How long for a handmade cue?

[Gramayr]

6 hours eh? Suprises me - thought it would have been more. Though I was taking it from an hourly rate without costing the materials.

British Leyland.. lol.. maybe BREL (as my dad is ex York carriage works )

[ADR147]

the trouble is it does not work like that - you have time waiting etc. but i would think if you ignore all the other factors and go by how many man hours would go into making it it would be less than 6. but then thats just one area of building a cue - there are others

[Wity]

6 hours eh? Suprises me - thought it would have been more. Though I was taking it from an hourly rate without costing the materials.

Ever had work done on your car at a main dealers? The last reciept isaw showed labour charges at £65 an hour and what mechanic gets 1/2 that?

My sums like yours assumed about the £15 hr mark but I've been self employed most of my life and realise what else to take into account a lot better I spose.

Of course you can make numbers say whatever you want but this is what I put to paper when i thought about it....

I reckon about 5 hours.

Based that on my assumption that he'd sell that for around £200 to a retailer buying 10 or so at a time regulary. He'd be a mug if he did so at a loss. and that sort of a mark up for a retail outfit is normal.

His ash is apparently top notch, mature/tight grains/even chevrons. it's less than 2% of all blanks that are of that standard and so he or someone has to spend a lot of time sifting through to find such wood at a timber yard/s as a one man band he's hardly likely to buy planks but he's not buying your common £10 bits of ash so lets say £30.

Splices and veneers say another £10. Exotic woods are just that, exotic. They are not really a lot of money as the amount used is not.
And the ebony, hmmm like the ash involves time searching for perfect black say another £40, maybe more. I doubt he'd risk dying a £20 piece that'd destroy his reputation and buisness if discovered.

Chuck in another £5 for the brass bits and you have a total of £85 for materials. 5 hrs actual work at say gross £15 an hour accounts for another 75 making the running total £160. Then theres his glues, oils, badges ,tips,sandpaper belts,tools, machinary and deprecieation, rent on his premises or equivelent, a pc (not including a phone as i hear he uses emal 100% of the time), transport, delivery charges import duty vat postage accountant fees etc etc etc.The never ending list as all self employed will testify to. That easily knocks it up to the £200.

A 40 hr week @ £15 hr 46 weeks a year = 27,600 yr and no perks such as a Co car Co pension scheme healthcare etc.
Not exactly mega bucks is it for one of the worlds best? Of course he'll make more out of a more fancy cue and by selling direct but the one in the picture is I expect one of his bread and butter cues.

Maybe i'm way out, it's only my guestimate I'm not his accountant but it sounds right. ish

[trevs1]

BMW dealer is more like £85 an hour + VAT........robbing buggers!

They ought to change their name to Dick Turpin motor care.

Many self employed folks make a lot more than £15 an hour for sure.
Ever tried getting a plummer out, or a Part P qualified sparky for work in your home???

Ask them what they charge per hour, oh, and make sure your sitting down before your listen to the answer.

[ADR147]

well i used to have a 7 series bmw and now have a 2004 jag - tell me where you can get them for a mere £85 an hour and i will travel for that !! - jaguar charge £250 for a standard service that i can do myself for £20 in materials and less than one hours work! well trev my best m8 is a sparky so thats ok but i know that a plumber will be £25 an hour here as a homer !!

[ADR147]

Ever had work done on your car at a main dealers? The last reciept isaw showed labour charges at £65 an hour and what mechanic gets 1/2 that?

My sums like yours assumed about the £15 hr mark but I've been self employed most of my life and realise what else to take into account a lot better I spose.

Of course you can make numbers say whatever you want but this is what I put to paper when i thought about it....

I reckon about 5 hours.

Based that on my assumption that he'd sell that for around £200 to a retailer buying 10 or so at a time regulary. He'd be a mug if he did so at a loss. and that sort of a mark up for a retail outfit is normal.

