so i’ve decided to make cues

[Chopdoc]

Cool bong.

 

[qolbrand]

I'd imagine you could get a pillow bearing and a collet and it would steady it up well without breaking the bank. I'd be very wary of using that with the shaft unsupported at all. I mean, it works, but all it takes is one mistake to damage threads. I'm not poo-pooing your effort, just be really careful!

With the collet and pillow bearing it would be very capable of doing tips. Sharpshooter has some setups that are drill based but I don't entirely care for them. They use something like skateboard wheels and you must wrap the shaft with about 1/16" of tape where they set or it will damage a shaft. They work well with this one caveat. They come with some vinyl tubing but in use it slides off and exposes the shaft to the wheels. They scuff/scratch the shaft and will actually dent the wood in a ring. Not good. But 1/16" of low stick painter tape protects the shaft.

Just tossing some ideas out there. Good progress!

Thanks! Ive been working on a collet, but its not finished yet. I will investigate pillow bearings.

 

[qolbrand]

Cool bong.

$20 cheapo from the bodega. but thank you!

lately ive been filling this pen holder with slides so that i dont have to pause working in the shop to pick and load bowls. highly recommend.

Also, i make and sell those magnetic lighter straps.

qol

www.qolbrand.com

 

[qolbrand]

Cool and thanks for sharing the trial and error part with pictures , satisfaction !!

thats the point of the journal!

if i only posted my successes nobody would learn anything

Good job, Soyale!

thank you GBCues. let me know when you’re ready to take on an apprentice. Chamomile would love it!

Now again, if I knew anything, I think you could potentially get into the hobby much more cheaply but I knew zero about lathes other than they turn stuff. I didn't know a head stock from a tail stock.

i’m going to use my phone-a-friend-option and call on @Birk1 to tell the story here he told me. He knows what i’m talking about. Standby

Here is a good series about lathe work in general, it's metal work.

thanks man, i will add it to the pile.

From one beginner to another, good luck in your journey! I'm looking forward to see what you make.

There is always more than one way to skin a cat. And sometimes older or more basic ways just take more patience. You can pay for the equipment with money, or you can pay for the work with your time.

bingo. thanks.

There are those that say you can't even do a tip right without a lathe, but many of us have done it for a lot of years. It's brutal on your fingers in my experience, and takes a bit of time, but certainly very doable.

Im a sicko and enjoy doing tips by hand. looking forward to doing one on the spinner.

I think it's cool to see the post and pictures.

thats really all i was going for by posting publicly instead of just keeping my own journal.

Don't be afraid to show it's not exactly concentric. Who cares? He loved the cue. Best he ever played with. What could be better than that?

Wrong cue, but your point is made. I sanded it by hand until it looked good enough to me. you certainly cannot tell when you play with it.

Hey, the man used a torch on the cue. That takes some guts to get past. Having the money to buy a lathe has not been a problem for me, having the guts to dive in is where I am stuck.

it was nervy. Get some cheap stuff you dont care about and practice on it. Hell. Put an insert and a pin in a couple of dowels and make a shower curtain rod.

Some may cringe at this post. So what? Why worry about it.

Because as i said in my initial post, they are gatekeeping assholes. Everybody has to start somewhere.

What are my other options?!

thanks for your kind words chopdoc.

I know a couple of boys who use to be in New Hampshire, who built all thier Cues between ceners and used the Steady rest.
They're Cues were not only accepted world wide, they earned awards at Cue shows from them

NO BIG SPINDLE BORE
One of the two lathes not even long eneogh for a Cue Butt.
No taper bars either yet very consistant tapers.

this is encouraging, thank you.

took the drill press for its inaugural spin today. Wild just going to town with 100 hahaha

 

[Coos Cues]

you are correct.

The good news is you don't need a $2,000 lathe to get going.

Turns out it's $4,000

 

[qolbrand]

The good news is you don't need a $2,000 lathe to get going.

Turns out it's $4,000

yeah youre right i might as well just stop what i’m doing and wait until i have an extra 4k. Good call!

 

[erriep]

$20 cheapo from the bodega. but thank you!

View attachment 840748

lately ive been filling this pen holder with slides so that i dont have to pause working in the shop to pick and load bowls. highly recommend.

Also, i make and sell those magnetic lighter straps.

qol

www.qolbrand.com

are you 100% sure that to smoke weed is compatible with safety during the work on a lathe, spinning tools and/or saws?

not everyone can be the reincarnation of Dennis Dieckman, pal :-D

 

[DeeDeeCues]

yeah youre right i might as well just stop what i’m doing and wait until i have an extra 4k. Good call!

