what kind of wood?

snipershot

snipershot

Go ahead.....run for it.
Silver Member
I was in my shop last night and my helper brought in a shaft from someone he plays leagues with. The guy wanted a new ferrule and tip. I thought this was a perfect chance formy helper kid to get some practice. He did most of the work, but i watched every step. The original ferrule was loose, so i started twisting it with some pliers and with near zero effort, the tennon twisted off. No biggie. I drilled and bored the shaft out to .280 and had my helper turn down a tenon from an old house cue shaft i have laying around. I know all this is day to day stuff, but its his first try. Anyways, we epoxy the new tenon in there, and install the new ferrule. All is good. We wait for a half hour or so for the 5 minute epoxy to dry, and he starts to trim the ferrule to size, and almost as soon as the tool hit the ferrule, the end of the shaft disintegrated. I was pretty surprised. He didnt do anything wrong and felt terrible. I looked at the pieces of wood and they were very very brittle. Im pretty sure this was a cheap import cue. Im not an experienced cue maker, but ive done tips and some repairs for years, and ive never seen wood like this. It couldnt be maple, or at least not any maple ive ever seen. It had the look of maple, but it broke apart like particle board. Obviously, we felt bad, but i really dont believe it was our fault. Any ideas what kind of wood that was? From now on, i will refuse to work on that kind of wood.

Joe
 
Ramin wood? Instead of not working on those shafts any more, I also wouldn't work on the rest of the cue that the shaft attaches to either.

I learnded my lesson many moons ago too.

My helper has four legs and works for Beggin Strips.
 
snipershot said:
I was in my shop last night and my helper brought in a shaft from someone he plays leagues with. The guy wanted a new ferrule and tip. I thought this was a perfect chance formy helper kid to get some practice. He did most of the work, but i watched every step. The original ferrule was loose, so i started twisting it with some pliers and with near zero effort, the tennon twisted off. No biggie. I drilled and bored the shaft out to .280 and had my helper turn down a tenon from an old house cue shaft i have laying around. I know all this is day to day stuff, but its his first try. Anyways, we epoxy the new tenon in there, and install the new ferrule. All is good. We wait for a half hour or so for the 5 minute epoxy to dry, and he starts to trim the ferrule to size, and almost as soon as the tool hit the ferrule, the end of the shaft disintegrated. I was pretty surprised. He didnt do anything wrong and felt terrible. I looked at the pieces of wood and they were very very brittle. Im pretty sure this was a cheap import cue. Im not an experienced cue maker, but ive done tips and some repairs for years, and ive never seen wood like this. It couldnt be maple, or at least not any maple ive ever seen. It had the look of maple, but it broke apart like particle board. Obviously, we felt bad, but i really dont believe it was our fault. Any ideas what kind of wood that was? From now on, i will refuse to work on that kind of wood.

Joe
Click to expand...

I have worked on a few of the cheap shafts. Some are ramin wood (not the noodles, but not much stronger). A ramin shaft is a little yellowish and is usually finished all the way on the cheaper cues. They are very light in weight.

I have one right now and it buzzes when you hit it with your hand. Sounds like something is loose inside of it.

I always chuck the tip in the lathe as close as I can and still work on it. This helps to keep it from splitting and makes it run truer. You usually need to shjm it with paper to make it spin true as they are seldom really round. I don't use those little shaft collets, I use a piece of .020 shim stock wrapped around it.

If you put a tip and a ferrule on one of those shafts, the work is probably worth more than the shaft itself.

Sometimes this is an opportunity to sell a cue. lol

Kim
 
I don't have a helper. I don't want one either.
By the time I show them what I want done, I could have done the task 3 times.
Helpers cost money, usually break stuff and pretty much just get in the way.
Once they leave, for whatever reason, they now claim to be a full-fledged cue-maker
and use you as a reference to their talents.
Sorry, I just don't need it.
 
KJ Cues said:
I don't have a helper. I don't want one either.
By the time I show them what I want done, I could have done the task 3 times.
Helpers cost money, usually break stuff and pretty much just get in the way.
Once they leave, for whatever reason, they now claim to be a full-fledged cue-maker
and use you as a reference to their talents.
Sorry, I just don't need it.
Click to expand...



As always, A good post KJ.
 
Well, my helper is a good kid, and i dont mind him being out there one bit. Hes 21 and instead of going to bars and getting in trouble, hes out in my shop doing tips, rough tapering shaft dowels, cleaning, and anything else i need done. Hes not just a helper, hes my friend, and i appreciate his enthusiasm and his thirst for knowledge. Often him and i tackle problems together and figure them out. So far, he hasnt broke anything or got in my way in any aspect of my cue making venture. Im sorry some guys dont have a reliable and loyal friend to help them out, but i consider myself a lucky man to be able to kind of coach a younger guy down the right path. Thats just me though. As for the shaft, thanks for the info, i will definately not be working on the shaft or the butt of one of those cues again. Im hungry for knowledge, not for food, so i dont need the money that bad, lol.

