes and developing that skill is also a huge time bandit. I am sure there are others out there like me who just want to build cues and time spent milling anything other than point groove or butterfly passes is on the back burner. You always pay with your time for a learning curve.

I want to build cues and don't wish to be an expert at the milling machine, I just want to cut perfect point grooves. With that said, conversely, if I didn't pay Darrin for his 20 years of experience, I would be taking food off my family's table. Time is money for me too.

Respectfully,

Rick
 
Last edited:
Mc2

Mc2

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
scdiveteam said:
Jim,

I think you make a good point but one hour is not realistic to make a set up like that with a repeatable accuracy. I have known Darrin for 10 years and have spent at least 500 hours working with him.

There is no way that Darrin would build a rig and just send it out without testing & cutting points with it. Zeroing the X and Y Axis is critical for you to achieve even points that don't run off during tapering.

I don't own a mill in my shop and use a point cutting machine and table the Mr. Hill engineered and prototyped. I cut my points at .920 & taper the cues down to .837 and my points are perfectly square everytime. Now what is that worth.

I do not have a machinist background, before I started building cues I was an advanced underwater mechanic skilled in all trades. From my perspective I understand that when you need professional work done you hire a professional and expect professional results. Darrin and I are very good friends and I insist on paying him $ 75.00 per hour for any jobs he performs for my shop. It has always been a great value for me. He never wants to charge me but I know that if I take time from him and don't pay him I would be stealing food off his family's table. Time is Money!!

Finally I concur with you in your advice when you tell people to do their own work and that is smart. I for one have spent thousands of hours honing my machining skill sets and modifying my equipment to achieve exacting repeatability in my process control. Taking CNC classes and developing that skill is also a huge time bandit. I am sure there are others out there like me who just want to build cues and time spent milling anything other than point groove or butterfly passes is on the back burner. You always pay with your time for a learning curve.

I want to build cues and don't wish to be an expert at the milling machine, I just want to cut perfect point grooves. With that said, conversely, if I didn't pay Darrin for his 20 years of experience, I would be taking food off my family's table. Time is money for me too.

Respectfully,

Rick
Click to expand...

Rick, for the record, I am not bashing Darrin for his work. This was not my point.

Jim.
 
scdiveteam

scdiveteam

Rick Geschrey
Silver Member
Mc2 said:
Rick, for the record, I am not bashing Darrin for his work. This was not my point.

Jim.
Click to expand...

Jim,

I know that and have the utmost respect for your machine design and CNC expertise. My point was that there are many of us that do not want to spend the time to build fixtures and that is part of Darrins business and expertise.

It' all good Jim and I hope I did not give any impression that was a negative vibe. Sometime I get alittle long winded in my posts trying not make a misimpression and it backfires.

Respectfully,

Rick
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top