Tournament repairs...

[macguy]

I will do the necessary work to replace the ferrule on the lathe. Once it's time for the epoxy to set, it will be placed in a vice and set aside so I can continue to use the lathe for another repair job. Let it set for about 1hour-1.15mins and then cut the ferrule down to size and retip! Sorry if I sounded a little confusing at first.

Zim

You can also use several rubber bands. I buy them at Office Depot I get the 1/4 inch wide they are like $2.00 a pound. You just loop the rubber band around the shaft and stretch it up over the tip or ferrule. Use three or four and that is plenty of pressure. I would be a little afraid putting end to end pressure on the shaft with a clamp for fear of bowing the shaft. Make a good place to put the shafts waiting to be worked on so nothing happens to them at the tournament. Have a rack of some kind.

 

[Zims Rack]

You can also use several rubber bands. I buy them at Office Depot I get the 1/4 inch wide they are like $2.00 a pound. You just loop the rubber band around the shaft and stretch it up over the tip or ferrule. Use three or four and that is plenty of pressure. I would be a little afraid putting end to end pressure on the shaft with a clamp for fear of bowing the shaft. Make a good place to put the shafts waiting to be worked on so nothing happens to them at the tournament. Have a rack of some kind.

I've installed many ferrules using the clamp and no warping occured. I put just enough pressure, but not enough. I have a shaft rack on the work bench to hold 12 shafts. It's a pretty cool portable bench. I'll get photos once it's complete, then more photos after I've painted it and put the finishing touches on it!

Thanks to all, keep the info coming,
Zim

 

[Cue Crazy]

Set a fair price and take the bad with the good. Some are easy and some are hard. You don't go back to the customer and say, " This was an easy job so I am charging you less". Don't charge more if it turns out to be a little harder. You should also be custom making every ferrule to each job, not filling it up with epoxy. Work with raw rod and make your own ferrules.

Thanks for the input guys. All great suggestions.

Guess I do prefer the capped, and would try to do that under normal conditions, but have requests for various material types, sometimes the only ones I have on hand in that paticular material, or can get quickly, are bored already, and I do not like the idea of filling with epoxy, altough cannot knock anyone for doing It, just not My thing. I guess i just need to start stocking all the rod I possibly can keep up with, and stick to that, because I don't want to have to fill anymore than need be. I have had to replace quite a few tenons, even in laminated shafts where they broke way up inside with quite a bit of success, so I guess a new tenon would not be out of the question as a backup plan either. I guess the cue guy who did them before either had them prebored and tapped to keep on hand, for when the job arrised, for his own cues, or totally overbored the ferrule, because they looked like a regular capped ferrule for a full size threaded tenon. only thing was there was quite a bit of epoxy between the faces in there and just seemed like too much. One of the shooters plays well with It like that, and actually prefers It, as is what he is used to. Anyway thanks again guys. Like to back up my thought proccess with feedback sometimes, so it is a big help.

The price thing Guess you are right, because just don't know how else to work it out in My present situation, but to do it that way. that's why I was curious on price. i do not like the idea of charging this way because I must admit It makes Me feel somewhat dishonest, not a feeling I like, but then again I am a small time bussiness man and have alot to learn, so what do I know. I hate the feeling that I am charging someone for something to make up on another, but as I have been learning in the last 4-5 years or so thats just the way things work in some cases. Guess It's time to just stop fighting with it, and get with the program. Most of them are easier for me, so not worried about losing out too much, just not sure where i want to base price out at to be safe.

Great advice guys thanks,

Greg

 

[Michael Webb]

I've installed many ferrules using the clamp and no warping occured. I put just enough pressure, but not enough. I have a shaft rack on the work bench to hold 12 shafts. It's a pretty cool portable bench. I'll get photos once it's complete, then more photos after I've painted it and put the finishing touches on it!

Thanks to all, keep the info coming,
Zim

Why are you doing slip on ferrules instead of threaded.

 

[jazzn4444]

Don't forget to make a price for removing mushroomed portions of the new tips you've done and have been "broken in". It's a nice little bonus I like to see at the shows and such. I was at a show and wanted to see someone do a tip with a lathe. So I had them put on a Moori. It rocked. I broke it in really quick, but the "shrooming" portion was annoying me. Went back and they did it for like $2. Don't know if I got ripped off, but it was worth watching. As for the price list, having an ORIGINAL price list present is good, but a second column with the "Special Tournament Price" is a better idea. Can you post an updated version of your price list?

 

[Zims Rack]

Why are you doing slip on ferrules instead of threaded.

Mike- I can do either one! I'll let the customer decide after explaining each method to him/her.

Thanks,
Zim

 

[Zims Rack]

Don't forget to make a price for removing mushroomed portions of the new tips you've done. It's a nice little bonus I like to see at the shows and such. As for the price list, having an ORIGINAL price list present is good, but a second column with the "Special Tournament Price" is a better idea. Can you post an updated version of your price list?

