Whats the hardest thing to do in cue-making

brianna187

brianna187

BRIANNA SINCE 1988
Silver Member
Many cue maker sout there today making many fine cues what in your opion is the hardest thing to do and do right in cue making
i realize there many things but lets discuss some things you feel are the hardest in cue making
 
brianna187 said:
Many cue maker sout there today making many fine cues what in your opion is the hardest thing to do and do right in cue making
i realize there many things but lets discuss some things you feel are the hardest in cue making
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Other than the the obvious things we struggle with like having enough money to eat and pay bills and buy supplies. Right now I'm trying to get better at doing point and veneer work. I think the missing piece in my puzzle is the lack of machinery. I Constantly have to make adjustments to tweak something that I moved earlier. It makes it difficult to get consistant results. Hoping Obama might give me some kind of machinery stimulus deal. 10K would be a good start:smile:
 
brianna187 said:
Many cue maker sout there today making many fine cues what in your opion is the hardest thing to do and do right in cue making
i realize there many things but lets discuss some things you feel are the hardest in cue making
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The hardest thing to do in cuemaking is not punching the public in the face when they say, "That's nice but I don't like the veneer colors." :cool:

I just spent months working on this. It's so detailed. Every little part is nuts. So much time, effort and thought. All you can say is, "I don't like the colors?!?!"

*WHOP* :p


Haha, I'll add a real response.

I think getting the bottom points on an 8 pointer even is one of the tougher things I see done. Almost no one gets it right. Here is a Barnhart. He nails this.

I'm referring to the part of the ebony forearm closest to the A joint. That sharp ebony part right between the points. Almost no one gets those even around the cue. They'll get the top points even. Everyone checks that.

DSCF0016.jpg


In closing, Cory is the man. :)
matta
 
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brianna187 said:
Many cue maker sout there today making many fine cues what in your opion is the hardest thing to do and do right in cue making
i realize there many things but lets discuss some things you feel are the hardest in cue making
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Shafts. They are easy to make but it can all be for nothing some times. Same with other aspects of cue making. Hours of work that has to be discarded due to material flaws. Even something as simple as a ferrule with specks in it or an unexpected soft tip.
 
Points and veneers for sure. That's where you separate the boys from the men. No magic marker or paint on my ebony points... Oh and then the fun of getting the finish to fill the wood voids, fisheyes, and especially the veneers.
 
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The finish is probably what most find the hardest to master. Points and veneers have more to do with how your jigs are set up. If the equipment is set up good those are not very hard. Leather wraps used to be the one that gave the most trouble. But just like with the veneer work you can buy fixtures to allow you to do pretty much flawless work with a little practice. But the finish takes a lot more feel and hands on attention to get right.
 
brianna187 said:
Many cue maker sout there today making many fine cues what in your opion is the hardest thing to do and do right in cue making
i realize there many things but lets discuss some things you feel are the hardest in cue making
Click to expand...
sometimes, the hardest thing for me is remembering what i was about to do
and remembering where my calipers went to
seriously, i did a post recently on another forum about this same subject
but , i titled it , "what's your weakness?"
here is my post


been thinking about this for awhile now
part 1) what do you consider your weakness ?
part 2) what are you doing to improve upon it?
not interested in your strengths, because those are obvious
i'll be the first to answer my own question

my weaknesses
1a) consistantly mating a shaft to butt,
without sanding thru the damn finish on one or the other or both
1b) getting rings exact widths, even though they measure out the same with calpiers, there's always one somewhere in the cue that looks wider than all the rest

what am i doing to improve upon it, other than drinking heavily :eek:;)
1a) i know the obvious solution is sanding arbors . big chunk of change though, to me. next best thing i can do would be to quit finishing the butts first, and doing the shafts later???? to have them mated up correctly before doing any clear ???????
1b) i dont fking know, it drives me nuts!!!!! because i notice things like that and i know joeblow does too , and it's just that little flaw/error/mistake, whatever you wanna call it, that seperates the big boys from the brensters
 
CamposCues said:
Deal!!!!!!
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thought you'd like that :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
seriously, i love it
i get all fuzzy inside & excited when i see a piece of raw wood, or one that's already got some clear on it, sanded for next coats, and it looks like white powder, to see the colors jump out when the clear hits it
not quite as good as sex , but close!!!! :eek:
added: now im gonna go have sex, uhhhhhhhhhhhh i mean spray some clear
 
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BarenbruggeCues said:
Hardest thing = Dealing with suppliers.................
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you can add the 2nd hardest thing dave
you wont crush me :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
2nd hardest thing= dealing with brent when he calls me while i'm trying to get something done
 
BHQ said:
you can add the 2nd hardest thing dave
you wont crush me :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
2nd hardest thing= dealing with brent when he calls me while i'm trying to get something done
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Your not on my list yet..........................but keep it up!
 
if lee would have asked this 3 years ago, the answers from me would have been drastically different
back then, i absolutley dreaded installing a pin
i couldnt get a pin nuts to save my friggin life :angry::angry:
i was doing everything i was taught to do, but something was wrong somewhere
the "wrong somewhere" part was my crappy mini boring bar
it was flexing, pushing off on me, near back end of hole
i thought screw this!!!
and developed my own method of boring
and it doesnt involve a boring bar at all
at least at the time, i thought it was "my own" method
turns out, some others do it too
this whole cuebuilding process is a huge learning process, every single day, there's something new to learn somewhere,
be it on places like this, or talking with other builders, or just an idea that jumps into your head while out in the shop
but i love it!!! wish i would got into this a longggggggggg time ago
and i will say this, if it wasnt for az and some of the awesome people, customers & builders, i've met on here, i would not be doing this
i'd be a walmart greeter or "would you like fries with that?" :D
 
63Kcode said:
Wish I was closer to you. I would finish your cues in trade for some lessons on cue making. I have 30 years invested painting show cars and Peterbilt trucks!

Larry
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I'd do it too.

It just always seems like there is a poor that doesn't want to fill or one that mysteriously starts blowing a bubble. Pop it and it comes right back. Just little strange things that bug me when spraying.
 
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