Click on any picture for a better view.

An assortment of works in different stages of progress.
Or...some details showing the steps involved in building a cue.
Or...some of the custom tooling I've had to make.
Maybe I need to get out more but I still find this fascinating.

small slotted ivory diamonds     ivory inlays with dime to show scale.     cocobolo buttsleeve with micarta & pink ivory inlays     birdseye JPs with ebony & ivory inlays     birdseye buttsleeve with ebony & ivory inlays

carbide sanding arbors for 5/16-14 joints     carbide sanding arbors for 3/8-10     carbide sanding arbors for Radial Pin   

large sharp ivory diamond experiment    tenon prepared for a standard 5/16-18 threaded ferrule     3125_thread_tenon.jpg (160074 bytes)    6 ebony pts, bloodwood/ebony trim, ivory/bloodwood inlays

Assorted forearms     assorted joints styles prior to assembly            6 high cocobolo points in birdseye - tight fit!

typical joint construction    assembled    typical buttsleeve construction

shaft blanks progressing from a rough square to the final size.
Why a shaft costs $110
There is a lot of labor involved in taking a shaft to finish size.
And this assumes that the shaft remains straight with no surprise blemishes. 

graphite inserts.jpg (374112 bytes)
And why some can cost $175.
These shafts are getting a thin walled carbon fiber tube inserted into the first 7" of the shaft.
A wood plug prevents epoxy from filling the tube.  The ferrule is then mounted to the tube.
This stiffens the shaft and has a beneficial effect on the shaft's squirt characteristics.

cocobolo, curly maple, ebony & malachite - note the chain links    key fob test piece for new inlay idea: overlapping diamonds - ivory & pink ivory    amboyna burl, ebony & ivory - NICE!

cored ebony with butterfly points in progress    veneer samples    updated buttsleeves

mathias forearm components    forearm assembled & rough cut    ivory chain links & slotted ivory diamonds    roughed in forearm

curly bubinga, curly maple, ivory swords & Hoppe ring    bridge-technique-web.jpg (203214 bytes)    tim 01.jpg (498845 bytes)

veneers sliced from larger leafs    butterfly points    same forearm with Vs cut for main points
See this finished cue HERE

The panels below detail the repair of a customer's cue.
The SS joint broke clean off.  Who knows what abuse the cue suffered
through 3 different owners and one month with a cue thief before it was recovered.
   
All that remains is to machine the assembly to original dimensions and
install the new joint pin accurately.  A touch of clearcoat & it's finished.

cored ebony & amboyna burl       

Maple cored Ebony & Amboyna Burl with ivory inlays.
Click HERE to see hi-res picture of finished cue.

Santa Claus' Predator
This customer's cue had half of the paint scraped off from rubbing against the buckles on his suspenders.  There was no way to remove the finish without mottling the original stain & I couldn't find a stain to match the original.  After some experimentation, I found that if I first stained it Cordovan, then Walnut (with a little Golden Oak), it came pretty  close to matching the original color.  It is basically a brown that shows reddish highlights depending on the angle & intensity of the light source.


2 sets of veneers being glued to flats for butterfly points on buttsleeve.    Veneers machined almost flush with surface so 2nd set can be added.    All 4 sets of butterfly points complete.

Forearm & buttsleeve b-fly points finished. Grooves cut for matching veneered ebony points.    ebony points with matching veneers added

ready for inlays

3 photos stitched together to show installed inlays.



Yosuke's cue is finally finished.  See the high-res pic here.

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