so i’ve decided to make cues

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.
 
Cool bong.
$20 cheapo from the bodega. but thank you!

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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.

 
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!

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

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
 
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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.
 
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.
 
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WARNING

This image is sure to trigger the grumpy ones

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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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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