Thanks Mr Webb. I aggree.:thumbup:
Is anyone paying attention?
- Thread starter ratcues
- Start date
Thanks Mr Webb. I aggree.:thumbup:
Thanks KJ. Glad to hear it. I hope I haven't given any bad advice in the past. I seldom ever post answers to questions as I think more qualified members should respond. As usual, I always seem to have more questions than answers anyway. Thanks again... Mikey:thumbup:
I took a 4 day weekend and rode my bike to Florida and back so I have missed all the fun. I don't think all the experienced cuemakers have left. Many have but there are still several who post regularly. I am not sure how many years experience someone needs to be considered experienced. When you have only experienced cuemakers on a forum, if it remains civil there will be very few posts. The reason is that they will have much fewer questions than the beginners. Our private ICA forum gets a relatively small number of posts, and usually it only takes a few answers and the thread is done. That is because experienced cuemakers give good answers and the other cuemakers see no need to repeat what has already been said. But it is good that this AZ forum is a true "Ask the Cuemaker" forum so the less experienced can get good answers. The only real problems are when some post non-tried and true methods and it sends the inexperienced down a bad road. Another problem is when some experienced ones demean the lessor experienced. Or others just demean and flame. If those three things would stop all together then this forum would fulfill its original purposes.
I must admit that I have skimmed thru this thread......I am a new cue maker. And I have learned a breathtaking amount from this site and the cue makers on here....as well as cue makers I know personally thru the last few years....one bone I have to pick is this. Just because you make lots of cues and have a big name does not mean you are making top quaility cues, and visa versa...you have to care about the cue you make and the customers you sell them to.....I may have only made a few cues but the attention and care that has gone into those cues is something I will be glad to put my neck out there for....if I work on a cue be it repair or a custom cue I put my heart into it.....the idea of a secret site is great for the inside men....but if the advice on this site dries up it will do a huge damage to cue makers imo.....when I am set up at a tournament people ask me alot of questions....now being fairly new to this I anwser to the best of my ability and don't blow smoke.....those same people usually become customers....now if I answer them with a "its a secret and I can't tell you" ....how many of those people would even want to have me touch there cue just on principle....I belive it works the same way on this site.....I may be new to cue making but I am not new to the pool scene....nor am I new to working with people....all this is just my opinion and I want to thank every cue maker on here who has given hard earned knowaldge away on this site.....big thanks from this guy
dont worry john,
the "call the cuemaker" section is always open to you :thumbup:
missed your call , then forgot to call you back, sorry buddy
Opinion
My observation is that when starting out before any wood is spun beginners try to ask questions that are obvious after 10 hours of hard work. I put myself in this catagory. As an engineer I wanted to be an expert without any lathe time. Now that I have completed a dozen cues I see why some questions are getting "smart a$$" answers. Just my opinion. Also, I don't have a website because I'm only part time and want to stay small. My primary work are repairs, but I love building more and more.
Long post to say build a few cues before trying to be a contributer to this forum, and maybe the civilization will come back.
I appreciate all the pms from past posts it did save a few mistakes.
Lastly I too would appreciate an invite to the cuemakers site. I would be glad to pm a few pics of completed cues.
My observation is that when starting out before any wood is spun beginners try to ask questions that are obvious after 10 hours of hard work. I put myself in this catagory. As an engineer I wanted to be an expert without any lathe time. Now that I have completed a dozen cues I see why some questions are getting "smart a$$" answers. Just my opinion. Also, I don't have a website because I'm only part time and want to stay small. My primary work are repairs, but I love building more and more.
Long post to say build a few cues before trying to be a contributer to this forum, and maybe the civilization will come back.
I appreciate all the pms from past posts it did save a few mistakes.
Lastly I too would appreciate an invite to the cuemakers site. I would be glad to pm a few pics of completed cues.
I think you've hit the nail on the head exactly. There's absolutely NO substitute for making dust and mistakes in the beginning and all the way till the very end. Generally the mistakes will be less as the knowledge and time standing behind a lathe increases.
One can have all the knowledge off the internet and I can almost without a shadow of a doubt know that the same person is going to have an few "OH SHIT" moments if they haven't made any dust yet. Even after as long as I've been carrying wood dust to the dumpster, I still have a few myself.