Well, not to sound too harsh, but it might not be the worst idea. If you watch CL and FB Market place you can at least buy a wood lathe with 36-40" between centers, generally for under $300. At least then you have something made to turn spindles instead of futzing around with drills and drill presses with no plan to hold the rest of the shaft. At best those will make it easy to damage cues, at worst they can be dangerous.

If you get even a wood lathe, you can look for 4-jaw chucks (good quality available for ~$100) and figure out how to mount a riser to a pillowblock and hold a shaft with a collar supported near the tip...then you are getting somewhere. As I said earlier, I made cues for less.

BTW, it's an immature look to cry about money while posting photos of your weed stash. Here's a tip...stop smoking weed and you'll have more money. Use your high time for productive endeavors and you might even make more money.

 

[qolbrand]

Well, not to sound too harsh, but it might not be the worst idea. If you watch CL and FB Market place you can at least buy a wood lathe with 36-40" between centers, generally for under $300. At least then you have something made to turn spindles instead of futzing around with drills and drill presses with no plan to hold the rest of the shaft. At best those will make it easy to damage cues, at worst they can be dangerous.

If you get even a wood lathe, you can look for 4-jaw chucks (good quality available for ~$100) and figure out how to mount a riser to a pillowblock and hold a shaft with a collar supported near the tip...then you are getting somewhere. As I said earlier, I made cues for less.

BTW, it's an immature look to cry about money while posting photos of your weed stash. Here's a tip...stop smoking weed and you'll have more money. Use your high time for productive endeavors and you might even make more money.

im just dicking around with wood pal. relax. my medication is legal and affordable in colorado. the bong just happened to be in the background of the pic that i took for a friend and posted here later. someone gave me shit about it so i posted a better picture.

“crying about money” and saying i cant afford a lathe YET are two different things. you need to check yourself and get off your high horse and out of my thread.

 

[qolbrand]

WARNING

This image is sure to trigger the grumpy ones

took a FILE and “turned down” 10” from the tip to 13.x. Gonna use the caliper and sandpaper until it feels about right. Then im gonna dick around with the taper…..

….. BY HAND

stoked to see what comes out. This is the leftover shorty from cutting the house cues. Gonna try to make something for my nephew. He doesnt need a southwest, anyway. He’s 9.





i dont think i need a lathe for this lol. sure is fun.

 

[DeeDeeCues]

WARNING

This image is sure to trigger the grumpy ones

View attachment 840933

took a FILE and “turned down” 10” from the tip to 13.x. Gonna use the caliper and sandpaper until it feels about right. Then im gonna dick around with the taper…..

….. BY HAND

stoked to see what comes out. This is the leftover shorty from cutting the house cues. Gonna try to make something for my nephew. He doesnt need a southwest, anyway. He’s 9.





i dont think i need a lathe for this lol. sure is fun.

At least it'll look like he made it.

 

[qolbrand]

At least it'll look like he made it.

Yup, it’s probably not going to be perfect. I’ll probably try and fail to combat taper wave by hand. It will likely roll off since it was a tired house cue to begin with.

however, its going to make my nephew really happy that his uncle made him a pool cue.


seriously, dude, go find something else to do. nobody wants your negative attitude here.

you are no longer welcome in my thread.

 

[qolbrand]

 

[qolbrand]

did a house cue conversion by hand. it plays. i’ll post some pictures when i get it finished. what a test of patience that was!

pulled the trigger on a $100 rockler excelsior mini wood lathe on FB marketplace. it came with a nova g3 chuck (missing jaws and a key) but there was an abomination of adapters with an atomically bonded morse taper (https://www.reddit.com/r/turning/s/5AmDsitMHU) after beating the ever loving hell out of it with a steel knockout rod for a few days i ordered a new spindle for 18.99, along with the bed extension for $99 that puts my between centers at 38.5”. got the new one put in and now we are spinning.

i got a morse taper 4 jaw independent chuck for $50 on ebay and some flexible collets for $30.

so now i’m in about 300 dollars.

“but QOLBRAND!”, you say, “wood lathes are terrible for pool cues! you should just buy a hightower deluxe with the goodies for 4k and never look back”, you might think.

would that i could. but right now this is a fun way to learn, and something that i can put AWAY. i’ve also learned how much is possible on a wood lathe and am looking forward to some non-pool wood turning projects in the future.

i also had a lot of fun making this steady rest.

imagine my delight when i found out the go-to for DIY center rests was inline skate wheels! i just so happened to have a used set of my own pro wheel on hand. possibly a worlds first? likely a worlds last.

