Yesterday I ordered one of the turnable blanks offered here on this site from Bell Forrest. I have never even dreamed of making my own stick until I saw that maple burl. My old high school buddy's dad has a wood lathe and said he would help me turn the blank. The only thing I am scared of doing is the joints, mostly the shaft to handle joint. Should I send it off to someone who knows what they are doing for this part? Any other suggestions would be great. Im sure there will be many other questions to come, thanks for your help guys.
What did I get myself into?
- Thread starter nathan79
- Start date
I think you have a lot of work i front of you, but good luck with you're project 
Depending on the wood you have bought, you need a A joint but it's not a requirement, i.e you could make a one pice cue.
I think you would see some problems occur and I think you're friends
dad might need something else than the wood lathe to do all the work.
Anyway- again good luck and keep us updated on the progress.
K
Depending on the wood you have bought, you need a A joint but it's not a requirement, i.e you could make a one pice cue.
I think you would see some problems occur and I think you're friends
dad might need something else than the wood lathe to do all the work.
Anyway- again good luck and keep us updated on the progress.
K
You have to start somewhere and learn where learning by doing could be one
option :thumbup:
As mentioned many times up here, doing repair might be a good start.
K
I only plan on building one handle Newton, so don't want to get too involved in cuemaking. I have a feeling it is going to take me months to complete. All the inlay work will be done by hand- and I have never done this before. The more I think about it the more nervous I get, but no turning back now- a brown truck is on its way with a hundred dollar hunk of wood.
You're gonna need a gun drill to put a hole on that piece to core it.
Turn it perfectly round to fit the chuck and bearing/rest.
Turn it perfectly round to fit the chuck and bearing/rest.
Nathan, I guess you mean you would be making one butt an not just the handle?
Which length do you have on the blank? Do you need to join it to another wood
to make it long enough or is it long enough to make a one piece but ?
Also, I think you're friends father might need to make some jigs for his chisels if the cue should have a even diameter distribution i.e not wavy.
Joey; Maple is usually 45lb/ft^3 which is not very heavy (Acer Saccharum-not burl) which is average. Why should he core it ? Just to make it stable ?
My God Joey - EDIT 10K posts... You have been busy up here
K
Joey; Maple is usually 45lb/ft^3 which is not very heavy (Acer Saccharum-not burl) which is average. Why should he core it ? Just to make it stable ?
If it's burl, I core it.
To add weight, I use rosewood.
"What did I get myself into?" You sir are screwed. It's an addiction. You can't just build one! Ask me how I know! All I wanted to do was buid one cue to play with. Then my brother wanted one then freinds. Now people I don't even know want one. Now all I want to do is stand in the shop Drink coffee/beer and turn wood.
Larry
Larry
Nathan, you bought acrylic resin impregnated burl with a s.g. of about .85 and no structural integrity. You will have to have it drilled and cored before any thought of a wood lathe can be entertained. You have to find someone to do this for you. Even after this is done I am afraid that turning an impregnated burl on a wood lathe with chisels might be a real problem. I wish you luck.
Send it back and get one of the fullsplice blanks off their site. For your first cue and a wood lathe you'll be much happier with the end result.
<~~~thinks the acrylic stuff is crap for cues and good for pens and knifes..........
<~~~thinks the acrylic stuff is crap for cues and good for pens and knifes..........
Hey Nathan, before you jump in feet first, see if there are any cue makers in your area. See if they will "show" you what it is your getting yourself into. For most of us, we are All self taught, we figured it out . But , I myself made a lot of "firewood" mistakes learning. If there are no builders in your area, order a DVD . Lots of usefull info that might prevent you from destroying your wood. Good luck, kevn mcclain
A piece such as that you bought, as others have said, it should be cored. There isn't any strength to it, and the core dowel will give it some. A metal turning lathe converted to cuemaking is needed for the coring and turning, to do the job correctly, otherwise you will ruin what was a wonderful piece of burl, as an experiment. A large piece such as that is, not cored, may even pose a danger trying to turn it with regular wood turning chisels, as there really isn't any strength in it due to the irregular 'grain' work. Not trying to discourage, just give my opinion/ concerns. A good read is Chris Hightower's book " tree to tradeshow" That will reallly define what your in for.
A setup such as this is what is needed, a high speed router attached to a metal lathe:
Good luck,
A setup such as this is what is needed, a high speed router attached to a metal lathe:
Good luck,
My sugestion is to get a wood broom stick. Saw it in half, then join it together like a cue. You get to see if the wa you glue the pin in will work, and when it is finished, it should have all the grain aligned and be matching. If you can join a broom stick successfully, the cue will be easy.
Practice is the best thing, and everybody is self taught. Some may of had guidence from more experienced people, but in the end if you have to teach yourself.
I am assuming you have basic machinist skills. If you don't, then I suggest you enroll in some sort of night class to learn those. When you do, puting a pin and joint together will be a no brainer for you.
I would not tackle the 1 piece that you have as a starting point with no knoweldge of how it is done.
You will also find that there are any ways to join a cue, keeping in mind that there are alot of good after market shafts available also.
For myself, I like the 5/16-18 tpi engineering thread , with a metal insert in the handle and the shaft, but that is just me.The choices are huge.
Neil
Practice is the best thing, and everybody is self taught. Some may of had guidence from more experienced people, but in the end if you have to teach yourself.
I am assuming you have basic machinist skills. If you don't, then I suggest you enroll in some sort of night class to learn those. When you do, puting a pin and joint together will be a no brainer for you.
I would not tackle the 1 piece that you have as a starting point with no knoweldge of how it is done.
You will also find that there are any ways to join a cue, keeping in mind that there are alot of good after market shafts available also.
For myself, I like the 5/16-18 tpi engineering thread , with a metal insert in the handle and the shaft, but that is just me.The choices are huge.
Neil