Crowning (clean and reshape tip) $5. I'll post my current price list later today (it's on my home pc).

Zim

 

[Zims Rack]

What's a good price to charge for retipping house cues for a pool room? I had a pool room contact me last night for repairs on around 20 house cues. I have an idea and have done some in the past, but want to see what it's worth to different people.

Thanks,
Zim

 

[buddha162]

jmo, but if the tip is yours then trimming should be free, after the player breaks it in.

-Roger

 

[Zims Rack]

I'm not referring to a tip that I installed, just if a customer comes to me and doesn't want a new tip, just to clean and reshape his current tip. That is what I was referring to!

Zim

 

[macguy]

What's a good price to charge for retipping house cues for a pool room? I had a pool room contact me last night for repairs on around 20 house cues. I have an idea and have done some in the past, but want to see what it's worth to different people.

Thanks,
Zim

I do house cues for $6.00. with a LePro tip, there is a limit to what they can spend and they are not very critical when it comes to the tip. If I have to sand the ferrule a little it doesn't matter, it is just a house cue. The most important thing is it not fall off. If the tip just stays on they are happy. I have a special set up to do house cues. I cut off the old tip, I use a bench top disk sander to flatten the top of the ferrule. Disk sander again to do the back of the tip, then glue on the tip. Then to the lathe. I have a pipe sticking out of the lathe to steady the end of the house cues. (Lathe is a 13 inch Sheldon with two chucks and at about 2000 lb. no vibretion takes place). I then cut and shape the tip with one bit I have specially ground to do the job. I little touch up with some sand paper and a touch of buffing compound to make it look nice and it is done. Total actual hands on time to do a house cue about 3 minutes. I do hundreds of them for the condos around here. They bring me like 50 cues at a time. Another cue guy around here asked me why I do them so cheap, fact is, I am not working cheap at all it is over $100. an hour for my work and I do it for a price they can afford. Like I said, there is a limit for what they can pay to have a house cue fixed when you consider what they can buy a whole cue for. I am sure if I tried to get even $8. $10. I would get almost no house cue work at all. $6.00 seems to be the limit for those kinds of customers.

 

[sliprock]

What's a good price to charge for retipping house cues for a pool room? I had a pool room contact me last night for repairs on around 20 house cues. I have an idea and have done some in the past, but want to see what it's worth to different people.

Thanks,
Zim

I charge between 5 & 7 bucks depending on amount of cues, and location. If I have to drive 30 miles for pick-up and delivery, I'll charge a little more. If the poolroom has a decent cheeseburger,then I might try to work out a "will work for food" deal where my services are given in exchange for meals or table time. I'll do 3 house cues for a cheeseburger plate and 2 hours of free pool..Everybody's happy

 

[1pRoscoe]

A guy that I know around here charges $4-$5

 

[Cue Crazy]

What's a good price to charge for retipping house cues for a pool room? I had a pool room contact me last night for repairs on around 20 house cues. I have an idea and have done some in the past, but want to see what it's worth to different people.

Thanks,
Zim

We charge around the same as you guys, between $5-$6, but one place has those ferrules that don't like to stick to anything, and the shooters in the place are hard on tips, so We worked out a deal where for $7 we will retip them one time if they pop off, and they still have the tip for It, but all we really do in that case is center the tip well and glue It on. We also ocasionally trade some of It out for table time as the others mentioned. Also, As already mentioned there is a limit to what they are willing to pay versus a new house cue. I have recomended replacing the ferrules before, but some op to replace the whole cue instead, which is fine by us if they have decent ferrules on them and the tips stick better. When we started doing this had no pricing to go by, so we just worked It out on price with the room owners, It's nice to see that we are right around what you guys charge. Atleast I know we are not charging too much, or too little.
You know, I have not thought about hitting the condos up. We do have alot of them on the beaches, those guys like shooting with decent shooters to learn from their play, and We used to get alot of offers to go and shoot on some of the tables at some condos in our area, maybe we need to start taking them up on It more, so we can talk with them about It.

On tip mushrooms, We used to get them all the time, a long time ago, but the way we do our tips now We rarely have one mushroom anymore. On My personal cue, I have a bad habit of smacking balls sometimes, If they are going to mushroom they will do It on Me for sure, and still been shooting with the same moori tip for about 7-8 months that I put on. It has not mushroomed at all, and have not even had to reshape it at all. sometimes I will use a tip prick and poke some holes in it to better hold chalk, but besides that thats all I do to it. I don't even rough the tip up. Ofcoarse If someone was to bring a mushroom that was one of ours, I would hook them up and trim It at no charge in most cases. When it's someone else's work, they usually want other work done where the tip is replaced anyway, so does not come up often. But guess we should think about a price in case It arises, which I'm sure it will. What do others charge for this anyway?