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hadjcues said:
Thanks Hadj,
Just a basic design, but the thing feels solid so far, and makes a nice thund sound, so should play well. wanted to keep everything mostly wood on this one, as part of what I wanted from the design. An unmistakable custom look, kind of a woody feel I guess is the best way I can describe what I had in mind.
May I say I really love the looks of that tulip/ebony sleeve you are working on there. I have some that has been seasoned for quite some time, and just sitting around here. Might bust it out and start working on a design to use It in. Been thinking about it, but nothing has struck me well enough to bust it out yet. Need to start doing some sketches to help visualize It. Greg
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Thanks Greg.
That hand inlay thing is nerve wracking
No CNC as of yet. The tulip was part of a square that I turned. It's bordered with padauk?ebony rings.The forearm for that cue would be ebony with 4 pts and maybe a linen or leather wrap. I'm actually building it for myself
Those floating points of yours CNC pts? The design has a lot of class in it. And I love the reddish coco... (mmm... I'm thinking of buildong me a coco cue right now)
Hadj
That hand inlay thing is nerve wracking
No CNC as of yet. The tulip was part of a square that I turned. It's bordered with padauk?ebony rings.The forearm for that cue would be ebony with 4 pts and maybe a linen or leather wrap. I'm actually building it for myself Those floating points of yours CNC pts? The design has a lot of class in it. And I love the reddish coco... (mmm... I'm thinking of buildong me a coco cue right now
)Hadj
Thanks for the compliments, You have the right idea with the ebony, alot easier to hand inlay in IMO, and the points come out alot sharper. Actually I am doing it manually as well, I just use a pantograph I built from mostly salved cnc parts to hog most of It out. the floating point is a template of chris's, and the ivory diamond is from a template I made. It works pretty good, but ofcoarse the cnc would be sweet.
Sounds like a nice cue you are building there, I thought I saw some padauk in there (have some myself, pretty wood). I think this one will go in my personal collection as well, it actually has a sister cue that is being built for my Dad. He is still trying to decide on what design he wants to follow up on. here are some pics, It's been hanging for sometime now, and kind of waxed over & dirty, they are not very good pics either, and don't show It the way It looks at all, but the figure in it blows mine away. one side even looks like a wolf staring out at you from inside of It. the other side is just amazing looking.
I was thinking about possibly doing some turqoise in mine, but don't want to overkill. Greg
Sounds like a nice cue you are building there, I thought I saw some padauk in there (have some myself, pretty wood). I think this one will go in my personal collection as well, it actually has a sister cue that is being built for my Dad. He is still trying to decide on what design he wants to follow up on. here are some pics, It's been hanging for sometime now, and kind of waxed over & dirty, they are not very good pics either, and don't show It the way It looks at all, but the figure in it blows mine away. one side even looks like a wolf staring out at you from inside of It. the other side is just amazing looking.
I was thinking about possibly doing some turqoise in mine, but don't want to overkill. Greg
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Nice colors! That would be a scene stealer in any poolroom. Funny how we seldom see those used in serious play being maple and ebony as a common choice. One of my favourites is curly bubinga which is seldom used in cues. It looks like a burl when finished and hits like high grade maple with lots of ping and feel. Guitar luthiers have slowly used them discovering it having good resonance.
Did you core out that coco handle? It would be too heavy for my taste if not cored.
Purples too are great for the look and hit. I'm really into these wood thing, like the woods would speak for itself. More of the simple forearm point/inlay cues. Maybe something fancy in the buttsleeve.
Hadj
Did you core out that coco handle? It would be too heavy for my taste if not cored.
Purples too are great for the look and hit. I'm really into these wood thing, like the woods would speak for itself. More of the simple forearm point/inlay cues. Maybe something fancy in the buttsleeve.
Hadj
Here are some of mine.
Nice woods CC. I think I see one Brazilian specie in there and a Padauk as well.
Nice woods CC. I think I see one Brazilian specie in there and a Padauk as well.
