Need a new Hobby?
- Thread starter BobbyG
- Start date
No Fancy new equipment until I try inlays
Stop now while you're ahead.
Or go to your local college and take one semester of machining.
Stop now while you're ahead.
Or go to your local college and take one semester of machining.
You should have bought Willie's stuff, then you could spend the next year figuring out how to use it. Your what should I do or not do list has to be prefaced with what can you do. Have you ever run a power machine before, wood working or metal? Do you have any experience with woods? Have you started buying wood so that it can sit in your shop till it is ready to go into a cue?
It is easy to spent $15,000.00 getting started to make cues. This always seems to me to be a large amount of money to spend on something that is a hobby but maybe you have the finances to feel otherwise. Have you started a list of all the things you will need? Have you started looking for suppliers of those things? Do you live in a large metropolitan area or a smaller one with few suppliers of machine tools or tooling? Do you have a dedicated space to do this in? Or is the wife going to be moving things off the washing machine to somewhere you can't find them? Do you live in a particularly humid/dry area? Is there someone local that makes cues and is willing to give you help or are you dependent on the internet to ask questions? The questions go on and on....
Bob Danielson
www.bdcuesandcomix.com
It is easy to spent $15,000.00 getting started to make cues. This always seems to me to be a large amount of money to spend on something that is a hobby but maybe you have the finances to feel otherwise. Have you started a list of all the things you will need? Have you started looking for suppliers of those things? Do you live in a large metropolitan area or a smaller one with few suppliers of machine tools or tooling? Do you have a dedicated space to do this in? Or is the wife going to be moving things off the washing machine to somewhere you can't find them? Do you live in a particularly humid/dry area? Is there someone local that makes cues and is willing to give you help or are you dependent on the internet to ask questions? The questions go on and on....
Bob Danielson
www.bdcuesandcomix.com
And he just popped the top not only on the proverbial "can of worms" but he kicked open Pandora's box.
You will want to have wood in your shop "seasoning" plus the same for shaft wood. Buy a hightower Deluxe, so when you have a question Chris is willing most any time to help, and the lathe is ready to do it all save inlays :grin:.
Now after that you will spend money like mad, but remember this the better your cues are the more you can get for them and the faster you can recoupe most of the money you spent. It keeps my pool cue making habit going.
You will want to have wood in your shop "seasoning" plus the same for shaft wood. Buy a hightower Deluxe, so when you have a question Chris is willing most any time to help, and the lathe is ready to do it all save inlays :grin:.
Now after that you will spend money like mad, but remember this the better your cues are the more you can get for them and the faster you can recoupe most of the money you spent. It keeps my pool cue making habit going.
I need a hobby and I think I want to make a few cues? I am going to do it.
Please from your own experience tell me what not to do, and don’t say don’t make cues. No Fancy new equipment until I try inlaysGreat excuse to build a new tool!
Your success in this endeavor depends mostly on you. Your past experiences, determination, education and desire are the most important aspects.
If you really want to do this -- Go For It!!!! You will never know how good you can be unless you try.
Good Cuemaking,
ok
A lot of questions and a little support, sweet! During the next year I plan to season some wood and start building the CNC for inlays and engraving. I think SS joints are way to boring. I thought I would try to do most of the work on my smithy 1239 until I learn better. I also thought I would not make shafts right away because the first few cues will be for me and I prefer the OB-2 over all else. One last question is there a drawback to using purple heart as a core other than cost? If there are cue builders here in Portland OR I don’t know them. Thanks and I’ll be listening for years
A lot of questions and a little support, sweet! During the next year I plan to season some wood and start building the CNC for inlays and engraving. I think SS joints are way to boring. I thought I would try to do most of the work on my smithy 1239 until I learn better. I also thought I would not make shafts right away because the first few cues will be for me and I prefer the OB-2 over all else. One last question is there a drawback to using purple heart as a core other than cost? If there are cue builders here in Portland OR I don’t know them. Thanks and I’ll be listening for years
As always, I will recommend someone who asks this question to first, acquire knowledge.
There are many ways you can do this, and Joey mentioned one of the best pre-requisites to cue making. Chris Hightower sells DVD's at $50 a piece and they are packed full of great info. I own all of them. He also sells a book that is superb as well.
With the knowledge I just mentioned, you should have a decent idea of what to buy, and what to do with it. Remember, you can seriously hurt yourself with these machines and materials if you don't know what you're doing, which is why i always tell the new guys to get acquainted first. You have to love the craft, and it would be nice to know where you want to go with it.
