Wood Test Pic

[hadjcues]

1. butt sleeve inlay
2. wood samples
3. unfinished cues:
-east indian rosewood, wenge handle
-mexican rosewood, zebrawood handle
-bubinga with BE & curly handle
-purpleheart with unfinished black leather wrap
4. my 2 cues
-curly bubinga, leather wrap, ebony BS
-figured maple, red narra handle
-3/8-10 pin
5. for shorty...

Hadj

 

[Shorty]

1. butt sleeve inlay
2. wood samples
3. unfinished cues:
-east indian rosewood, wenge handle
-mexican rosewood, zebrawood handle
-bubinga with BE & curly handle
-purpleheart with unfinished black leather wrap
4. my 2 cues
-curly bubinga, leather wrap, ebony BS
-figured maple, red narra handle
-3/8-10 pin
5. for shorty...

Hadj

I like that first one on picture 5, nice pretty dark wood...I am a sucker for dark woods...be pretty with a black leather wrap and a nice 5-16/14 joint. *grin*

Shorty

 

[hadjcues]

Thats mexican cocobolo with an amboyna burl handle. Yeah it would look good with a black leather wrap. lots of class in it. East indian rosewood and wenge would also be dark when finished.

I'm a sucker for red colored woods
Anyone interested in these or any wood combos just let me know

Hadj

 

[hadjcues]

Hand inlays - ivory into ebony and tulipwood buttsleeve

 

[hadjcues]

My 2 Cues

Curly Bubinga, leather wrap, ebony butt sleeve 3/8x10 pin
Maple, Red Narra handle 3/8-10 pin.
Haven't had the time to finish them but I play with them anyway it hits great

 

[hadjcues]

Late... err I mean Lathe

 

[hadjcues]

test... from a phonecam

 

[JoeyInCali]

Dang, Hadj.
That lathe is a beast. 13 by 40 Logan or Clausing? SB?

 

[hadjcues]

I wish 10 each of what you mentioned. Doesn't have thread gears though but it really does a fine smooth cut on shafts and butts.

 

[Cue Crazy]

Yeah man that thing is massive, nice wide ways on It. nice rig there, i would deal with that for my tapering for now, and probably keep It in use throughout the years. atleast It would be a dedicated machine, the more the better IMO. Bet It does cut smooth, thing looks solid as a stone mountain.
Hadj, are either of those finished cues the one you told me about? They look fine to Me. when you going to post that one you mentioned LOL? looks like you are going to have a few really nice ones when you get your blanks nearing completion. I need to get some more glued up, so I can go on another tapering session, and start them while in the process. then play the waiting game some more before the next.
Oh by the way, on the boring bars, just remembered that I also have one with an indexable insert, like the ones for the rings we mentioned. I also have custom grinds, but no grinds any better then the others on that. If I ever grind one that I think is worth mentioning, I'll post it for you to get a look at and try. I do have some strange grinds I have not even tried on those pesky rings yet, but not many for deep boring. I always jump on those old lots for sale, and have some unusual looking ones, pluss i have made some shapes myself. I'm sure I will do more in the future. the watchmaker lots of old grinds usually seem to provide some unusual finds, to get ideas from If nothing more then that, but i use them as well sometimes.
Oh that first cue of mine, same thing was well used before It really even saw any kind of finish, dirt & chalk all in that thing, probably another reason It looks 30-40 years old. Not naming anyone, but the finish that's on It is not one of my jobs either. The way I am doing my finishes right now I can barely pull off myself with alot of effort, and common since, just can't seem to teach it though, even hands on. one mistake and back to ground zero. I am going to have to get a turbine or something here very soon, going to try this compressor and hvlp gun first. Here is a picture of what I am getting now with a simple uv poly acrylic put on by hand. It is a refinish and wrap on a mcdermott I did. it's looks alot better in person, the pics are not very good, and the cue could use a buff by now. the finish is about 8-10 months old now with regular use,as It is My break cue, and gets beat around. I have had It for 10-15 years, so figured It was due for It, I went ahead and made another shaft for It also, with a modified insert I made to go in It. You can get a passable finish with other stuff, and put on by hand, here's the proof, but the amount of effort, work, and let downs is a hard road to travel to get to this. I don't recomend this road needless to say, but can be done. Greg

 

[Jon]

On boring bars:

Take round tool steel stock, in whatever diameter you need, and whatever length you need. Beware of unfavorable length to diameter ratios!!!

