Leather Wrap Q

S

shakes

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hey fellas,

I know when you go to cut the leather wrap you have a jig to ensure straight edges, but do you stretch the wrap at all? Do you have a jig for this (like a clamp with an internal radius about the same size as the handle, or something similar) or do you pull it by hand? Also, I've heard that Mike Johnson does a real good job on leather wraps, any opinions on his work in this area (leather wraps)? Thanks to everyone here for all the help.

~Shakes
 
leather

i will say the leather wraps i have seen done by mike are very sweet but also blud does a very sweet wrap.......in my opinion the best at it is ernie at gina cue......also paul mottey does a nice lizard but man is it high......but as i said you cant go wrong with either mike or blud......i hope this helps......juston coleman
 
I can't speak of the quality of the other cuemakers mentioned, but I agree with cuewhiz....Ernie at Ginacue's leather wraps are certainly one of the finest, if not the finest out there.

The other thing that amazed me about Ernie's leather wraps, is how fast he can do them....from start to finish, he is under 10 minutes for the process.
 
Pigcarver said:
I can't speak of the quality of the other cuemakers mentioned, but I agree with cuewhiz....Ernie at Ginacue's leather wraps are certainly one of the finest, if not the finest out there.

The other thing that amazed me about Ernie's leather wraps, is how fast he can do them....from start to finish, he is under 10 minutes for the process.
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What makes you say he does it in 10 minutes?
 
Ernie's wrapped a number of cues for me. The actual "wrapping" process, last no more than 10 minutes.
 
I suppose if you want to include preparing to wrap the cue (sanding the handle & splitting the leather) it's probably more like 20-25 minutes, but when it comes to actually putting it on the cue, it's definitly under 10....and this includes a couple of minutes for the contact cement to set up.

Maybe I was getting a particularly quick job, because I'm a nobody, and with somebody more important's cue sticks, perhaps it takes longer....but I doubt it....it seems to me that if Ernie does anything, it has to be the best he can.
 
I was hoping Mike, Blud, and Chris would weigh their opinions in on my questions. Perhaps it would be best if the responses were PM'd? Bueller? Bueller?

Thanks again for all the help.
 
shakes said:
I was hoping Mike, Blud, and Chris would weigh their opinions in on my questions. Perhaps it would be best if the responses were PM'd? Bueller? Bueller?

Thanks again for all the help.
Click to expand...
I agree with the earlier post that Mike Webb would be a good one to do the wrap. I have heard nothing but good things about his wraps. As far as cutting the seam straight you can use a straight edge made our of angle iron. Bend the corners in on one side so the other side automatically set straight on the cue. I have made a straight edge that mounts on my lathe in place of my tool post and my lathe has an indexing pin on the headstock to lock it down. So my cue is locked solid and the straight edge is solid also. You asked about Mike Johnson and I know he has been building cues for many years, so he should be able to do a good job for you also. I devoted a whole chapter in my Cue Building Book to leather wraps and knew it could become a long post so I did not jump right in on this thread. The above barely touches the surface of leather wraps, but I type slow so I will quit here.
Chris
www.internationalcuemakers.com
www.cuesmith.com
 
Pigcarver said:
Ernie's wrapped a number of cues for me. The actual "wrapping" process, last no more than 10 minutes.
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The man is a legend. He is the Maestro.
If God wanted a cue now, He'd call Ernie.
 
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cueman said:
I agree with the earlier post that Mike Webb would be a good one to do the wrap. I have heard nothing but good things about his wraps. As far as cutting the seam straight you can use a straight edge made our of angle iron. Bend the corners in on one side so the other side automatically set straight on the cue. I have made a straight edge that mounts on my lathe in place of my tool post and my lathe has an indexing pin on the headstock to lock it down. So my cue is locked solid and the straight edge is solid also. You asked about Mike Johnson and I know he has been building cues for many years, so he should be able to do a good job for you also. I devoted a whole chapter in my Cue Building Book to leather wraps and knew it could become a long post so I did not jump right in on this thread. The above barely touches the surface of leather wraps, but I type slow so I will quit here.
Chris
www.internationalcuemakers.com
www.cuesmith.com
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When you say straight edge are you doing an over lapping cut?
 
Misunderstanding

I'm sorry I didn't elaborate more fully. I'm a cue repairer(is that a word? LOL) and I was looking at trying my hand at leather wraps. Sounds like I need to get your book Chris, I've been putting it off in favor of saving for more equipment, but I think the knowledge would be more powerful. The reason I ask about Mike Johnson is that he isn't very far away, and I thought I might see if he would show me how the "real" cue guys do it. Thanks again to everyone, I appreciate all of the info.
 
shakes said:
I'm sorry I didn't elaborate more fully. I'm a cue repairer(is that a word? LOL) and I was looking at trying my hand at leather wraps. Sounds like I need to get your book Chris, I've been putting it off in favor of saving for more equipment, but I think the knowledge would be more powerful. The reason I ask about Mike Johnson is that he isn't very far away, and I thought I might see if he would show me how the "real" cue guys do it. Thanks again to everyone, I appreciate all of the info.
Click to expand...
If you are lucky enough to get an old school cue maker to show you in person how to wrap leather count yourself as very blessed.
 
macguy said:
When you say straight edge are you doing an over lapping cut?
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Yes. But not always. I have tried cutting one side, raising it up out of the way then cutting the other side. On the lathe with precision indexting and the straight edge that can be moved back to the exact same place allows you to do that. Creates a little more work and slows you down some but eliminates the extra length from the overlapped piece.
Chris
www.internationalcuemakers.com
www.cuesmith.com
 
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