Old School Questions

Matt_24

Matt_24

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
How did the old schoolers finish their cues (particularly Balabushka/Szamboti). I'm sure they didn't have the spray boothes/equipment that is available today...so what was their magic worked with?

From what I've heard they made a lot of superb cues with relatively small shops/equipment?

Did George have a pantograph for his inlays? I've heard that is what Gus ended up using. Didn't some of the old schoolers use a drill press and chisels to cut the pockets for their inlays?

Just a few questions as I find the old methods quite fascinating.
 
Balabushka use spray laquer right out of the spray can. Not sure about Szamboti.
 
If I'm not mistaken, French polish (oil) for George and sprayed lacquer for Gus. Think that's right about George....definitely no panto, everything was likely drilled and chiseled. Believe that Gus used a small engraving machine for inlays, which was quite a bit smaller than most of the manual Gorton pantos you see. It's amazing the precision that both obtained without all the tooling that is readily available today.
 
George showed me what he used and how he used it. He used a lacquer applied with a cotton rubbing pad to the cue while it was spinning in his lathe. Occasionally he applied some linseed oil to the cotton pad to prevent it from sticking to the work and at the same time it produced a much smoother surface. This is the same process as French Polishing with lacquer substituted for the shellac making it a much more durable finish.

He did drill most his pockets for inlays and finished them up with chisels and knives.

Personally I have tried almost every possible finish I could find and believe that the automotive clear costs used today are as good or better than anything that existed 15 years ago.
 
cueaddicts said:
If I'm not mistaken, French polish (oil) for George and sprayed lacquer for Gus.
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It is my understanding from doing some reading that the French polish actually has miniscule pieces of shellac suspended in the polish. The rubbing in of that polish is what releases the shellac, creating the finish. It is that type of finish you will find on many of the older violins and acoustic guitars, and it can be prone to checking if not properly cared for.

Lisa
 
Paul Dayton said:
George showed me what he used and how he used it. He used a lacquer applied with a cotton rubbing pad to the cue while it was spinning in his lathe. Occasionally he applied some linseed oil to the cotton pad to prevent it from sticking to the work and at the same time it produced a much smoother surface. This is the same process as French Polishing with lacquer substituted for the shellac making it a much more durable finish.

He did drill most his pockets for inlays and finished them up with chisels and knives.

Personally I have tried almost every possible finish I could find and believe that the automotive clear costs used today are as good or better than anything that existed 15 years ago.
Click to expand...


Oops! There ya go.....I will defer to Mr Dayton's explanation. :sorry:
 
cueaddicts said:
If I'm not mistaken, French polish (oil) for George and sprayed lacquer for Gus. Think that's right about George....definitely no panto, everything was likely drilled and chiseled. Believe that Gus used a small engraving machine for inlays, which was quite a bit smaller than most of the manual Gorton pantos you see. It's amazing the precision that both obtained without all the tooling that is readily available today.
Click to expand...
More than one cuemaker who visited George in his last years said he used Krylon Spray laquer.
 
I still can't fathom how one could make such tight inlays with a drill and chisels...wow.
 
Matt_24 said:
I still can't fathom how one could make such tight inlays with a drill and chisels...wow.
Click to expand...
Not all of George's inlays were all that tight. But Szamboti's were nice and tight.
 
cueman said:
More than one cuemaker who visited George in his last years said he used Krylon Spray laquer.
Click to expand...

Chris, that's amazing....never heard that. How'd he get the finish to harden/cure?
 
I'm just bumping this up because the old school techniques are interesting to me.

So, we've talked about drilling/chiselling out pockets for inlays. How did George get the placement so exact....is that the purpose of the indexer on a lathe? (if that is a dumb question forgive me...I seriously don't know).

Was George so innovative due to his contruction techniques - how he personally machined/assembled the components of his cues?

What about shafts? I've heard George only used one lathe in what was a small shop. How long did he season shafts/turn them..and let them hang before using them. His shafts seem somewhat legendary for their quality and playability.

Back on Szamboti - so Gus just used a small engraving machine for his cues? can you use just an engraving machine to cut pockets and the inlay?

I've heard that John Showman uses all old school techniques basically (as far as not using CNC for anything) and so does Bill Schick.

I've got lots more..........but this is more than enough to get some more "old school technique" discussion going.
 
An engraving machine is a small pantograph. It copies the inlay and pockets. There are a lot of cuemakers still using pantographs and short spliced butts.

You want really old school, don't use any mechanical tools when inlaying, just knives and chisels, you won't need any electricity. It's really time consuming but I did it for decades. No one seemed to notice and certainly no one cared.

With todays advances in technology, there are affordable hobby lathes and pre-programmed CNC'c that allow a multitude of people to assemble pretty cues. In most cases the apprenticeship and journeyman days are history. DVD's can teach you all there is to know.
 
I would just think there is a certain amount of satisfaction to the cuemaker from doing so much by hand and creating a beautiful product. The blood, sweat, and tears, etc.

Yes, CNCs are a skillset on their own, etc...but something a bit more magical about the older cues and the work that went into them. I mean, I love a CNC made cue as well as the next guy. The results and perfection speak for themselves...but still......
 
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