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hadjcues said:
Yes, I like the look of curly, and burl also. I have a box of burl I need to cut up for inlay slabs, and butt sleeves one of these days. Since the cue is for me, It is not cored, I am concerned with balance, and hit, more then weight in a personal cue, so it will be fine for My needs. I like purple heart Myself, and believe It does hit good also. I have rewrapped older cues, and found some of the better hitting cues had purple heart under the wrap, covered up to never even be seen, so must have been there for the hit quality I suppose, or else why would they cover It up. I will be keeping things simple as far as inlays for a while Myself. I am still playing around with this stuff at this time, repair keeps us pretty busy, so don't get to tinker with this stuff as much as I thought i would in the begining. I still need more space, and more dedicated machines to make it easier. Everything is work in progress, don't even know if that will really ever change no matter how well I get setup. Thanks Greg
JoeyInCali said:
Thanks Joey, you are correct on the padauk there is a piece in that pic. the others are ebony,purpleheart,birdseye,curly, and pinkivory. I do have some brazillian cherry, and walnut I was told another was, but they are not pictured. I also have another that looks like some kind of brazillian, but not sure what Kind. maybe when I turn It down alittle It will be easier to tell. I also have stacks of various flavors of inlay slabs. I have seen your pics in the thread before, and looks as If we have the same taste. You really have some nice pieces yourself, would love to have some of them myself, and seems like you have a good connection. I am looking for more sources, for My next wood purchase. I want to do some basic cues with just nice highly figured wood, and no inlays. I could sell them all day long, If only had the time, and was setup better to produce more. All in time I guess. I have waited this long, so won't hurt to take My time. Hard to show someone something you made, let them hit with, and then tell them you are not making any for sale. kind of like waving candy in a baby's face, and makes me feel bad, but once I do one for someone, It's all over with, and i'll never get done with all I want before hand. This thing does seem to be becoming more than just a hobby in a fast way. Needless to say, I do need to start taking It more seriously. You guys find any good sources for billet? would like to buy some for now. Making my own just takes to much extra time the way I am setup now. Think I am going to build a machine just dedicated to that. Thanks Greg
Zims Rack said:
Thanks Zim,
Yeah, that reminds Me why I have to make it. You might need 2-3 sizes also if doing all the joints. the waste from cutoff could get expensive. how do you cut yours? I still need to setup a rotary tool to cut mine. wonder if they will cut it for you, and how much that adds to the cost? I guess I am stuck making it myself, or using plain rings to save time. I want to get into doing some stitch or chain link rings. I did one in a curly butt sleeve out of bacote like that, but was My first, so not too pretty. People still seem to like It though.
Thanks Greg
Greg,
About ring billets... I thought of buying it myself at first but decided to make my own. My lathes' chuck is drilled with hole slots (24 & 36) and it gives me 4,6,8,12 etc. slot configurations for the ring billets. It's got a jig that steadies the chuck, which acts as a manual dividing head/indexer and I just move the carriage (with a router set-up) manualy. And the rings come in 3 different sizes as you said. I make mine from one stock and just mill the desired diameter for each ring then mill the slots. That way everything is spaced evenly. That is if I plan on using just one slot configuration for the 3 ring sizes.
Hadj
About ring billets... I thought of buying it myself at first but decided to make my own. My lathes' chuck is drilled with hole slots (24 & 36) and it gives me 4,6,8,12 etc. slot configurations for the ring billets. It's got a jig that steadies the chuck, which acts as a manual dividing head/indexer and I just move the carriage (with a router set-up) manualy. And the rings come in 3 different sizes as you said. I make mine from one stock and just mill the desired diameter for each ring then mill the slots. That way everything is spaced evenly. That is if I plan on using just one slot configuration for the 3 ring sizes.
Hadj
hadjcues said:
Yes, that's basically how I do it also, just that it would be nice to have a machine dedicated to it. I am always finding myself working on something else when I need to switch over to make more billet, gets to be a hassle. what I need to do Is just make a bunch up at one time. still trying to decide what diameter My cues will average, so hard to make the billet ahead of time until i decide. once I do then I will know where the billet needs to be in diameter for each joint. I do tend to like a thin butt, but don't know if I am going to stick with that.
If you want to see some ugly billet check this out, was my first cue built totally from raw materials, so please take It easy, and understand. i do like the curly though.
Greg
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If you purchase your billets from someone else, you might not want them to cut it into rings, you never know how thick/thin you might want them. At least if you have the rod, you can cut them to the desired thickness.
Great job on your first cue! You can see mine here, www.zimsrack.com under "Zimmerman Custom Cues". It's fun doing what you love and getting better at it each time!
