Stupid Cuemaker Tricks

matta

matta

Cue Snob
Silver Member
A while back BHQ started a thread about mistakes we all make. qbuilder chimed in with a cue in which he'd improperly sized the rings... Well, here is my entry.

100_0872.jpg


This was my first try at doing veneers in an arc. I guess this is karma catching up to me for all of the things that came out 100% perfect on the first try. Still eats me alive thinking about all of the time I wasted on this cue.

When laminating the arcs, I laminated them in such a way that the end grain would be sticking out of the cue. At the time, I did it because the veneers bent easier that way. I obviously didn't think it through to the finish product.

I got the arcs and ivory glued in. Cut them down. It looked GREAT. I was really psyched about this cue. So cut the pockets for the boxes between my arcs and glued the boxes in. Come back and cut my boxes down to find out now that my arcs look like TOTAL HELL. It's hard to tell from the photo but they sucked up my glue from the boxes and changed the color.

So now I have bright white veneers in the boxes and dull off white veneers in the arcs. GRRRR!@#!#@$!

I'm not even going to bother putting the inlays in the boxes that is was getting. This sleeve has to go. This cue may not make it to the SBE. *sigh*

The forearm is bridged. Everything is perfect except for this one minor detail. Too bad it was a mistake I made a MONTH ago! That was a lot work. I'm really pissed but who can you get mad at? I did it. And I know better! Damn, I'm an idiot some times.

Chalk this one up to a lesson learned. I bet I never make this mistake again!
 
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To quote a cuemaker I know, "I did it that way intentionally to acheive that look, I should be charging extra for doing that" LOL What glue were you using? West system?
 
I did a set of veneered boxes once and accidentally glued the veneers on where the tops and bottoms were the end grain of the veneers. Put on a coat of sealer and it looked like two different colors. Had to cut it off and put on a new butt sleeve. They were ivory boxes with ivory inlays between them so it was a expensive mistake.
 
Michael Webb said:
It's still damn sporty, for what it's worth.
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qbilder said:
I agree. Looks friggin nice.
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Consolation prizes? :)

Thanks anyhow. Really, the only reason I posted is because I knew you guys would understand and I wanted someone to see all of that work. It's a shame.

I'm still not sure what I want to do with it. I may just cut the sleeve off and do something basic so the cue will make it to the SBE. I'm not really in the mood to do all of that again, at the moment. Still a little sick to my stomach over the whole thing...

It's almost like having dog die when you ruin one you were really excited about.

Thanks anyhow, I feel a little better.
 
Suggestion

matta said:
A while back BHQ started a thread about mistakes we all make. qbuilder chimed in with a cue in which he'd improperly sized the rings... Well, here is my entry.

100_0872.jpg


This was my first try at doing veneers in an arc. I guess this is karma catching up to me for all of the things that came out 100% perfect on the first try. Still eats me alive thinking about all of the time I wasted on this cue.

When laminating the arcs, I laminated them in such a way that the end grain would be sticking out of the cue. At the time, I did it because the veneers bent easier that way. I obviously didn't think it through to the finish product.

I got the arcs and ivory glued in. Cut them down. It looked GREAT. I was really psyched about this cue. So cut the pockets for the boxes between my arcs and glued the boxes in. Come back and cut my boxes down to find out now that my arcs look like TOTAL HELL. It's hard to tell from the photo but they sucked up my glue from the boxes and changed the color.

So now I have bright white veneers in the boxes and dull off white veneers in the arcs. GRRRR!@#!#@$!

I'm not even going to bother putting the inlays in the boxes that is was getting. This sleeve has to go. This cue may not make it to the SBE. *sigh*

The forearm is bridged. Everything is perfect except for this one minor detail. Too bad it was a mistake I made a MONTH ago! That was a lot work. I'm really pissed but who can you get mad at? I did it. And I know better! Damn, I'm an idiot some times.

Chalk this one up to a lesson learned. I bet I never make this mistake again!
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Why don't you just add glue on top of the box veneers and let it soak in. You could do it to the veneers in the forearm as well. This way the natural or off white veneers might all look the same. I think that if you get them to all look the same color no matter what the color turns out to be with the glue in the veneer that the cue would look great. Try it in the butt sleeve first if it works then do the point veneers. If it doesn't work you are no further behind as you would still have to rework the entire butt sleeve.

Kevin
 
Murray Tucker said:
I did a set of veneered boxes once and accidentally glued the veneers on where the tops and bottoms were the end grain of the veneers. Put on a coat of sealer and it looked like two different colors. Had to cut it off and put on a new butt sleeve. They were ivory boxes with ivory inlays between them so it was a expensive mistake.
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LOL! I am a member of that club too.
 
Why does it always seem we learn these lessons on the loaded cues.
 
matta said:
Consolation prizes? :)

Thanks anyhow. Really, the only reason I posted is because I knew you guys would understand and I wanted someone to see all of that work. It's a shame.

I'm still not sure what I want to do with it. I may just cut the sleeve off and do something basic so the cue will make it to the SBE. I'm not really in the mood to do all of that again, at the moment. Still a little sick to my stomach over the whole thing...

It's almost like having dog die when you ruin one you were really excited about.

Thanks anyhow, I feel a little better.
Click to expand...

This is the best thing you can do with it, You could give it to me for my personal collection with no fear that it will ever be sold. Problem solved.:D
 
matta said:
A while back BHQ started a thread about mistakes we all make. qbuilder chimed in with a cue in which he'd improperly sized the rings... Well, here is my entry.

100_0872.jpg


This was my first try at doing veneers in an arc. I guess this is karma catching up to me for all of the things that came out 100% perfect on the first try. Still eats me alive thinking about all of the time I wasted on this cue.

When laminating the arcs, I laminated them in such a way that the end grain would be sticking out of the cue. At the time, I did it because the veneers bent easier that way. I obviously didn't think it through to the finish product.

I got the arcs and ivory glued in. Cut them down. It looked GREAT. I was really psyched about this cue. So cut the pockets for the boxes between my arcs and glued the boxes in. Come back and cut my boxes down to find out now that my arcs look like TOTAL HELL. It's hard to tell from the photo but they sucked up my glue from the boxes and changed the color.

So now I have bright white veneers in the boxes and dull off white veneers in the arcs. GRRRR!@#!#@$!

I'm not even going to bother putting the inlays in the boxes that is was getting. This sleeve has to go. This cue may not make it to the SBE. *sigh*

The forearm is bridged. Everything is perfect except for this one minor detail. Too bad it was a mistake I made a MONTH ago! That was a lot work. I'm really pissed but who can you get mad at? I did it. And I know better! Damn, I'm an idiot some times.

Chalk this one up to a lesson learned. I bet I never make this mistake again!
Click to expand...
here's my latest
this time it isnt a cue that suffered
was running .012" sheet of brass thru my drum sander and it shot outta there backwards like a rocket as i was about to put another piece thru
caught me on the end of my thumb
thought you all would appreciate my on the spot first aid job
super glue and masking tape!!!! :eek:
that oughta be fun to get off
002-8.jpg

 
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