Non-CNC Current Cuemakers

[Cuemaster98]

On the subject of technology...I will also be working on a bluetooth embedded cue that will store mp3 songs. Hopefully there will be more use for the embeded device that will record how long the cue has been used or keep records of your win and losses. What do you guy think? Will these component sell?

 

[rhncue]

The cue I examined had Laser work on Every Ivory inlay. Picture a Card suit,Spades,engraved with the same intricate work as seen on the back of Bicycle playing cards.This exceeds anything possible with CNC.The objections such as depth of cutting,burning,and cutting angles are for the enterprising Manafacturer to overcome.

You really should get a clue of what you are talking about before making statements on a subject that apparently you have little or no knowledge of. A CNC machine does not make any parts or pockets, it only positions a cutting tool that actually does the cutting. The same with a laser, it is only a cutting tool and needs to be positioned and CNC is what positions it. The laser cannot cut any truer than the CNC's precision that is doing the positioning. A CNC with resolution of .0001 positioning a end mill would make truer cuts than say one with .002 resolution using a laser for a cutting tool.

I've read some on laser use and got away from it as I feel it has to little use in cue building. It's draw back is that the speed of movement and power output controls the depth of cut. This is great when cutting any known substrate, problem occurs, however, as a cue is made up of many different substrates such as different woods, stone, ivory, metal, etc., etc. The speed and wattage would need to be varied as the laser comes into contact with each substrate.

Dick

 

[hangemhigh]

Well,thanks for the clarification. Although my post was not hostile to any one in any way,It seems to have given you the redass. Which is fine with me.

 

[manwon]

I don't think Cuetec uses CNC.

You are going to make Travis Trotter Upset!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By the way, what happened to the Phoenix, it kinda looks like someone piss on his coals and put the fire out!!!!

Have a good day!

 

[manwon]

Just to clarify, are those cuemakers listed as "non-CNC" shops also NOT using CNC shaft cutting machines like the ones Blud has made ? I get the impression that most are speaking of CNC milling of inlays and pockets (ornamentation/cosmetics), while ignoring other numericly controlled (automated) machinery that a cuemaker might use.

Dave

The ones I have listed certainly are not using any of this equipment!! In fact I also think that is what sets them apart from the rest.

 

[JoeyInCali]

The ones I have listed certainly are not using any of this equipment!! In fact I also think that is what sets them apart from the rest.

Hmm,how about their templates?
Not CNC/plasma cut?

 

[manwon]

You can't laser wood. It burns. Puls the laser comes down at an angle.

Joey many of the Asian import decal cues have a Laser inlay used in their designs. The lasers used are more for etching than for cutting. Lasers have been used for many years for etching decals in all industries.

 

[manwon]

No one has yet but I'm thinking the laser can be used to create 3D inlays of any picture or object on the computer for component that can be used in cue building. Basically you will be lasering family picture, etc, mainly for the butt sleeve. Similar to what plamer did with the clear window and foil name in the butt sleeve.

The really cool thing is now we can have imbeded LED light shine from the bottom of the cue to illuminate the object or picture. I'm working on a cue right now that will have my family photo in 3D on an round acrylic stock (3D image will be laser into the crystal) that was tapered for the butt of the cue with a dowel to glue into the handle. It's be a cue looking cue and will probably plays fine as long as my shafts are good.

This is the same technology now that exist for creating 3D images such as the statue of liberty etc..except its done on a round stock that already taper to size of a butt. The battery will be install at the end of the butt cap and will have a switch to turn on and off. Talk about sharking..LOL...wondering if it will work for sharking. Will look pretty cool on TV, I'm sure!!

Regards,
Duc.

You are exactly right, and this is what the Asians have been doing with decal cues for more than 10 years!!!!!

 

[hangemhigh]

The thing is to me,I believe that the Technology used back then was close to state of the art.I think that if CNC was available to everyone,most,if not all would have taken advantage.I do not think anyone is using a foot pedal Lathe,all are using Lathes powered by Electricity.This,to me,is no different than utilizing CNC.

 

[manwon]

Hmm,how about their templates?
Not CNC/plasma cut?

Some of these people use hand cut templates made from wood, which while it may take time and Craftsmanship they get the job done very well.

 

[manwon]

The thing is to me,I believe that the Technology used back then was close to state of the art.I think that if CNC was available to everyone,most,if not all would have taken advantage.I do not think anyone is using foot pedal Lathes,all are using Lathes powered by Electricity.This,to me,is no different than utilizing CNC.

I suspect what ever is used is OK, however, I also think that the buyer of any cue should not have to guess how and what was used to build their cue. Currently, this is not the case, and you can not lump those cue makers who build their products by hand into a single category labeled cue maker.

All I am saying is let us be honest, the buyer deserves the right to know!
Whether or not it will make a difference in the future remains to be seen.

 

[Cornerman]

Fred,
They give almost the same results,only the trained eye can discern between the two. Example: From 1994 to 2002 Cue Maker 1 had Cue Maker 2 CNC his Pantagraph templates. Cue Maker 2 also inlayed some of Cue Maker 1's blanks and engraved His Logo. Now you have cues from Cue Maker 1 that look exactly the same,but half were done Pantagraph,half CNC.I can tell which are which. The question is,can You?

I'm asking you because you don't seem to know what a CNC is. I'm an automation engineer. Motion Control is my livelyhood.