Mount the bar in your milling machine vise, and angle you vise 60°.
Now mill out the end on the 60° on the edge, so you have an angled cut around .25 on one side, and around .500 on the other.
Take one of your indexible carbide inserts, place it where you think it should be and mark your center.
Drill and tap your hole for what screw you need to hold the insert.
Flip the boring bar over (on top of parallel bars,) so a little less than half of the bar is outside the vise, long ways.
Mill a relief all the way down as far as you would bore.
Put it in lathe and bore away.

I'm sure i left some things out, and i don't have any pictures.
But after seeing what people charge for over length boring bars? I decided to make some.

For the really long length (for cleaning up a cored forearm bore) making the same out of flat stock or machine a bar that is "T" shaped would be better for less vibration.

Did that make any sense to anybody?

 

[hadjcues]

Hadj, are either of those finished cues the one you told me about? They look fine to Me. when you going to post that one you mentioned LOL? looks like you are going to have a few really nice ones when you get your blanks nearing completion. I need to get some more glued up, so I can go on another tapering session, and start them while in the process. then play the waiting game some more before the next. Greg

Greg, actually the 2 cues were the first two that I made for myself. Been playing with it for a year or so now. I've been out for the past several days due to band commitments and I haven't been in my shop for the past 5 days
I'll be posting the scary cue I mentioned to you next. It's something I fondled with an ugly piece of wood I had. Experimented on the construction and tested how it would hit by moving the A-joint further down the butt.

For the really long length (for cleaning up a cored forearm bore) making the same out of flat stock or machine a bar that is "T" shaped would be better for less vibration.

I've thought about this just to minimize the vibration for a long boring bar for cored cues and also thought of something like a one piece drill & bore combo where a cutting bit is mounted maybe and inch and a half after the drilling bit but havent tried it yet. I've seen some assemblies of it in micro-tools but not as big as for coring cues.

Have you tried that T shaped? I'm currently making me a looooong boring bar now and I could alter the design if it works.

Thanks,

hadj

 

[Cue Crazy]

On boring bars:

Take round tool steel stock, in whatever diameter you need, and whatever length you need. Beware of unfavorable length to diameter ratios!!!

Mount the bar in your milling machine vise, and angle you vise 60°.
Now mill out the end on the 60° on the edge, so you have an angled cut around .25 on one side, and around .500 on the other.
Take one of your indexible carbide inserts, place it where you think it should be and mark your center.
Drill and tap your hole for what screw you need to hold the insert.
Flip the boring bar over (on top of parallel bars,) so a little less than half of the bar is outside the vise, long ways.
Mill a relief all the way down as far as you would bore.
Put it in lathe and bore away.

I'm sure i left some things out, and i don't have any pictures.
But after seeing what people charge for over length boring bars? I decided to make some.

For the really long length (for cleaning up a cored forearm bore) making the same out of flat stock or machine a bar that is "T" shaped would be better for less vibration.

Did that make any sense to anybody?

Yeah, LOL that part about what people charge for over lenth boring bars makes quite a good bit of since to me, and you got me biting on the t-bar. Just one insert on that one, and how much jerk do you get with that setup, where to get the t-bar, what steel used, and how hard to machine. hum how long can you go, what diameter t-bar for 7/8, and what diameter are you using to core etc, etc? I can think of alot of those questions, but won't pull your leg to answer. Does make enough since to look into anyway, and see if i can get the info I would need. I do want something to core with, so I have more choices on balancing the wood types and putting them where I want instead of balancing them where they work out only one way. The gun drills and boring bars, are really high as you mentioned, and the only reason I have'nt got any to try so far. I was thinking about buying those and a foredom as a spring gift to myself, but would rather use the money for something else if i can save some. thanks for the Idea Jon, can use any brain storms that save money for bigger and better things, being able to change the inserts would be nice, be easy enough to mount probably, if the thing cuts smooth and does not try to jam up, hate to have that happen when deep up in there. I like thin butts, so I might need to core a little smaller, If this ends up being the case, then kind of woried about the lenth versus strenth issue you mentioned. Greg

 

[Cue Crazy]

Hadj,
What kind of band, And what you play? Don't worry bout the picture, just yanking your chain alittle. I have a few good pieces of scrap from that kind of thing here as well that would beat that one anyway LOL.

 

[hadjcues]

Greg,

I play guitar in a band. Rather weird mix of being a musician and cuemaker ey?
I also teach on the side. Rather hectic so I try to work as often as I can in my shop. All my waking hours are spent doing things so when the day ends I'm wrecked LOL

 

[hadjcues]

tEST pic of the ugly cue...