I am self taught with the exception that I have a couple local cue makers and the wonderful fellow cue makers on these forums to call upon when I come up against a wall. I have been making cues for a little over a year now, and it's been a huge kick in the nutz! but with that said, I am happy I can make a decent cue and go out and play with it knowing it was borne from a figment of my imagination.
I make cues on one main lathe, and I have a wood lathe for finishing but you got to have the will power and the creativity to get the job done right. Cue making is not just about buying the wood and sticking it in a machine. I is about having the other stuff like the jigs and being able to create it out of thin air should the opportunity arise. That is the frustrating part. One minute you are cruising along, and the next minute, it's, "$hit! I need this. $hit! I now I need that." and after you deviate off course to make a jig for your table saw, or your tapered collets, you got to try and remember what in the hell you were doing in the first place..... it just wears me out typing about it......
I honestly thought there was gonna be nothing to it but it has been a humbling experience.
Good Luck, and I hope you find your way.
There are many ways you can do this, and Joey mentioned one of the best pre-requisites to cue making. Chris Hightower sells DVD's at $50 a piece and they are packed full of great info. I own all of them. He also sells a book that is superb as well.
With the knowledge I just mentioned, you should have a decent idea of what to buy, and what to do with it. Remember, you can seriously hurt yourself with these machines and materials if you don't know what you're doing, which is why i always tell the new guys to get acquainted first. You have to love the craft, and it would be nice to know where you want to go with it.
I am self taught with the exception that I have a couple local cue makers and the wonderful fellow cue makers on these forums to call upon when I come up against a wall. I have been making cues for a little over a year now, and it's been a huge kick in the nutz! but with that said, I am happy I can make a decent cue and go out and play with it knowing it was borne from a figment of my imagination.
I make cues on one main lathe, and I have a wood lathe for finishing but you got to have the will power and the creativity to get the job done right. Cue making is not just about buying the wood and sticking it in a machine. I is about having the other stuff like the jigs and being able to create it out of thin air should the opportunity arise. That is the frustrating part. One minute you are cruising along, and the next minute, it's, "$hit! I need this. $hit! I now I need that." and after you deviate off course to make a jig for your table saw, or your tapered collets, you got to try and remember what in the hell you were doing in the first place..... it just wears me out typing about it......
I honestly thought there was gonna be nothing to it but it has been a humbling experience.
Good Luck, and I hope you find your way.
A lot of questions and a little support, sweet! During the next year I plan to season some wood and start building the CNC for inlays and engraving. I think SS joints are way to boring. I thought I would try to do most of the work on my smithy 1239 until I learn better. I also thought I would not make shafts right away because the first few cues will be for me and I prefer the OB-2 over all else. One last question is there a drawback to using purple heart as a core other than cost? If there are cue builders here in Portland OR I don’t know them. Thanks and I’ll be listening for years
"I think SS joints are way to boring."
.....................................................
Start by changing to an open mind.
Many people still strongly prefer steel joints. You should be able
to evaluate the quality of your cues. If you never build a cue with a
SS joint, how could you possibly ever tell a good one from a bad one?
Dale
Last edited:
A lot of questions and a little support, sweet! During the next year I plan to season some wood and start building the CNC for inlays and engraving. I think SS joints are way to boring. I thought I would try to do most of the work on my smithy 1239 until I learn better. I also thought I would not make shafts right away because the first few cues will be for me and I prefer the OB-2 over all else. One last question is there a drawback to using purple heart as a core other than cost? If there are cue builders here in Portland OR I don’t know them. Thanks and I’ll be listening for years
honestly the first thing to do is not take AZ land to serious.
2nd use the search function before you ask something you can usually find a good answer to start to a problem with out all the grief of posting.
3rd get some dvds as mentioned before but dont take them as the bible take them as ideas on how to get started and then come up with your own construction ideas and experiment until you find something you like.
4th fingure out what kind of cues you want to make if you want only cnc points, traditional half splice venneer points or neither and just do plain janes becasue it will radically change what equipment you will need to buy.
other than that buy a bunch of kiln dried wood and let it sit till you buy everything else and have fun.:grin: it sure is addicting and try not to tell people you build cues until you get a couple done and someone asks "hey what kind of cue is that" and your happy to say you made it or you will have people wanting you to build a cue for them before your ready.
welp have a good one.