Good luck!
Zim
Great job on your first cue! You can see mine here, www.zimsrack.com under "Zimmerman Custom Cues". It's fun doing what you love and getting better at it each time!
Good luck!
Zim
Greg,
I have something worse than that
I'll try to find that piece and post it in my thread.
Know a good source where I could get a mini boring bar that can bore with a minimum hole diameter of 1/4" for use in joints? I tried makin a couple but there's slack in the thing. Something that could bore 2" max.
Hadj
I have something worse than that
I'll try to find that piece and post it in my thread.
Know a good source where I could get a mini boring bar that can bore with a minimum hole diameter of 1/4" for use in joints? I tried makin a couple but there's slack in the thing. Something that could bore 2" max.
Hadj
Zims Rack said:
Thanks Zim, altough I must admitt was not real proud of It when I did that one. the cue does play well though, and guess that's what really counts. Been lucky that I have'nt made a bad playing cue yet. good thing I have all this wood around to knock on while saying that last statement. I have seen yours and they are very cool, and I really like the name you came up with for them. How do they hit? you are correct about cutting the billet, just need a thinner cutoff setup, so I don't have as much waste, and can cut the rings as thin as I want. Working on that though, so won't be a problem for long. think My problem Is I don't mind making one billet for a cue, but having to do 3 different sizes is very time consuming. Guess I am just getting too lazy, need to shape up, and get It together. Still just playing with the cuebuilding part, so have'nt taken It seriously enough yet, but as you said, It is fun doing what you love.
Here are some pics of a few of those pins to help you out, I use them for all different things, so make them in all kinds of shapes and sizes. The delrin is easy to work with, but the jaws do not grab them as good as steel,allum., or brass, but they work for cleaning shafts and stuff, when It does not matter if you loose positioning.
Thanks again, and Good Luck to you also,
Greg
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hadjcues said:Greg,
I have something worse than that
I'll try to find that piece and post it in my thread.
Know a good source where I could get a mini boring bar that can bore with a minimum hole diameter of 1/4" for use in joints? I tried makin a couple but there's slack in the thing. Something that could bore 2" max.
Hadj
Hey man, Showed my most embarasing cue LOL, you have to let me check yours out. Let me know where you post It. We all had to start somewhere, and will always have much to learn no matter how good we get anyway.
Boring bars would depend on the lathe I would think, but I use several, and still need several more. Here is a picture of a few. The small ones are for taig lathe tool posts, and the other setup is one I got from chris for boring my butt sleeves, have not tried it out yet, as you can see from the protective coating still on the end. He has the others as well I believe. I have also seen some really nice mini or micro setups I want to try out. one of the big machine catalogs has them, I'll have to look again, but if I find them I'll pass It on.
Greg
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New Pics
Alright guys,
Here are some newer photos of that cue in the first post. I am thinking I am going to skip the inlays on this one, add a butt cap, joint, finish, and call It a day. and just make 2 more pieces of billet for another cue in the same color i am starting on. the rings are not identical in this one, so don't think I am going through all the effort to inlay It. I do however have another piece of coco in this red tone, so going with that one for the inlay package. still I am not totally disatisfied with this one at all, might be a nice match to the one I am going to inlay anyway. It looks good, not heavy at all, but sounds solid just the same. wish the coco would stay that color and not darken up, the pictures do it no justice at all, It looks like a rainbow with all the different colors in It. Anyone know of anything to seal it with, so it does not not darken up? In my experience even after clearcoat, It darkens over time. I already have nelsonite. Greg
Alright guys,
Here are some newer photos of that cue in the first post. I am thinking I am going to skip the inlays on this one, add a butt cap, joint, finish, and call It a day. and just make 2 more pieces of billet for another cue in the same color i am starting on. the rings are not identical in this one, so don't think I am going through all the effort to inlay It. I do however have another piece of coco in this red tone, so going with that one for the inlay package. still I am not totally disatisfied with this one at all, might be a nice match to the one I am going to inlay anyway. It looks good, not heavy at all, but sounds solid just the same. wish the coco would stay that color and not darken up, the pictures do it no justice at all, It looks like a rainbow with all the different colors in It. Anyone know of anything to seal it with, so it does not not darken up? In my experience even after clearcoat, It darkens over time. I already have nelsonite. Greg
