How long does it take to make a cue?

[Bavafongoul]

But that seldom happens making a cue.......right?
Cue-makers hardly ever are confronted with a do-over.....right?

I mean the inlays never chip or crack installing them......and the
alignment and joint fit is always perfect......and the veneers are
always seamless and epoxy/glue never presents any issues?

Frankly, I think this is a real cost of doing business for some custom
cue-makers and for that matter, probably some production firms as
well. However, my gut feeling is custom cue-makers likely deal with
this consideration more often and when it happens, increases the
actual hours involved building the cue vs. the budgeted forecast of hrs.

Now I will admit there's conjecture and supposition behind my post as
I am not a cue-maker but I have an extensive small business background
having owned and managed two companies in my past........Quotes are
like bids........when things go wrong, you have to cover it because custom
pool cues are not being built on a T &M basis........the cue-maker gives you
a quote.....you agree upon a price.....that's it...... .thereafter everything that
happens is on the cue-maker's wallet, not yours and that's how I see things.


Matt B.


And when any of the aforementioned might occur, it probably does not
impact the number of hours or the forecast for delivery materially......Not!

 

[Chopdoc]

Maybe it's the approach? Cue makers seem to be paranoid any time you ask a question. View it as a teachable moment. You should be flattered that people are interested in what you do. After all, everyone's favorite subject is themselves.

It's like when people ask me a medical question.

All too often when I answer it I hear "Well the doctor I saw said...blah blah blah...and I think I need to sue his a$$..."

That had made me cautious in how I answer. I tend to answer with a question or two first, then turn it into a teaching moment.

The subject at hand in this thread is interesting. I have seen it addressed before. It never seems to go well.


I talked to a cue maker about making me a cue. I would be providing a very old cue for a conversion. He already has the core material and shaft material and all of the other stuff on hand. In fact the shafts are already made with the rings I want. He would build and sign the cue. And it's a big name. How long would it take? Six months.

Why? I didn't even ask. He told me. He would be personally working on my cue, no assistant. Because his schedule is full he would do it in the evenings and his spare time. To paraphrase him: There is nobody else in the shop old enough to work on those old cues. And then he would sign it.

How long does it take? Obviously it depends on a lot of things. If you hang around here and read enough you can probably get a pretty good idea about the practical matters of it actually. Just add to that for anything else involved.



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[Cuebuddy]

But that seldom happens making a cue.......right?
Cue-makers hardly ever are confronted with a do-over.....right?

I mean the inlays never chip or crack installing them......and the
alignment and joint fit is always perfect......and the veneers are
always seamless and epoxy/glue never presents any issues?

Frankly, I think this is a real cost of doing business for some custom
cue-makers and for that matter, probably some production firms as
well. However, my gut feeling is custom cue-makers likely deal with
this consideration more often and when it happens, increases the
actual hours involved building the cue vs. the budgeted forecast of hrs.

Now I will admit there's conjecture and supposition behind my post as
I am not a cue-maker but I have an extensive small business background
having owned and managed two companies in my past........Quotes are
like bids........when things go wrong, you have to cover it because custom
pool cues are not being built on a T &M basis........the cue-maker gives you
a quote.....you agree upon a price.....that's it...... .thereafter everything that
happens is on the cue-maker's wallet, not yours and that's how I see things.


Matt B.


And when any of the aforementioned might occur, it probably does not
impact the number of hours or the forecast for delivery materially......Not!

I love to grow vegetables. Every year I plan for the perfect garden and I work hard to make it happen....it never happens. Wet spring, dry summer, bad seeds, insects or diseases always get in my way. All my friends and neighbors tell me my garden is the best they have every seen, but I know different.

In my pinion cue making is much the same. The cue maker is hoping for the perfect cue and many who see it cant see the flaws but the man who made it knows where they are.

 

[fastone371]

Lack of CNC equipment and not calling it a production cue have nothing to do with each other.

Probably not. But by not using CNC equipment it is much more difficult to hire simple "machine feeders" to build production cues. Depending on what your tolerances are it is very, very difficult to turn out the same production by hand compared to what you can do with CNC equipment. I do not know anyone who works with machining equipment that uses CNC equipment to make 1 off custom pieces. On the flip side you can obviously do production work with manual equipment, high production jobs were not invented the day after CNC equipment was, it just takes a lot more equipment to do it efficiently.

 

[JoeyInCali]

Probably not. But by not using CNC equipment it is much more difficult to hire simple "machine feeders" to build production cues. Depending on what your tolerances are it is very, very difficult to turn out the same production by hand compared to what you can do with CNC equipment. I do not know anyone who works with machining equipment that uses CNC equipment to make 1 off custom pieces. On the flip side you can obviously do production work with manual equipment, high production jobs were not invented the day after CNC equipment was, it just takes a lot more equipment to do it efficiently.

Knife makers make one-offs with cnc all the time.
The DESIGN makes them " one only " .
Not the process of making it.

A cnc tapering machine makes it faster for production makers.
A cnc lathe can spit out a ton of parts too.

 

[JoeyInCali]

I love to grow vegetables. Every year I plan for the perfect garden and I work hard to make it happen....it never happens. Wet spring, dry summer, bad seeds, insects or diseases always get in my way. All my friends and neighbors tell me my garden is the best they have every seen, but I know different.

In my pinion cue making is much the same. The cue maker is hoping for the perfect cue and many who see it cant see the flaws but the man who made it knows where they are.

Pretty close.
The weather the last few months have been brutal.
Too cold and too hot to cut wood or spray if your doors are open.
For ventilation, makers are much safer when doors and windows are open.
SW can't because they are in the desert. So, it takes them years to season wood