His ash is apparently top notch, mature/tight grains/even chevrons. it's less than 2% of all blanks that are of that standard and so he or someone has to spend a lot of time sifting through to find such wood at a timber yard/s as a one man band he's hardly likely to buy planks but he's not buying your common £10 bits of ash so lets say £30.

Splices and veneers say another £10. Exotic woods are just that, exotic. They are not really a lot of money as the amount used is not.
And the ebony, hmmm like the ash involves time searching for perfect black say another £40, maybe more. I doubt he'd risk dying a £20 piece that'd destroy his reputation and buisness if discovered.

Chuck in another £5 for the brass bits and you have a total of £85 for materials. 5 hrs actual work at say gross £15 an hour accounts for another 75 making the running total £160. Then theres his glues, oils, badges ,tips,sandpaper belts,tools, machinary and deprecieation, rent on his premises or equivelent, a pc (not including a phone as i hear he uses emal 100% of the time), transport, delivery charges import duty vat postage accountant fees etc etc etc.The never ending list as all self employed will testify to. That easily knocks it up to the £200.

A 40 hr week @ £15 hr 46 weeks a year = 27,600 yr and no perks such as a Co car Co pension scheme healthcare etc.
Not exactly mega bucks is it for one of the worlds best? Of course he'll make more out of a more fancy cue and by selling direct but the one in the picture is I expect one of his bread and butter cues.

Maybe i'm way out, it's only my guestimate I'm not his accountant but it sounds right. ish

lol - its a guess alright but i think your balances are a bit off - think about this, the lathe dave brown at craftsman cue uses would cost £25k to replace.

[Wity]

lol - its a guess alright but i think your balances are a bit off - think about this, the lathe dave brown at craftsman cue uses would cost £25k to replace.

£25000 !!! Ah but does it make the tea?

You've forgot a decimal point or been in your back shed all night drinking that bootleg whiskey you make surely?

I dunno bugger all about lathes but I've seen some advertised for £300 or so as used by yank pool cue builders in the past and just googled and found http://www.lathes.co.uk/page9.html there's a copy lathe £4500 (10k new, 4th paragraph) and another with 60" between faces for half that below it.
Assuming 60" would be needed, like I say i aint got a clue really.

[Gramayr]

I don't use BMW garages simply because of their prices.. extortionate! But if you have a full warranty then it's your only option - same if you have a full BMWSH and intend selling at some point. Mine doesn't have either so I'm not bothered (more people use indi's usually staffed by ex-BMW trained mechanics). I know it's over £400 + extras for an IspII. I once thought about getting an E38 740i but got an E36/5 compact instead - bit cheaper running and servicing and it's practical.

I remember once when I was at Tech College (late 80's) we were shown a computer controlled lathe (CNC) and they said it cost the same as 3 new BMW's!

Anyways, 7 series BM, Jag... think I'm in the wrong job

[ADR147]

lol it was the 4.4 v8 i had but i drove it to the south of france and back for a 2 week holiday and the fuel bill was £1650 !! so it had to go! i have owned much sillier cars!

[Qubit]

Well judging by how long its taken me to do my first ever splice i would say it depends on 3 main factors. Talent, experience and equipment used.

[ADR147]

Well judging by how long its taken me to do my first ever splice i would say it depends on 3 main factors. Talent, experience and equipment used.

best post yet! might only take trevor white or mike wooldridge 30 minutes but could take you 8 hours!

[Qubit]

Heres a pic - not even finished properly and i reckon its already taken me over 2 hours for one small splice! (for example mixing the glue took me ages to get it right!) God knows how long it will take me to do an actual cue!

[ADR147]

you will need to charge £4k each at that pace - keep it up though - its a very satisfying thing to build your own cue!

[Qubit]

you will need to charge £4k each at that pace - keep it up though - its a very satisfying thing to build your own cue!

heh heh. What a bargain eh! If nothing else it give you an appreciation of how hard it is.

Ill get there one day.........

[Wity]

You gonna tell us more Qubit ? I sure would be interested in your story of your first cue? :Jealous: