Making a cue is hard and expensive

[Stick]

I remember a quote by MW on Jason's thread that making a cue is a lot harder than what people make it out to be.

I am only at the stage of trying to hand plane a shaft and I can fully agree. The first plank ended up oval and with a long warp along it's entire length. The second is straight (er) but still oval.

Hand sanding Ash seems to be futile if the aim is to actually remove any wood, which means some more sweat with the rasp.

It is, however, strangely addictive and the hours just fly by

I have now decided that a lathe is a necessity if you want to build a cue. First problem you run into (if on a budget and staying at the bottom of the world) is that all affordable wood lathes are too short. I must now source a centre steady and then extend the lathe myself.

Next problem is obtaining ebony - all but impossible down here. It is also horribly expensive. Luckily i only want a plank or two- Cost for a cubic meter is around R400 000.00 or 35000 pounds. Exotic timbers for secondary splicing is also very scarce.

But so the fun continues - must fill the hours waiting for my TW and RC.

For those that complain cues are too expensive - try making your own.

[MikeWooldridge]

lol. welcome to my (our) world...

[jaffa.johnson]

I agree with it being a skilled job and I for one couldnt make a cue from scratch.

But when all said and done about expense, they are businessman as well and the whole idea is for them to make money.

[Stick]

As far as I am concerned they earn every penny. My message is really two-fold. Working wood is a bitch and if you think you can make a cue cheaper than the selling price- then think again.

I am just doing it for fun and to pass the time - have no desire to become a decent cue builder.

Come Mike make me a ash Black Shark please - I am suffering here lol

[damienlch]

I agree with it being a skilled job and I for one couldnt make a cue from scratch.

But when all said and done about expense, they are businessman as well and the whole idea is for them to make money.

Yup. But I don't mind the long wait or them taking my money one bit as long as they keep their end of the business and deliver the good stuff...

[JasonOwen]

Its hard, its painful, its frustrating, but when it goes right its the best thing ever!

By the way I reckon Ill need to make 30 cues before I start seeing any profit from it.

[deant1982]

It certainly is a lot harder than people think. I'm in the process of making my first cue. Being not so bright, I deduced it would be easier to make a 3/4 cue than a 1 piece first, so am finding out just how hard it is. Whilst I do think some cues are very expensive, having had a go at it, I now fully appreciate the skill that is involved in making a cue by hand, and think the mike wooldridges and Trevor whites fully deserve everything they make from their cues. If you make one and it is useable by one person, you've done a good job. I'll probably give my first few away that I make. I've got a few people i think deserve them. Then might sell a couple in the future like James butters. Not interested in trying to make it a business, far too much like real work day in day out for me!

[poolqjunkie]

You can make a cue without a lathe; and it is really fun when you get it right.:-)
But if you are going to buy a lathe, buy a cue lathe or a metal lathe (with a big enough bore), a wood lathe is very limited in what you can do, and very hard to do joint work precisely.
In my humble opinion, a cue is meant to be played with so it is important to figure out how to make a cue with good playability before anything else.
When you are first starting, dont worry too much about roundness and splicings, they will come.

[Stick]

That is part of the attraction of fooling around on your own - experimenting with tapers, butt sizes, tip sizes, weighting, etc to determine favorite characteristics or just to see how the playability of the cue is affected when these are altered.

The sad thing was that the first piece of ash that I worked (the one that ended up crooked) had the most beautiful chevrons running down it's length. Something which was not evident when the timber was selected. This is what makes it so rewarding - seeing the wood taking shape and the patterns appear.