Doing hand cut custom inlay work--need general advice from experienced cuemaker

I know that I started with something a little simpler..... what you are attempting requires some experience..... you mentioned that you bought a simi finished cue to do this on.... I would have thought that you would have learned to make cues first........................


Kim
 
Do a practice inlay in a flat piece about 3/8 in thick........ drill a hole through the pocket so you can poke the inlay out from the back if it gets stuck..... after you get the technique down then go for the real thing.................

Kim
 
Slim Limpy said:
Kim, I have no interest in building cues--it's just that I went to three other cuemakers who ended up either having no interest in doing an inlay like this that they have no experience in doing or were just not interested in investing the time in the project. These are the only inlays in the cue and who is going to do an epoxy filled inlay like this except me, myself, and I.

The patience it takes to carve the inner border inlays is no problem for me--my hobbies in some cases require far more patience and detail than dremeling and filing these inlays require. The cue itself (in my opinion) has turned out stunning so far and I intend on the inlays looking just as nice. I just need some professional advice on how to set the border pieces into the inlay cutouts because the installation is probably a one shot deal if they are glued in. If they are pressed fit in I can always just snap them out and put new ones in--that's why I'm dremeling 9 pieces in case I screw the first installation up--even if they are glued in I'll have 3 minutes or so to pull them out before the glue sets.

The epoxy fill is a basic craft jewelry skill--again patience and meticulous setup is pretty much all that is required to do that properly.
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Turn a maple dowel to the specs of the cue you are about to receive - or hire somebody to turn it for you.

Make duplicates of the pieces you want in that cue.

Practice inlaying the clones in the maple test bed cue.

Lather, rinse, repeat... till satisfaction is achieved.

Dale
 
first of all....test fitting the inlays into the actual cue is a bad idea. What if you test fit tight? gonna pry it out with exacto?" Your gonna tear up the pockets not to mention handling the cue alot with your dirty oily hands. Is it sealed?

I would have never shipped you the cue. I would have shipped you a pc of 1/4" aluminum plate with the exact pocket size, cut all the way through and 30-40 thou chamfer all the way around it. This way you have a guide in and a way to press back out from the backside.

Also, the oval wont be doing you any favors. Worst shape on earth! Any slight change you make on any side changes everything and once you take a little off, theres no turning back.
 
i'm intrigued now and would like to see a picture of the design if possible.

Your ambitions where tolerances are concerned are admirable but not realistic imo, especially since this is a first time thing. If i could hand cut and sand to .010 then i would feel like a wizard. I think if you can press it in with out much of any resistance then your way good. Sounds like your gonna have plenty of epoxy to keep things stable after installed.

i'd definitely pre-seal the sidewalls of the pocket, coco running into osage will look pretty gross.
 
All you need is very good eye sight, a steady hand, and practice. Job done.
Hand fitting parts is an art in itself. Reading does not give people this skill , but practice does. With a lot of practice you can fit parts to about .0005 inches, some can fit metal parts to a couple of tenths. No one can do that kind of work without practice, and some can never achieve these fits no matter how much they practice.
 
Limpy,

When you glue in the inlays use high strength slow cure epoxy and don't wipe off excess on the cue and mix by weight using a gram scale that measures 10th of grams. The ratio is very critical. Many people add a little more hardener thinking it will be harder. Not! If you add too much hardener the batch will not ever cure. So 10th of grams is not a good thing it is a must to get the highest yield from the chemistry. The devil is in the detail and this one is huge.

In fact when you mix the batch, mix more than you need. After the inlays are in, keep checking your mix and when it gets a bit more viscous than molasses take a toothpick and spread the epoxy over the inlay so all your seams have layer height above the elevation of the surface.

As epoxy cures it can shrink down into the pocket. With this layer of surface tension in place you can prevent this with this overburden layer. Also make sure you let the epoxy cure out for a week before the final taper turn because even after the clear finish you can see shrinkage. You do not want to turn the cue early because the heat from to cutter can effect the epoxy if it is not in a 100% fully cured state.

Make sure the cue is keep above 80 degrees during the curing.

It took me 6 years to figure out the shrinkage deal. Sometimes it does not show up for weeks after you clear coat so always let the cure out happen before taper turning and also when applying the substrate before clearing.

Time is alway your friend.

Take some pics and share the cue with us when it's done.

You might want to do a search of Thomas Wayne's cues where he hand carves sharp points and corners into lighter colored wood. He is the master at this and his work with the knife is the best in the biz IMO. Doing that on a nearly finished cue with many hundreds of hours in work done is like doing a high wire act with out a net. LOL.

Good luck,

Rick
 
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You need the fit to be within a couple of thousandths to keep the glue line from being seen with the natural eye. You will most likely never get it to where it cannot be seen with a jewelers loop.
 
Slim Limpy said:
Ok, thanks to both of you for responding. I hadn't thought about creating an imitation practice inlay system to find out for myself what my tolerance limits for the gluing would be between the inlay itself and the inlay cutout so I get the correct expansion to close the gap between the border inlay and the inlay cutout.

Watching pool cue inlay videos on YouTube just shows that there is a certain amount of space neccessary between the inlay cutout and the inlay itself to allow for the glue to be squeezed through to glue the inlay in. Obviously there is expansion taking place due to the wood absorbing moisture from the glue or all inlays would have hidious glue lines present on most every cue. But you can't tell exactly how tight these inlays fit from the videos and they never discuss the sizing specs.

And there's no reason why I have to practice with the exact shape of the inlay. All I really need to practice with is a dowel and a board. Drill holes accordingly, cut the dowel into discs for inlays, and oversize the holes just enough until my practice needs are met. I'll use a scrap piece of cocobola board and just keep practicing until I have the spacing correct so no glue lines can be seen and do the same with the real inlays. And I can sand the practice inlays to imitate what the gluelines would look like after the cue would receive it's final turning to specs.

I told the cuemaker to expect the cue back in a month, so I have given myself ample time to get this right.



Jake, the cue is oversized and still needs final turning so all I need to be careful with is the inlays. They are cut to the proper depth for the inlaying of the items that will be set in the epoxy fill. I have several ovals already cut to the exact sizing of the inlays, but can't continue with them until I know the final exact dimensions that they need to be for setting in the pockets. I've already dealt with the dremeling and filing/sanding issues that are required to form the ovals properly (getting them to exactly 90 degree edges, etc.) and expect to mess many more up before getting my 9 finished discs. I only need three but I'll be able to use those nine for perfecting my final three. I realize now that the ovals were the worst shape for me to work with, but the items going into the center of the inlays required an oval shape. I have created a thin copper template that fits in the ovals perfectly for creating my discs with, so I can duplicate as many ovals an neccessary for both practice and final product.
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You seem to be headed in the right direction. one other tip you can fine tune during
practice phase: using inlay parts that are thick enough, glue a dowel to the top side
of the part so you can pull it back out of the pocket if you need to. That should help
you develop a feel for how tight a fit you can achieve.

In general do not ever expect that all will go smoothly, rather anticipate problems
because they are always layin' there in the weeds just waiting to grab you.

ps in general one should pay close attention to anything Neil posts, he knows what
he's talking about when it comes to machining and such.

Dale(who had to pound a few inlays in early on)
 
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