I don't know if this been ask before. Cuemakers! What the least and maximum hour spent working in shop to complete cues or projects? During nonpeak and peak time? A Cuemaker friend spent from 9 a.m. til 1 a.m., 16 hours to meet deadline.
Hours spent working in shop
- Thread starter billiardshot
- Start date
I have a real job that I work to pay the bills, but when I get going on a batch of cues it is nornal to spend 4 - 8 hours in the shop through the week, and 8 - 16 hours on my weekend.
Chris
Chris
Twenty Straight Hours
I went to work one morning at 7:00 A.M. I worked all day and into the night. At 3:00 A.M. my wife came into the shop and asked me if I was ever coming to bed. Twenty straight hours
I went to work one morning at 7:00 A.M. I worked all day and into the night. At 3:00 A.M. my wife came into the shop and asked me if I was ever coming to bed. Twenty straight hours
Working that hard & long to meet a deadline is commendable, but when the body & brain gets tired that's when mistakes can be made. I used to do the 7 days @ 12 to 14 hours, but now limit it to a max of 5 days @ 8 hours. Occasionaly work a Saturday, but only if absolutely necessary.billiardshot said:
First Priorty is my regular job. Then comes the yard and garden. I would say that most weeks, I get 2-10 hours in my shop. Would like to have more, but at the present time, cue-building is a hobby, and if it ever becomes something that requires more time to meet deadlines, I'll sell everything that I have and quit. Richard Harris told me that he was working 90 hours a week on cues. More power to him..
Hobby
I build cues and do it as a hobby. Usually spend 2 - 10 hours a week. Its a great hobby that can really bring a nice side income.
I build cues and do it as a hobby. Usually spend 2 - 10 hours a week. Its a great hobby that can really bring a nice side income.
billiardshot said:
I'm also a hobbyist like many others have said but I have a very complete shop. We were going to Europe for a few weeks and I wanted to bring some cues to sell and I didn't get them done when I should have. I worked for over 48 hours straight getting them done. At one point I was cutting down a tenon for a ferrule and I have a magnifier mounted on the lathe I was using.
Looking through the magnifier as I was working I began to hallucinate and I thought I was in a mall and the wood chips coming off the shaft looked like people walking around. It only lasted for a few seconds but it scared me a little and I quit and got some rest. When I was younger I often worked around the clock. I once tore out a bar and built a new one 40 feet long shaped like a question mark in just over 48 hours. When we reopened the customers when they came in thought I had hired a crew to do the work, but it was just my wife and I.
Edison was known for working in his shop for days at a time only taking cat naps in a chair or on his couch. When asked once how he was able to work such long hours all his life he answered, "I have never worked a day in my life".
Thanks for the responds so far. Does these Hours affect workmanship? I also believe most cuemakers put 18 to 20 hours in, showing at tournament!
billiardshot said:
This applies to every job not just working on cues. Even in a normal working day there are only have so many hours where you are at your performance best, whether you are an attorney or accountant, what ever. You can break up your day to take advantage of that. If you are at your best and most productive when you start your day, you won't want to start your day doing mindless work like cleaning, you would want to do the more demanding jobs when you are at your best.
As your day winds down you can do less demanding things managing your time so you get the maximum quality work out of yourself. In a cue shop there are plenty of somewhat mindless chores like turning shafts or spraying finish or even cleaning up the shop that can be done if you don't feel at your best or are a little tired, at least you are getting something done, save the more tedious and demanding jobs for when you are sharp.
If you are self-employed you can't be quitting every time your a little tired or board you will never get anything done. You have to learn to manage your time. When your self-employed you are often working for the worst boss you will ever have. He will let you get away with murder and you can put yourself out of business.
Tournaments are long days. 18 to 20 hours is not uncommon. I always try to be the first one there and the last to leave.
At my regular jab I work midnight shift so I can have weekends off, so I'm accustomed to not getting much sleep. It does work on my ankles though. I have proclaimed myself, the sleep depravation king.
Chris
At my regular jab I work midnight shift so I can have weekends off, so I'm accustomed to not getting much sleep. It does work on my ankles though. I have proclaimed myself, the sleep depravation king.
Chris
As much as I could... I have other things that eat up my time but on a free day I work from 7am til the wee hours of the morning... the thing is, you can only do so much if your just working on one cue, letting the glue set eats up time so I work on cues in batches... that way it saves set up time and work on the cues in stages...
Dieckman once mention between 6 to 8 hours, but then he doesn't start until after 12:00 p.m. in his shop.
billiardshot said:
I have just recently set aside 1 day a week to work on custom cues. I was so tied up with cue repairs and the leagues I run that I have gotten about 20 cues behind. I usually work between 15 to 25 hours in my shop but a lot of that is repair work.