Again, are CNC and pantograph/pantomills the same in your world? If they are, then you've got a lot of world to learn. It's not fair of you to discuss the merits or lack thereof of CNC use if you don't know what it is.

Fred

 

[hangemhigh]

Fred,You can try to lord your perceived superiority over me but it is not gonna work. In the real world,where I reside,the CNC and the Panto produce results in cue making nearly the same.You have made no point relevant to the thread. Mindless drivel about your livelyhood and your education versus another is not the topic here.One does not need have a degree in anything other than Cue buying to understand the difference in the two for the sake of the discussion here.As for my knowledge of what a CNC is,how about a photo of me standing by a Boston-matic modified with 3 40,000 rpm motors? I have been privy to more Cues,Duck Calls,and Turkey Yelpers cut on a CNC than you might think.I have seen my designs come to life because of that Boston,and like it or not,I didn't have to get a Degree to get it done.All the while an old Pantograph sat in the corner,gathering dust.

 

[kvinbrwr]

On the subject of technology...I will also be working on a bluetooth embedded cue that will store mp3 songs. Hopefully there will be more use for the embeded device that will record how long the cue has been used or keep records of your win and losses. What do you guy think? Will these component sell?

Forget the MP3s. Have the chip collect and store all the data necessary to make a player rating, then when two players are going to match up all they need to do is get their (cue) butts in the same vicinity and let the cues figure the spot for even action.

Kevin

 

[hangemhigh]

Seriuosly,at the risk of being attacked by Chip Techs for a lack of any type of a Technology Degree,a chip embedded in the cue that can be used for I.D or Theft recovery is something I think is viable.

 

[kvinbrwr]

OK OK OK To Sum Up So Far

CNC or Non-CNC is either a great determining factor in value or it has no effect at all.

Current Non-CNC Makers:

Barry S.
Kikel
Rick Howard (about to cross to the dark side however)
Searing
Tasc
Bill Schick
Ron Hailey
Mike Johnson
Scruggs (although 2 owners of Scruggs cues -myself included - "assumed" they were CNC because of the precision)
Tad ?????? - are we sure on Tad?



Current CNC makers:

Paul Dayton
Gina
Joe Porper (nobody mentioned him but I like Joe and every good player in the room I go to uses and swears by his stix)

What about Paul Mottey?

 

[Cornerman]

Fred,You can try to lord your perceived superiority over me but it is not gonna work. In the real world,where I reside,the CNC and the Panto produce results in cue making nearly the same.You have made no point relevant to the thread. Mindless drivel about your livelyhood and your education versus another is not the topic here.One does not need have a degree in anything other than Cue buying to understand the difference in the two for the sake of the discussion here.As for my knowledge of what a CNC is,how about a photo of me standing by a Boston-matic modified with 3 40,000 rpm motors? I have been privy to more Cues,Duck Calls,and Turkey Yelpers cut on a CNC than you might think.I have seen my designs come to life because of that Boston,and like it or not,I didn't have to get a Degree to get it done.All the while an old Pantograph sat in the corner,gathering dust.

I thought I asked a straightforward question, and you answered hysterically. You asked me if I knew the difference to which I answered. You then ridicule my answer. Nice.

It seems that in this post, you waffle between calling the CNC and the Pantograph "nearly the same," then go on to say they're different (since the pantograph is gathering dust). Hence, my original question. But, you chose to go on the attack. Typical.

I thought we were talking about CNCs. Apparently not. You're talking about routing. Everyone else seemed to be talking about execution. You seem to be talking about results. I see I'm not the first (nor will I be the last) to point this out.

Have a nice day.

Fred

 

[hangemhigh]

I understand now your refference to "your world" in your first post. Anyone who thinks they can add that phrase and claim it is a "straightforward" question needs to get back to the IP Jimbo(your world) forum and leave me alone.You attacks continue to add nothing to this post.Go cry to Jimbo.

 

[Cornerman]

CNC or Non-CNC is either a great determining factor in value or it has no effect at all.

Current Non-CNC Makers:

Barry S.
Kikel
Rick Howard (about to cross to the dark side however)
Searing
Tasc
Bill Schick
Ron Hailey
Mike Johnson
Scruggs (although 2 owners of Scruggs cues -myself included - "assumed" they were CNC because of the precision)
Tad ?????? - are we sure on Tad?



Current CNC makers:

Paul Dayton
Gina
Joe Porper (nobody mentioned him but I like Joe and every good player in the room I go to uses and swears by his stix)

What about Paul Mottey?

I guess you really did want a list. Wow. There are upwards of 500 people building cues in some form, a couple of hundred do it more than just a hobby. Of all of the cuemakers I've interviewed, maybe half use CNC in some form, whether it's to make inlays and pockets, taper shafts, taper butts, cut V-grooves for sharp half-spliced cues, etc.

For cues with wrapped inlays from Thomas Wayne or Mike Lambros for example, I daresay it's impossible to do some of that work without motion control systems.

For other cuemakers who choose to use CNC but don't do much with them, I'd like to seem them expand its use, but many of them have enough to deal with in just making cues.

Personally, if I like a cue, I like a cue. I really don't care if CNC technology is used or not. Likewise, if it sux ass, it wouldn't matter what technology was used either.

Fred

 

[JoeyInCali]

Tad ?????? - are we sure on Tad?
As far as I know, Fred Kohara runs the cnc in Tad's shop.