where to begin

qbilder said:
"Where to begin" is a different place for everybody. If you are a machinist then you already have a lot of skills & experience. If you are a machinist with a machine lathe, mill, and all the tooling required for basic machining, then you're yet another step ahead. Perhaps give some basis to your situation & from there it would be easier to offer a tip or two.
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as previously stated, i believe
im a machinist and programmer
i know mills and lathes, and the tooling, just not tools made to cut wood, metal cutting tools as it is a machine shop
i have access to them if i needed to, just not at my whim, while things are slow as long as im not taking a machine that needs to be used i could get something done on a saturday off the clock, if i had a piece of whatever to begin with
 
I started cue making as a Machinist as well, the hardest thing for me to learn was not how to machine the parts, it was learning my materials. I would start by learning how wood behaves, learn about glues. Learning how to assemble cues and what the pieces should look like depend a lot on your approach. Do you want to be a innovator or do you want to be a duplicator? If I was you I would try and keep your mind fairly virgin, develop your own way of building a cue. I think you will find that this approach is the most rewarding. You also stand the best chance at doing something unique. If you take the other approach I think you will find that once you are exposed to the traditional methods of doing things it will be hard to think outside of the box. Just remember that the definition of a cue is nothing more than a long stick that you hit a ball with. So start by keeping it simple. I would start by getting a hand full of old house cues and making them into two piece cues.
 
beneath_the_sur said:
as previously stated, i believe
im a machinist and programmer
i know mills and lathes, and the tooling, just not tools made to cut wood, metal cutting tools as it is a machine shop
i have access to them if i needed to, just not at my whim, while things are slow as long as im not taking a machine that needs to be used i could get something done on a saturday off the clock, if i had a piece of whatever to begin with
Click to expand...

Shaish!
Come on over !
Let's get some machinery going .
Bring in your shaft squares and dowels . Cut away and watch wood turn and take notes .
Let's make some jigs in your machine shop.

Cue making is basically tapered cylinder machining.
 
beneath_the_sur said:
as previously stated, i believe
im a machinist and programmer
i know mills and lathes, and the tooling, just not tools made to cut wood, metal cutting tools as it is a machine shop
i have access to them if i needed to, just not at my whim, while things are slow as long as im not taking a machine that needs to be used i could get something done on a saturday off the clock, if i had a piece of whatever to begin with
Click to expand...

In that case, beginning would be shopping for equipment. I have said it dozens of times before, and will say it again. You don't get in to cue making to make money. You do it because you can afford to. Once you begin, you'll understand what I mean.
 
pdcue said:
Yeah I'm worthless - so you're a machinist -
well I don't even own a screwdriver and have never even seen a drill press.

Would you please explain carefully to me how to cut helical gears... please...

Dale
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He may be cantankerous, but he's darned funny.

Alan
 
beneath_the_sur said:
as previously stated, i believe
im a machinist and programmer
i know mills and lathes, and the tooling, just not tools made to cut wood, metal cutting tools as it is a machine shop
i have access to them if i needed to, just not at my whim, while things are slow as long as im not taking a machine that needs to be used i could get something done on a saturday off the clock, if i had a piece of whatever to begin with
Click to expand...

Dedicated aluminum inserts work well on wood.
 
beneath_the_sur said:
That's good to know, any particular radius work better than others
Click to expand...

Yeah - the answer is hidden among the posts in 'Ask the Cuemaker'

If only there were some way to locate that information...

Dale(cantankerous AND funny)
 
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To the OP,

I have Hightower's book, and will be unloading bunch of stuff on here soon. Shaft wood, forearms, handle wood, pins, phenolic, ferrules, and more. If you're looking to purchase anything in particular, PM me. The Hightower book has a lot of helpful info.
 
Companies that make inserts for cutting plastics and Aluminium are a very good start. Some of the very sharp plastic cutting inserts are really expensive though, upwards of $100 per insert. Kyocera from Japan make some very good sharp inserts, and so does a Korean company, Korloy. I have not tried Kennametal Ali inserts, but Kennametal make really great Steel and Ti cutting inserts.
The seal making companies use PCD, diamond tooling , very sharp indeed, hence the price.
Neil
 
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