I don't think any of the builders on here in the know have a problem helping out. It just gets a little annoying when someone asks how to do this or how to do that and they haven't even tried it yet because they don't want to screw up the only piece of wood they bought in the last 5 years.
And of course the threads about "which tip is the best if I use medium, left-handed, behind the back english if my stoke is a little rusty?" get a little redundant also. :boring2:
Well said, Dave. Indeed we all screw up and pay for it. Just last week, I assembled a cue and somehow screwed up the "A" joint. It was amboyna burl handle with amboyna points into ebony forearm. Doesn't sound so spectacular but when you consider my points are 11" long, and my handles are 12" long, in order to have matching handle & point wood, I have to use 24" blanks. A top quality figured 24" DRY amboyna burl blank cost between $150-$200. The ebony was madagascar ebony, which is roughly $35-$40 per 18" square dry. I made ring billets of ebony & amboyna, not cheap. I assembled the cue & put between centers dry fit. It was perfect. I glued it up & put between centers and it was perfect. I hung it up & forgot about it for several days. I pulled it down & put between centers and it had tweaked at the "A" joint.
I realized immediately what I had done wrong but the damage was done. I could have cut it & reassembled but it would never have been as strong as it initially was. I could have left it alone & monkeyed around with the centers to get it closer to true again, but it would not be true internally. Point being, at the level of a $2800 cue, there is no margin for error or sloppiness. Therefore, the cue is trash. Roughly $250 worth of materials and countless hours of time gone. I had been working on that cue for nearly a year, coring the pieces & cutting over time to keep things stable. One brain fart & it's all gone. Waste. Trash. And it's not uncommon. It's much less common now than when I was a newb, but it still hurts like a *****.
My point is that some lessons are best learned through experience. Some things cannot be taught nor should they be. This is how we pay our dues & climb the ladder. I am one of the guys who give smartass answers to some of the petty questions where guys are looking for hand out knowledge. That knowledge isn't free & shouldn't be expected to be. Guys think when they get a smartass answer to a question, or no answer at all, they are being mistreated. The fact is, they don't know they are getting the best advice of all. I lose $250 on a single mistake. Why can't they lose $25? It's the most valuable lesson in cuemaking & worth far more than hand fed knowledge & advice. But it seems a lot of guys don't want to pay for it. They'd rather have their hand held so they don't lose their investment in wood and time. My question is, why should we give out endless free knowledge to folks who are unwilling to pay the price of learning through experience first? If a guy screws up 3-4 cues in a row & can't figure out why, then i'd have no problem giving him hints. But when he won't proceed with a build until somebody tells him what to do or how to it, then he'll get a smartass answer from me if anything at all.
Sorry for the rant. I just don't think folks understand the motive behind what they consider "smartass" answers. It's not me being a dick. It's my way of saying, try to figure it out on your own first & the lessons you learn through failure will be priceless. From there we can begin talking cues & you'll be at a level where you not only can understand what i'm saying, but why.
You are not a cuemaker until you have cried a few times. :shakehead:
Instead of crying, I just throw a tantrum & bash some poor cue against my work bench LOL
You'll find lots of beautiful, expensive junk in my dumpster. But there's a reason it's in the trash.
Bob; I submitted your name & so far you have all yes votes...GOOD LUCK...JER
Nothing like having a pile of wasted cues lying in the corner just screaming "pick me, pick me" when the next 36" kids cue order comes walking through the door. :thumbup:
I used them to make Harry Potter wands for my daughter & her friends when they were all in to that crap. Every kid in the neighborhood came knocking after that so they could get Harry Potter wands. I can't stand Harry Potter but it turned out to be a good way to use the wasted materials & make the kids happy.
after dumpster diving in new mexico, hit the woods behind my shop
i've think i should have been an olympic javelin thrower,
based upon how far i can throw a messed up cue into the woods
when the screwed up cues outnumber the trees, i'll hang it up
until then, i keep a chuggin':thumbup:
Wands
At least you guys had enough after a mistake to make a kids cue or a harry potter wand. I had only enough to make a pocket chalker!!:grin:
Turned a $30 piece of wood into a $100 chalker that I had to sell for $15...
it only hurts till the pain goes away!!
At least you guys had enough after a mistake to make a kids cue or a harry potter wand. I had only enough to make a pocket chalker!!:grin:
Turned a $30 piece of wood into a $100 chalker that I had to sell for $15...
it only hurts till the pain goes away!!