“well, qolbrand, thats great for you, but that mini lathes minimum speed is 750 rpm”

indeed it is. its also a pain in the ass to change speeds. i looked into adding variable speed and you can buy a penn state motor and controller for $200, or rip them out of an old treadmill. adding something like a router variable speed controller to a DC motor like this would burn it out.

however, i’m thinking if i just slip the belt off the pulley, take the headstock spindle wheel off and thread a nut on there (3/4-16 LH), i should be able to use a drill adapter and a socket to turn the spindle with easy speed control. couple bucks for the nut and socket.

the chuck just arrived in the mail yesterday. i’m off to harbor freight now to buy a face shield.

should be interesting. i’ll add to this as things develop (or fail to do so).

i’ve been brainstorming a way to make a cross slide that doesn't cost $400. but that can wait.

 

[DeeDeeCues]

Your craftsmanship and attention to detail is mesmerizing.

 

[qolbrand]

Your craftsmanship and attention to detail is mesmerizing.

heyyy look who it is! i was reviewing the old post before i added my last comment and i was wondering if you’d show up and say something condescending. lo and behold!

 

[Bishop]

Your craftsmanship and attention to detail is mesmerizing.

There are two types of people. Those that see a barrier to what they want to accomplish and that’s the reason they can’t make a cue.

Then there’s people who see the same barrier and they simply find a way to overcome it to accomplish what they want to accomplish.

OP overcoming financial barriers to enter the game is a testament to his ability to adapt and overcome.

Not sure why you would shit all over that.

We all had to start somewhere and eventually this guy will get his big time lathe and be all the better innovator for it.

We aren’t exactly in the golden age of cuemakers. Almost looks like a dying industry conceded to big corporations. I can’t see how your approach makes things better.

 

[DeeDeeCues]

There are two types of people. Those that see a barrier to what they want to accomplish and that’s the reason they can’t make a cue.

Then there’s people who see the same barrier and they simply find a way to overcome it to accomplish what they want to accomplish.

OP overcoming financial barriers to enter the game is a testament to his ability to adapt and overcome.

Not sure why you would shit all over that.

We all had to start somewhere and eventually this guy will get his big time lathe and be all the better innovator for it.

We aren’t exactly in the golden age of cuemakers. Almost looks like a dying industry conceded to big corporations. I can’t see how your approach makes things better.

Why should I make it better? There is too much information given freely to hacks which undermines custom cue making as a whole.

Read his posts, I only responded in kind.

I also gave him the advice he is following now with the wood lathe and chuck.

Finally, n the tooling is something that will be used on every cue, some sort of craftsmanship should be devoted to making the jigs.

The truth is that there are two ways to go about making cues. Either but the cuemaker-in:a-box kits, or innovate. Innovation takes time, ability, money, and thought. The kits take money.

Not everybody should be a cue maker.

 

[qolbrand]

Why should I make it better? There is too much information given freely to hacks which undermines custom cue making as a whole.

Read his posts, I only responded in kind.

I also gave him the advice he is following now with the wood lathe and chuck.

Finally, n the tooling is something that will be used on every cue, some sort of craftsmanship should be devoted to making the jigs.

The truth is that there are two ways to go about making cues. Either but the cuemaker-in:a-box kits, or innovate. Innovation takes time, ability, money, and thought. The kits take money.

Not everybody should be a cue maker.

yeah true true, absolutely genius with the wood lathe and chuck, and definitely no chance in hell that i would have figured that out without you, or that i would have completely forgotten about your comment until today.

seriously, dude, go find something else to do. nobody wants your negative attitude here.

you are no longer welcome in my thread.

i say it again.

 

[qolbrand]

There are two types of people. Those that see a barrier to what they want to accomplish and that’s the reason they can’t make a cue.

Then there’s people who see the same barrier and they simply find a way to overcome it to accomplish what they want to accomplish.

OP overcoming financial barriers to enter the game is a testament to his ability to adapt and overcome.

Not sure why you would shit all over that.

We all had to start somewhere and eventually this guy will get his big time lathe and be all the better innovator for it.

We aren’t exactly in the golden age of cuemakers. Almost looks like a dying industry conceded to big corporations. I can’t see how your approach makes things better.

i was kinda mean and i think it ticked him off