Hypothetical Cue Costs

i said lets take it one step further

my way of exaggerating to make a dumb point. i have been building cues for 10 years and i still do not know how long it takes to build a cue.
a lot of time is waiting for adhesives to set, then cure, waiting for a shaft to cure while turning, [ thats 7 months ] waiting for a finish to dry.
anyone can set on thier butts and complain how easy it is, or how it takes no skills, and cues cost very little, get up, get yourself a hand full of cash and start building cuies so you can get rich like all of us builders, its easy and takes no brains, but you can bet your sweet ass i will never pay $10.00 for a rubber bumper.
 
desi2960 said:
lets take this one more step, get a scapel, some thread and a needle, go to a doctor and ask what an operation would cost, must be cheap because you have all the materials, accept the knowledge and experience.
Click to expand...

I like this response, it gave me a good laugh. Thanks
 
How much can a painting cost anyway?

It's just a piece of canvas and some paint. I'm guessing it's the frame driving the huge cost of these things.

Patrick

PS: Not a cuemaker, just a fan of the craft
 
To the point on the mechanic comparison.
No decent tradesman would take your parts an install them, for a couple reasons.
1. Most profit is made on material markup, labour rates basically cover overhead and wages.
2. I'm of the feeling, if you want to buy it and take the profit from me.... Put it in yourself too.
Maybe I'm being a bit over the top, but it kinda bugs me when people think that cue makin is easy and should be super cheap.
Don't forget that most guys have between 10 and 50 k in machines, and a whole bunch of money tied up in raw wood.
In cues, the sum is worth exponentially more than the parts, not just in labour.


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Oh heck, I think everyone is being plain silly about this.

I will build it for 30K, I want 50% down and you can have it in 2 years.

There, simple question answered.
 
Ha ha
I get it.
I may be over reacting...
I had 4 or 5 calls this week that go like this.
How much for a water heater...
That's a lot, what if I supply the heater....
My friends dad said he would do it for X$
My response is, better get your buddies dad to to it :)
Both your examples of reusing the historic materials are pretty standard exceptions wouldn't you say?
And your brother the sparky, does he own the company?
I own my plumbing company, and I won't "install only"
Neither will my colleagues, and we aren't just mediocre :)
Totally off topic, tons got it right :)
And if I could get 400 for a shaft I would too!
Sorry to come off like a dick but sometimes questions hot sore spots, they shouldn't, but hey life's funny like that.


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I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?1ql4y4
 
Neighbor walks across the street on one of the very rare occasions my garage door is open. 3 machine lathes, one wood lathe, a drill press, band saw, 8 inch jointer, 20 inch planer, 10x50 mill, taper shaper in background, all in plain sight.

Asks how much for a sneaky pete and I say 250.00 with joint work and a 5 inch BE maple butt cap.

Says "that's alot for a piece of wood"........walks away....

BTW, more money is made on labor by mechanics. At 85.00 an hour the best of the best get 28.00 of that. Those guys can bill 12 hours a day with enough work because labor is rated by the book and stud mechanics can do it much faster than the book. Say the bigger maintenance jobs(like a timing belt) cost 400.00, 150.00 of that is most likely parts.

For those of you with big pockets. IIRC, we were gouging Ferrari owners about 7k for a 30k mile service on a Mondial(please, for the love of God don't buy one). I was embarrassed to learn about 4.25 a piece for regular spark plugs....
 
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I usualy have my Banks Loan officer ride with me when I need to go see my mechanic.

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There's a sticky posted on one of the knife boards that reads "Attention K-Mart Shoppers - Fortunately we are not bound to any standards of pricing for custom knives. A Maker can ask a trillion dollars for his wares if he so chooses"

I see this from many different angles. The posting of material prices doesn't bother me as much as the cuemakers, because that happens to us (knifemakers) all the time. I think the general response is much the same as whats been posted though.....

"Here is a billet of annealed steel, a few stainless pins, and a block of handle material. Total cost = Less than $50. What happens now will determine the value of the finished blade, which could be........... something you have to bury in your backyard so no one will see what you did, to a blade that could sell for $1000+"

In fact, there's so much on the side of (what happens next) that it's pretty common for established makers to send new makers a package of materials for free to get them started, and also to get them to understand whats all involved in the process.

On the other side of the coin, I have materials that are one of kind, stabilized wood in particular, that I would seek out a maker who was willing to use these materials in making a cue for me. This means wood (most likely burl) that has been professionally stabilized. That means it has been completely saturated at a cellular level.

I wouldn't be supplying bumpers and bolts, those other parts and labor I would expect to pay for from the maker, in getting it done. This doesn't save me any money, in fact it costs more, and there's lots of reasons why I do it, but thats a different conversation. If you do find a maker who is willing to use your material and it blows up and gets ruined, you should be prepared to either replace it, or have a plan B that you have worked out with the maker ahead of time.

Trying to calculate labor rates, overhead, and the many variables per maker is just running in circles in my opinion. Ultimately, the buyer has to decide if he wants to pay the price for the work and product that was requested.

Remember......."The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has gone."
 
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Cue cost

Pool cues are not a commodity. They can not be priced like a barrel of oil
or a oz of gold. Comparing them to something a tradesman repairs is not even close.
The guy who installs the door will never get the price of the artisan who created the door.
Unfortuneately we are in a stage of cue making where we have a lot of tradesman assembling parts
and fewer and fewer artisans creating cues. Right now I'm doing several cues with customers parts.
Old Brunswick bumper, plastic out of Balabushka'a shop, and cortland linen. I would never accept raw wood for one of my cues.
I want to know more abouts it's history than most customers can supply.
When it's all said and done, my name is on the finished product and I damn well want to know everything in it is up to my standards.
 
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It doesnt bother me in the least to see someone post prices of parts. Because that is what they are PARTS!! My suggestion would be for the OP to call a few cue makers and get prices for this. OP Just so you know. When you ask for something like this in a open forum like this one. You will get all kinds of comments. From all kinds of folks. Some of them will be worth reading and some wont. ONE thing that you have to consider when asking this question is: The amount of money we have in equipment. How many years of building we have. How good is the finished product we put out. Do your research and find the right builder for you and see what they tell you. Some will do this for you and some wont. Good luck with getting your future cue built.
 
you know the story of the 10 dollar aspirin you are charged in the hospital
first someone has to order it to keep it in stock
then someone has to take it out of the package and put it on the shelf where it belongs in the pharmacy
then someone has to read the doctors orders and tell the pharmacy we need an apirin in room 209
then it has to get on a nurses cart and then a nurse has to bring it to you and be sure you have a plastic pitcher filled with water and a glass so you can drink water when you take your pill
as mentioned above
the cost of machinery ,years spent in training,etc make the sum worth much more than the parts
jmho
icbw
im not a cuemaker but respect their crsftsmanship ,,years spent in devloping skill, and devotion to their cemaking:)
 
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