Joe
 
ratcues said:
Am I the only one who doesn't have a helper?
Click to expand...

I hardly ever clean up the chips unless I can't find tools because they are buried. I purposely call my wife in to look at a cue and she can't stand the mess. So she gets the shop vac out and cleans up for me.

Does that qualify as a helper???

lol

Kim
 
I've been doing repair work since the late sixties and building cues since 91. I always let people in my shop while I work on their cues and I've probably been asked a 100 times to become an apprentice and work for free but, other than my oldest boy, I have never allowed anybody to touch one of my machines. In this day and age of litigation crazy people where you may be sued for driving down the street smoking with your windows open or for serving a cup of hot coffee when a cup of hot coffee is ordered it would be ludicrous for me to teach a person a trade and then once he has learned all he feels is necessary, cuts his finger and then sues and get's your shop to work out of. You do know that Ernie Baldor, the creator of Palmer cues, apprenticed under Paradise. After Ernie felt that he learned enough he opened a shop of his own, across the street from Paradise and proceeded to put him out of business.

Dick
 
My business cards say
"repairs on all fine cues"
I learned very early that spinning garbage makes me look bad.
Especially when stuff like Joe had happen to him happens...... At a hall with the customer watching :(
 
I’ve worked on my share of cheap cues, and yeah, sometimes things go wrong. I’d much rather eat ramen noodles than work on ramin wood. But, sorry to say, I completely disagree with the "I'm not working on cheap cues" attitude. The attitude, mind you.

Ponder this:

A customer comes in and wants work done to an old POS. You tell him, “Nope, I don’t work on cheap cues.” Maybe that cheap cue belonged to his grandfather. Maybe he loved his grandfather more than life itself. You just upset a customer. Not only is he NEVER coming back, he’ll tell all his friends what a jerk you were, and *BAM*, you just lost more customers without ever talking to them. A few years later, that original customer gets better at pool and realizes just how bad his cue really is. You think he’ll buy a custom cue from you now?

Yes, it’s your shop, and you can refuse any work you don’t want to do. But, unless you have way more customers than you want, I highly recommend being tactful. You never know which $10 customer will turn into a whale!
 
jschelin99 said:
I’ve worked on my share of cheap cues, and yeah, sometimes things go wrong. I’d much rather eat ramen noodles than work on ramin wood. But, sorry to say, I completely disagree with the "I'm not working on cheap cues" attitude. The attitude, mind you.

Ponder this:

A customer comes in and wants work done to an old POS. You tell him, “Nope, I don’t work on cheap cues.” Maybe that cheap cue belonged to his grandfather. Maybe he loved his grandfather more than life itself. You just upset a customer. Not only is he NEVER coming back, he’ll tell all his friends what a jerk you were, and *BAM*, you just lost more customers without ever talking to them. A few years later, that original customer gets better at pool and realizes just how bad his cue really is. You think he’ll buy a custom cue from you now?

Yes, it’s your shop, and you can refuse any work you don’t want to do. But, unless you have way more customers than you want, I highly recommend being tactful. You never know which $10 customer will turn into a whale!
Click to expand...
Well, i see your point. I wouldnt be rude about refusing the work, i would explain why i dont want the work and if the cue was sentimental, i would hope the customer would understand that there is a good possibility it will end up being useless if i work on it. If they get mad at me for not doing it, then so be it. Id rather them be mad because i wouldnt do it, than because i ruined their grandpas favorite cue.

Joe
 
rhncue said:
I've been doing repair work since the late sixties and building cues since 91. I always let people in my shop while I work on their cues and I've probably been asked a 100 times to become an apprentice and work for free but, other than my oldest boy, I have never allowed anybody to touch one of my machines. In this day and age of litigation crazy people where you may be sued for driving down the street smoking with your windows open or for serving a cup of hot coffee when a cup of hot coffee is ordered it would be ludicrous for me to teach a person a trade and then once he has learned all he feels is necessary, cuts his finger and then sues and get's your shop to work out of. You do know that Ernie Baldor, the creator of Palmer cues, apprenticed under Paradise. After Ernie felt that he learned enough he opened a shop of his own, across the street from Paradise and proceeded to put him out of business.

Dick
Click to expand...

I understand what you are saying. I dont let just anyone in my shop and other than my dad and my good friend Terry, my helper is the only other person that uses some of my equipement. He doesnt use it all, just some of it. I couldnt imagine he would ever sue me. I could be wrong, but my gut tells me hes not that kind of guy.

Joe
 
Yep. But that's when you gotta put on your salesman hat. Tell him to store and treasure his grampa's cue, and play with the cue you're gonna make for him! :thumbup:
 
I'm not usually rude about not working on garbage.
I explain nicely that it would be more beneficial to invest in a better quality cue.
Or that I will not be held liable for any damage to his cue.
Typically for me, all of the local players have had work done by me or have heard of me.
I don't make my living fixing cues, and if I lose a potential whale ( that is currently playing a walmart cue) so be it.
We all have to draw the line someplace I guess
 
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