Few starter cue builder questions

[northshoremb]

Hello I've been watching YouTube and found a few guys I follow showing them building cuesin fast time. After watching I can't help but expand my crafts and hobby into making cues in the future as a on the sid3 small business. That way can build a few cues a year on the side as well as some for myself.

So few questions I have for builders is Above the material costs how do you determine your own wage for your time onc3 you get proficient and make quality cues?
Along with previous question how long not including curling or drying times does it take you physically to make a Full spliced Butt with rings no shaft? Spliced butt with point that is the "3 piece/half splice" type with no linen or wraps?

Also I'm in Canada so no were near here to just go down and buy exotic or Andy sort of wood blanks so where do most people online buy 1.5"x1.5" turning blocks, pins, rings..etc?



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[GBCues]

Welcome to the cue building hobby. It can be a lot of fun. But being a hobby, there is very little concept of making a "wage". Since you joined the forum, I assume you read the rules - you may ask for sources of materials, but posting sources in the forum is against the rules, so people should respond to you via private messages (PM's).
Wood sources are readily available on-line. Very few of us have the luxury of buying exotic wood blanks locally.
Wood blanks all start off as squares. From there, we turn them round to whatever diameter and/or cone we need.
As for pins and the like, you can search Google for "pool cue making supplies" and get a good start.
Hope this helps,
Gary

 

[Kim Bye]

Making cues on the side might sound tempting, but it's not as easy as it sounds and it can be a money pit and it can take years before you see a return on your investment.
How long time it takes to make a cue depends on several factors, but if you starting from square stock, anything less than 10 months would make me suspicious. Usually I let wood cure for years in my shop. Calculating a wage is hard, there's so many facts to consider. Start looking at your costs, figure out how much time each operation takes and you should atleast know you base cost in time and materials, then look at what the competition charges and see what your customers response is to your pricing.

 

[Rodney]

With all the cues I’ve built, and all the supplies I’ve bought, I’d say I’ve lost about $500 a cue.

 

[kling&allen]

I suggest buying Chris's book before spending any money on anything:

Cue Man Billiard Products - Cue Man Billiard Products

Welcome to Cue Man Billiard Products and our brand new site with online ordering! Established in 1988, we are the manufacturer of the precision Cue Smith Lathes and Inlay Machines, and supplier of cue lathe accessories, leather wrap material, and many other cue building products, as well as...

www.cuesmith.com

 

[northshoremb]

Thanks guys. Yes I wasn't talking about making cues for sale right away I was referring to lots of time and error to make my own customs then somewhere down the line near retirement make few cues here and there as a hobby to get some return on investment. But from looks of it guys are saying the never make money so why does anyone do it?

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[kling&allen]

Thanks guys. Yes I wasn't talking about making cues for sale right away I was referring to lots of time and error to make my own customs then somewhere down the line near retirement make few cues here and there as a hobby to get some return on investment. But from looks of it guys are saying the never make money so why does anyone do it?

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It's been a great hobby for me. It's by far the hardest thing I do and it requires me to constantly learn new skills and solve problems. I think a lot people underestimate the difficulty involved compared with other types of woodworking.

 

[GoldCrown]

Thanks guys. Yes I wasn't talking about making cues for sale right away I was referring to lots of time and error to make my own customs then somewhere down the line near retirement make few cues here and there as a hobby to get some return on investment. But from looks of it guys are saying the never make money so why does anyone do it?

I turn pens for fun/hobby. Also light cue repair. People suggested I sell my pens. My reply… I have so much into this I could never make money. However any hobby can be turned into a business. Decide if it is a hobby or business. As a hobby there is a lot reckless spending. However I/we love every minute of it. Why does anyone do it? For the love of being creative. For the love of a creative finished product. If you have a plan or dream .. try it. You obviously have talent and desire. There it is.

 

[Rodney]

Thanks guys. Yes I wasn't talking about making cues for sale right away I was referring to lots of time and error to make my own customs then somewhere down the line near retirement make few cues here and there as a hobby to get some return on investment. But from looks of it guys are saying the never make money so why does anyone do it?

