Looking to start making cues

Space available, Money available, Hobby or to make a living = what equipment you will need to build cues.

Space available, Money available, Hobby or to make a living = What you will need to invest in wood.

Nope, not trying to be a smart azz or sarcastic, that is the only truth I know of and have.

I can not even say start small and see if you like it because many get frustrated trying to jig a Head Stock to bore or drill @ 100% true where to some it is just a part of standard operation and the starting question was on building cues, not doing tips and ferrules while learning to build a cue.

I think the best I have to offer is to ask a Cue Maker with a full nuts an bolts (Talking 200 -300 G) to visit for a day, pay for a day if needed to go over the whys without giving away trade secrets they have and do the same with the guy that has a 10 - 20 G shop.

Taper bars, CNC or dial in as you go?

I don't think there is a right or wrong here, just a where do you want to go and how do you want to get there?

Best of luck in your quest.
 
Why do they always turn left? Just sayin. I wanna turn right. I've always preferred a blacktop over 4 lane.

If you don't see it before you cut it, walk away. Come back to it when you do but don't procrastinate. No fear on repairs. It will ALWAYS come out better than you started right?
 
Hey Big Chase,

I can give advise on many things related to cue making and like everyone else here we all have our opinion and don't all build cues the same. There are a million minute details you must master to achieve repeatability over and over. The basis for this from a construction point of view is to hold very close tolerance standards.

The best advise I will offer is that you must have a long term plan and define you goals and expectations as a cue maker. I personally built cues for my first 5 years and gave away 50 cues to friends and customers at my Billiards Cafe. I did not put my makers mark on them and they were given away as test or beta cues. The only thing I required from these people was to be honest with me and bring to my attention any flaws that they witnessed or that developed over time.

When I did feel confident about the cues I was building were holding up in the field and people loved their cues, I started selling cues. And don't forget it is ok to do this for a hobby without huge expectations to be a Hall of Famer someday. As I said set your goals and expectation but be honest with yourself.

Building you name or brand in the cue business is a hard enough task because players understand a lot about what is a good cue compared to a great cue. If you rush to the market with your cues you will have cues out there representing your brand that will haunt you in the future and dog your name. I have talked to many new guys who were more worried how to sign their cue before they had even completed their first blank.

My plan from the outset was to build cues because I love the challenge of the journey and the work and effort it takes perfecting a world class product as my final finish line. If you do this everything else seems to take care of itself. The only thing is that the closer you think you are getting to the finish line the more you find you have more laps to run. That's how it works.

Of coarse you will need that money tree and a lot of patience.

Good luck and enjoy the journey.

JMO,

Rick
 
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TomHay said:
Space available, Money available, Hobby or to make a living = what equipment you will need to build cues.

Space available, Money available, Hobby or to make a living = What you will need to invest in wood.

Best of luck in your quest.
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Tom is correct. These questions need to be answered. Before anyone can give you advice. He is also correct, spending time with a local cue maker is a great step in the right direction. One thing you can do is to start reading the ask the cuemaker section. Start at page one. Read as far back as you care to. You will learn a lot and come to understand why you are getting some negative responses to your question.

Larry
 
Thanks for all the replies, I appreciate all the help. just looking to tinker more as a hobby than anything and was just looking for recommendations for equipment with so many different lathes out there.
 
If you are interested in a table saw machine that is ready to go I can help, or if you need a clausing 5914 with everything you need, I have one. If you need information I cant help much because I dont know much.
 
Metal Lathe 13x40 belt drive jet, grizzly or Enco will work great new or used very reasonable pricing
Quick change tool post from Enco
Milling machine with power feed from grizzly
Dowel sander because they are fun to use any brand you can find they all are built for life
Table saw from bosch
Gorton pantograph
Dust collector from harbor freight
I like my dewalt router
 
Hits 'em Hard said:
You weren't crucified for asking for free advise. You were crucified for being an idiot. You were told to use the search function, then proceeded to cry wolf. You got called out on begging for free tools and supplies. You got called out on trying to show off a butchered cue repair. How many times does one need to be shown the error of his ways before he admits his screw up? You've thrown out there that your tip/ferrule is patent pending. Have you even filed paperwork yet? I'm guessing not due to you being a broke ass.

The search function works well, you just gotta known what you're looking for first. If you don't know what you're looking for, then you're in the wrong place. I've asked zero questions on here about how to do something because everything you need/want to know is already here. If your search terms don't bring anything back, go to Google and and search. Still nothing? Well maybe that's the wrong term to search for. So don't do what you did and beg for the answer, change your search terms and see if the results come up. I'd be willing to bet that if you'd actually try and apply yourself to wanting to learn rather than being spoon fed more people would help you.

I came close to making a thread at one point to ask how to do something. In the process of trying to type my question out, I questioned the term I was trying ask about. Went back to Google, re-tried my search and guess what, I found my answer. Came back here to AZB, searched for that term and found plenty of information to fulfill my need. Didn't waste anyone else's time, and I actually learned a great deal more than I would have if I would of just asked my question. Knowledge can only be found, not given.
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There's a lot of truth in this post right here.
 
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