All the previous recommendations are right on. Read, read, and read some more. A well taught machine shop course would be great. So much of what we do is based on machine shop principals, it really helps when you get your first equipment. Most importantly, and I think Bill Stroud said it first. You have to know why your doing something not just how to do it.
Take Chris's book apart. Look at everything he does and try to see why he does it, and then try to come up with another way of doing it. May not be a better way, but it will get your mind thinking into the mechanics of each operation. A lot of cuemakers try to make this a black art, it's not, it's just sound mechanical practices. Design and materials are where you get into the real magic. Look at some of the high end cues and try to rebuild them. I always love to see a cue that makes me say, now how in the h--l did he do that. Richard Black, Ernie, and Thomas Wayne have a couple that make me say that. I've learned a lot, pondering their methods.