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I started making my own because someone effed up the ferrule on my expensive cue putting a tip on. If I had known (at the time)of someone near by that did quality work I probably would have never even started. I started doing tips by hand then wasn’t quite satisfied with the results so decided to by a cue lathe. While looking I thought I’d regret not buying a machine that could build cues so I went that route.

Even though my shop is basic I’m still pretty far down the rabbit hole now.

 

[PracticeChampion]

I started because my closest tip guy was over an hour away. Started with a cheap metal lathe for tips, then progressed from there. Within the first year I spent 8-10k and basically have nothing as compared to a full time builder LoL but I've built a few cues here and there, alot of both wood and carbon shafts but most my money comes from repairs. There's a surprisingly amount of messed of cues out there

 

[northshoremb]

I started because my closest tip guy was over an hour away. Started with a cheap metal lathe for tips, then progressed from there. Within the first year I spent 8-10k and basically have nothing as compared to a full time builder LoL but I've built a few cues here and there, alot of both wood and carbon shafts but most my money comes from repairs. There's a surprisingly amount of messed of cues out there

See I don't see how guys can't get into building cues for $3000 machinery. Everyone's saying can't make money back but can buy cue lathe that tapers specific for cues and $3000 or under. Some commenting I think spent $10-20k on machines that are overkill

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[WilleeCue]

Cue lathe - $3000 or so ... then comes the accessory's ... lots of them.
Inlays - a CNC machine and a computer, can be had for around $1500 off Ebay.
Got someone to teach you a Cad-Cam program?
Now for finishing your masterpiece ... Got a spray booth? Spray equipment? More expense.
Yes, you can make quality pool cues and you can sell them for a profit.
Just dont quit your day job.
I have been making pool cues and Pens since 2001 ... It is a creative outlet for me ... not so much a profit maker.
I have always said if I hit the lottery I would keep on making pool cues till the money was gone.

 

[WilleeCue]

See I don't see how guys can't get into building cues for $3000 machinery. Everyone's saying can't make money back but can buy cue lathe that tapers specific for cues and $3000 or under. Some commenting I think spent $10-20k on machines that are overkill

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To do a job you need tools ... the better the tool the faster you can produce a Quality product.
Overkill? Depends on how you define quality.

 

[Kim Bye]

See I don't see how guys can't get into building cues for $3000 machinery. Everyone's saying can't make money back but can buy cue lathe that tapers specific for cues and $3000 or under. Some commenting I think spent $10-20k on machines that are overkill

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I think you are forgetting that you need lots of extra tools and machines to make cues. I'm not saying everything has to be industry grade stuff, but some of your tools will have to be if you want a good result, which I assume you want if you actually want to sell what you make..

 

[slim123]

With all the cues I’ve built, and all the supplies I’ve bought, I’d say I’ve lost about $500 a cue.

We that do it , do it for the lve of what we do, the real money from cuemaking , only comes after we pass. Ariel says it true, if we do shitty work then that's what they remember, if we do good work , our soul lives a lot longer

 

[DeeDeeCues]

These are always entertaining threads. You don't 'need' a $3000 cue lathe to make cues. You don't 'need' cnc anything to make cues.

Cnc is fine if you want to do machine cut inlays. For tapering, cnc isn't necessary, and is arguably a poor way to do what is essentially a repetitive task. I can make a case that well planned jigs and tooling is more effective.

I made my first cues on a wood lathe, between centers, with a spur drive. I made my first half splice forearms with a plywood router sled.

Done right, a person can start building cues for $3k, all in. It will take some creativity, but you will learn more than people who drop a ton of cash for the EZ-Bake solution.

 

[DaveK]

Also I'm in Canada so no were near here to just go down and buy exotic or Andy sort of wood blanks so where do most people online buy 1.5"x1.5" turning blocks, pins, rings..etc?

Find Your Store

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www.windsorplywood.com

Guessing from you screen name there are three stores in Winnipeg.