 

[hadjcues]

well it didn't come good at all. I'm just using my phonecam. I have to do some editing to give justice to this scary cue. This two piece butt has a 19" forearm and 10" buttsleve. Got 4 points that don't show well cause of the color. 5/16-14 pin with purpleheart joint. I experimented by moving the A-joint down and having the forearm part til the grip area one piece. This cue has lots of feel in it because of that. But still, an ugly piece of granadillo with knots and cracks

 

[Cue Crazy]

Greg,

I play guitar in a band. Rather weird mix of being a musician and cuemaker ey?
I also teach on the side. Rather hectic so I try to work as often as I can in my shop. All my waking hours are spent doing things so when the day ends I'm wrecked LOL

Cool, Have alot of friends in bands around here, all types of music. I was percusion Myself growing up, don't play anymore though, but loved It at one time. i've had a few guitars throughout the years, have a cheap acoustic now i never play, good thing though, not too good at it. Probably wake the dead. My old ladies new assistent used teach guitar, and mentioned doing it on the side, If I had more time I'd give him a shot, but don't have enough time now as it is. I learned alittle from a few buddies years back, but for the most part can't read a lick, and don't know many cords.
I do know the feeling of being wrecked, seems like there's not enough time for cue work, and no time for the other stuff. I have way too much going on now, and am not as organized as i would like.
I see what your talking about now, can't see real good from the picture, but might be something to It from your description. sounds like your getting all the feedback from the joint that way if your hand is in front of the splice. are you going to do anymore like that? I put a super long joint sleeve on one, the thing is ugly as can be, but has a unique hit and plays well. I don't know if the joint works to stablize it or what, but sure cuts down on pocket rattle with shimmed pockets. I am going to try and cross 2 type hits for a personal cue. think I know what I want, but need to figure out how I am going to achieve it. I want some of the crisp feel of a steel joint, but in a wood to wood or composite so not to put to much action on longer shots causing It to rattle pockets on shimmed. trying to get something in between, because seems like I can shoot with either style, but one is really good in some areas, and the other in the opposite areas. the problem is either way i go I give up a stroke or type of shot that the other is perfect for, need something in between that's worth relearning.

 

[Jon]

I haven't made a "T" bar yet.
But it would be simple enough.
Take some square tool steel stock.
Mill off two sides to make the "T"
Throw on the insert.

I haven't cored anything yet, but i have a gun drill. I think .625" isn't enough, but .750" is too much, so mine is in between.
The bar would have to end up being around .500 square to start out with.
The reason i thought of the "T" shape, is to have the top of the "T" stout enough to not flex away, and the bottom of the "T" to keep the bar from flexing vertically.
I might even experiment with a "+" shaped as well, that way the insert would be in the center with supports all the way around.


You guys are more men than "i".
I don't think i want to show my first cue, but i still play with it now.
It's got glue lines, misaligned rings the works.
When i started it i didn't really know what i was doing at all. Just winging it.
Boy, everyday i think about redoing it LOL.
I still just might.
It's a bocote full splice into maple, with a bocote joint collar and butt cap. With a not-so-figured bird's-eye long sleeve.
The ring work was: White fiber/brass/white fiber/maple-bocote stitch ring/white fiber/brass/white fiber.

I actually have "ONE" Bolivian Rosewood full splice hanging up that i found in the form of an old Valley 21 (+) house cue. It's the lighter colored variety and the grain, texture, color and weight are consistent with some Bolivian rosewood that i have in progress.
I know that would make a great hitting sneaky.

P.S. Cue Crazy,
Try some paragraphs in your posts . My eyes are starting to hurt!
Keep the ugly pictures coming, it might make me take some pictures of mine

 

[hadjcues]

Greg,

That construction design was good for the feel but the drawback is it gave way too much flex on the forearm. Man I could really see the forearm flex when I hit a ball. Maybe it's the wood, not too nice and got sapwood in it. I'm planning to make a cocobolo out of that concept cored both ways coz it's too long to bore. Maybe a more dense wood will provide a much better hit. Thought about that a long time ago coz of the need for some players to get a better feel of the hit. The A-joint takes away somewhat a bit of it, plus the rings with phenolics, silver and whatever material in that area would dampen it. Surprisingly the cue balanced out well.

The theory behind that is having just a single piece of wood running from the joint up to where the grip area is, which for me translates to an uninterrupted feel.