Time consuming task ...

WilleeCue

WilleeCue

The Barefoot Cuemaker
Silver Member
I have seen the photos of veneered box work and wanted to see what it took to do that.
Even with the CNC cutting the pocket and center design the veneers took about an hour to install.
Each one (there are 12) had to be cut, sanded, and fitted by hand one at a time.
I see why those cues bring more money than just CNC inlays.
It takes a lot of hands on work to do one.
 
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Very nice looking cue with an Impressive Photo to show it off.
Thanks for posting and looking forward to seeing the rest of the cue.

Myron
 
Willee, I have a couple of questions if you don't mind. Just out of curiousity what do you feel it is worth for you to do one of these windows...i.e. what would you charge in relation to your inlay ?? Also, what do you think about veneered boxes with mitered corners vs. the stepped veneers ?? More or less visually appealing....more or less difficult to do ?? Thanks...Sean

Great work btw.
 
WilleeCue said:
I have seen the photos of veneered box work and wanted to see what it took to do that.
Even with the CNC cutting the pocket and center design the veneers took about an hour to install.
Each one (there are 12) had to be cut, sanded, and fitted by hand one at a time.
I see why those cues bring more money than just CNC inlays.
It takes a lot of hands on work to do one.
Click to expand...

With the use of CNC there is a way of putting in windows with mitered veneers much more quickly and easily once the programs are drawn.

Dick
 
cueaddicts said:
Willee, I have a couple of questions if you don't mind. Just out of curiousity what do you feel it is worth for you to do one of these windows...i.e. what would you charge in relation to your inlay ?? Also, what do you think about veneered boxes with mitered corners vs. the stepped veneers ?? More or less visually appealing....more or less difficult to do ?? Thanks...Sean

Great work btw.
Click to expand...

Sean, CNC inlays are machine work and uasualy fit nicely with little or no effort. (if your ducks stayed in a row)
All the work is in the drafting, programing, and machine setup.
It took about 20 min to program and set up the box pocket and white center inlay on my CNC.

Doing it the way I did this one, cutting and sanding each veneer piece to fit snug, I would charge about $30 for each box.
That is thinking my time is worth $30 per hour.
The white inlay in the center is $8 for a total of $38 per box and inlay.

If the veneers were glued up and cut into strips the corners would need to be mitered or they would not join up correctly.
I think it would be even harder to get nice looking miter joints than the stepped ones. The cuts would need to be clean and accurate.
IMHO I think the mitered veneers look better than the stepped ones.
Hopefully, someday I will gain the skill to do them correctly.
 
Willee,

Thanks for your insights. I must say that your prices above are more than a bargain IMHO. I'm also in agreement with you about the mitered corners....I generally like them more. But both methods are very unappealing to me when sloppily executed. I've seen some stepped ones done so cleanly that you almost don't even see where the veneers end (Gina and CP immediately come to mind). Some of that may be working with really good consistent veneers as far as color and thickness, and of course the super tight tolerances.

Gilbert is doing some really good mitered corners. Up until a few years age he had never even done one.

Thanks again.
Sean
 
cueaddicts said:
Willee,

Thanks for your insights. I must say that your prices above are more than a bargain IMHO. I'm also in agreement with you about the mitered corners....I generally like them more. But both methods are very unappealing to me when sloppily executed. I've seen some stepped ones done so cleanly that you almost don't even see where the veneers end (Gina and CP immediately come to mind). Some of that may be working with really good consistent veneers as far as color and thickness, and of course the super tight tolerances.

Gilbert is doing some really good mitered corners. Up until a few years age he had never even done one.

Thanks again.
Sean
Click to expand...

Thank you Sean.
That was my first attempt at boxing veneers and there are two things there I need to improve.
The white veneer on the left side is bowed and I think it is because I made it fit to tightly. The joints on the bottom corners are OK but the top corners have a black line.
Perhaps it is because of the light color but that needs work.
That inlay was done on a small wood block not a cue.
I will practice a bit more before I try to cut it into a real cue.

Gilbert has done some fine cue making for many years.
He has the talent and the right equipment.
He has earned his rep with his quality work.
 
rhncue said:
With the use of CNC there is a way of putting in windows with mitered veneers much more quickly and easily once the programs are drawn.

Dick
Click to expand...

Dick, I can not think of a way to cut and/or miter veneer strips on the CNC.
But that is part of the fun of a CNC setup.
Learning new ways to get it to do new things is part of the attraction.

If you would care to share how that is done on a CNC I would be very interested in learning and humbly grateful forever. :)
PM if you dont want to post it here.
 
Nice clean work Willee. Here's an example of mitred veneered box. Antonio "Gaga" Gabica's AzB series cue. All he wanted for scrim was his initials "AG". Veneers from JazzNPool.
 

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The above is CNC assisted mitreing but hand inlayed to get the sharp corners. The forearm too has CNC assisted mitre-cuts for the folded veneers. Veneer strips were glued together then pressed in a calibrated press to avoid glue lines and glue starvation.

Veneers by JazzNPool<shameless ad:)
 

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What a nice cue, Edwin, thanks for the photos.

Yeah, that is the stuff I am talking about.
Clean and sharp mitered corners on the veneers.

I gotta learn to do that.
 
bandido said:
The above is CNC assisted mitreing but hand inlayed to get the sharp corners. The forearm too has CNC assisted mitre-cuts for the folded veneers. Veneer strips were glued together then pressed in a calibrated press to avoid glue lines and glue starvation.

Veneers by JazzNPool<shameless ad:)
Click to expand...
WOW! Another level.
 
Joey, that is one fine hot tub you got there as your avitair.
Cant blame you for being proud of it and wanting to show it off.
California living must be great.

All I got down here is a #10 wash tub and an aquarium pump.
I can post a photo of it if you wish to see it.

Willee <..... Texas Red Neck.
 
Thanks for the plug Edwin...the points and veneered boxes look flawless! Quite a punchy veneer combo too!

Martin



bandido said:
The above is CNC assisted mitreing but hand inlayed to get the sharp corners. The forearm too has CNC assisted mitre-cuts for the folded veneers. Veneer strips were glued together then pressed in a calibrated press to avoid glue lines and glue starvation.

Veneers by JazzNPool<shameless ad:)
Click to expand...
 
bandido said:
Nice clean work Willee. Here's an example of mitred veneered box. Antonio "Gaga" Gabica's AzB series cue. All he wanted for scrim was his initials "AG". Veneers from JazzNPool.
Click to expand...

Edwin, that's some fine craftsmanship in that cue...beautiful veneer work !!
 
I'm sory that it took me a while to reply. I didn't want to be thought of as stealing a thread.

Thank you for the compliment Sean and you're welcome and thanks again Martin. It sure was a lot easier to focus on the other aspects of veneering when there aren't other things to worry about. Great veneers.:)
 
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