They sell all sorts of hardwoods, but you may need to rip larger boards into appropriate sizes.

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Dave

 

[northshoremb]

These are always entertaining threads. You don't 'need' a $3000 cue lathe to make cues. You don't 'need' cnc anything to make cues.

Cnc is fine if you want to do machine cut inlays. For tapering, cnc isn't necessary, and is arguably a poor way to do what is essentially a repetitive task. I can make a case that well planned jigs and tooling is more effective.

I made my first cues on a wood lathe, between centers, with a spur drive. I made my first half splice forearms with a plywood router sled.

Done right, a person can start building cues for $3k, all in. It will take some creativity, but you will learn more than people who drop a ton of cash for the EZ-Bake solution.

100% agree. Not every cue maker needs to cnc inlays or super crazy machines. Can make lots of cues non spliced or spliced with rings and no inlays

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[slim123]

What he said lmao. It's a lot of work, research, shopping for material and tools, not really all profitable, the money is in the repairs. Most of us don't do this for a living, so we enjoy it, and do it for the love of what we do.. I gets very expensive in the beginning.You might want to at least ear tag $4500 in the beginning , then that number will grow, except you will have enough to begin. Alot to learn, it takes up most of your time, always ideas, jigs to save on the workload special tools, etc.
You don't take your lug nuts off of your car with a pair of pliers do you, only in a must situation.? Would you paint your house with a mop or old broom, no you wouldn't?
After you are in the hobby, and comfortable, you can find shortcuts, that won't reflect on your quality of work. Have fun and enjoy, if you bail and move on no one will treat you any different . we are all here on this Earth to enjoy and go do as we please without being judged

 

[BarenbruggeCues]

One can build cues with their Boy Scout pocket knife and a hunk of wood to get started if that's where you want to begin.
The question is...where do you want to end up? Do you want to just build 300$ cues to sell to your friends and family that you have 295$ invested in time and materials? Or would you actually like to pay some bills and replace and restock inventory without having to go into your startup pocket again?
Oh yea....you can buy a lathe to "get started" but the rabbit hole is a very deep one.
Tooling...... Just using my shop as an example, roughly 30K in machines ( mostly purchased in the used market) ....probably have close to that in tooling alone. Some are one time buys, some need to be replaced as they get used up.
All of this started over 25 years ago with the purchase of a 100$ metal lathe that was found stuck in the corner at a local machine shop.
The more quality you desire in your end product the higher your quality of machine/tooling costs will climb as will the desire for more space in your shop.
Buying just "1" lathe and setting it up for all of the different operations needed to complete a cue you will soon find out is a major pain in the ass.
This is just the beginning.

Wood....go buy enough wood to build a cue. Better make that enough wood to build 2 or 3 because chances are your first 1 or 2 are going to be mistakes that you end up giving away or using for something entirely different than playing pool with because they wouldn't stay straight.
The learning curve.... even if you start with basic machining skills you will make up words that no young child should ever hear come from your mouth when you turn your beautiful master piece into a wasted piece of shit because you weren't paying attention and forgot to set something correctly or turn a dial the right way because you were distracted by something or someone.
The amount of wood you will need never ends. Just matching 2 shafts alone you may need 25 to find 2 that weigh the same, have the same flex response and are close in tone quality. Learning how to keep a one inch dowel that you are going to turn down to roughly a half inch in diameter straight and being able cut it without having to sand the crap out of it to get the tooling marks out is always a challenge in itself.
Joint pins, glue, leather wraps, linen wraps, phenolics, more tooling because you don't already have enough.
Finishing material...how are going to finish your cues? Do you want the finish to last for years or just a few months? Do you just want a coating that is shiny but still full of polished scratch marks or a coating that looks like a piece of polished glass?
Learning these things and perfecting these things are two different animals. It takes time, it takes a willingness to achieve, it takes a desire to build every cue that you have finished to be better than the last one you completed.
The whole process will either become an addiction or a pain in the ass that you wish you would have never gotten into!

Which ever direction it takes you in, good luck.