Making Pool Cue Blanks for the Mistral RB

[Ken Wines]

So ... I got a custom order for a pool cue blank for a Mistral RB. The woods for the order are African Blackwood and Curly Maple. Before I potentially waste premium wood I always like to make test blanks out of non-premium wood (maple and walnut in this case). There are several methods people use to make a pool cue style blank and this is the method I use. Once the maple and walnut zigzag pattern is cut on both blanks, the two halves are taken apart, the colors mixed and the two halves slid back together

 

[skiprat]

Cool method. Do you cut them with a scrollsaw? Does the resulting hollow match the diameter of the tube?

 

[Ken Wines]

Cool method. Do you cut them with a scrollsaw? Does the resulting hollow match the diameter of the tube?

I cut them with laser that uses a custom built for pen blank rotary. The source blanks are prepped by drilling them to brass diameter and then rounded between center to 1/8" wall thickness on metal lathe using bushings that are sized to the drilled holes.

 

[jttheclockman]

Hey Skip how you doing?? Ken is all laser so his work is some dazzling designs that just can not be accomplished by hand or lathes. Now you have done pool cues using your method that is just as nice which someday I want to try myself. But I know I can not compete with Ken's work from the workmanship side because it is just impossible.

 

[chartle]

I found a really old article on how to make real pool cues and used that. Now I wish I remember ow I adapted it for pens but it was easier than laser cutting. It was built up stips of wood and turning it into a taper created the "pointy" parts I also wish I could find the pen.

 

[Ken Wines]

I found a really old article on how to make real pool cues and used that. Now I wish I remember ow I adapted it for pens but it was easier than laser cutting. It was built up stips of wood and turning it into a taper created the "pointy" parts I also wish I could find the pen.

Cliff, did it involve using a router and and 90 degree bit. I've seen video were some cue manufacturers do it that way. After the corner is cut another piece of wood's corner is glued into the groove and then the cue is rounded back down afterword. Hope, I'm making a little bit of sense here. As far as ease and laser cutting ... after the hollow tubes are created it only takes about 1 1/2 minutes to cut the zigzags. You pop the 2 halves apart and press them into the 2 halves of the other blanks put about 4 rubber bands around them and flood the seams with CA and you're done. I could make them all day.

 

[Ken Wines]

Hey Skip how you doing?? Ken is all laser so his work is some dazzling designs that just can not be accomplished by hand or lathes. Now you have done pool cues using your method that is just as nice which someday I want to try myself. But I know I can not compete with Ken's work from the workmanship side because it is just impossible.

JT, I'm not all about the laser. It really depends on the task and which tool can handle it most efficiently. My 1940 something vintage South Bend metal lathe is my "go to" tool in my shop. Is does it's fair share and then some. I was doing CNC rotary work long before I got a laser. What I learned from the CNC accelerated my learning curve on the laser. There's is a still a lot to learn but it can be rewarding experience.

 

[magpens]

... did it involve using a router and and 90 degree bit. I've seen video were some cue manufacturers do it that way. After the corner is cut another piece of wood's corner is glued into the groove and then the cue is rounded back down afterword.

I have done it this way, but it is quite time consuming.

 

[chartle]

1. Cliff, did it involve using a router and and 90 degree bit. I've seen video were some cue manufacturers do it that way. After the corner is cut another piece of wood's corner is glued into the groove and then the cue is rounded back down afterword. Hope, I'm making a little bit of sense here.

2. As far as ease and laser cutting ... after the hollow tubes are created it only takes about 1 1/2 minutes to cut the zigzags. You pop the 2 halves apart and press them into the 2 halves of the other blanks put about 4 rubber bands around them and flood the seams with CA and you're done. I could make them all day.

1. no but I did use a jig that I have that squares the blank to the tube. I made a core of walnut and then wrapped the other wood around it. I think I used this article for a start.

Turning a Pool Cue - FineWoodworking

2. well that's just plain cheating. :wink:

 

[chartle]

found it it was right in front of me on my desk.

I wish I could have added more bling to it but it was for the modified slimline contest from a few year back and had a time crunch.

If I could have taken the band end down more it would have got pointier.

I tried the corner thing and think it turned away. The pen guts got in the way.

 

[mark james]

Hey Skip how you doing?? Ken is all laser so his work is some dazzling designs that just can not be accomplished by hand or lathes. Now you have done pool cues using your method that is just as nice which someday I want to try myself. But I know I can not compete with Ken's work from the workmanship side because it is just impossible.

JT, I'm not all about the laser. It really depends on the task and which tool can handle it most efficiently. My 1940 something vintage South Bend metal lathe is my "go to" tool in my shop. Is does it's fair share and then some. I was doing CNC rotary work long before I got a laser. What I learned from the CNC accelerated my learning curve on the laser. There's is a still a lot to learn but it can be rewarding experience.

FWIW - Ken, I Love your work. I could care less how you accomplish it! And I understand the paradox between new and old techniques/skills/equipment.

I am VERY grateful that I do not have to use a foot treadle to turn my lathe, and as I do actually have lathe tools from my Grandfather that were fashioned from screwdrivers and simple tool steel from 1920's, I appreciate my available tools. Its also nice to have most of my equipment, that was not available when my Grandfather was around ( a career carpenter in Cleveland, Ohio). Progress is simply that. And we should be grateful for this progress.

I have no aspirations to be as precise as you (but I'll give it a go for certain patterns ), but I certainly appreciate your skills! Please continue.

Just my humble opinion.

 

[jttheclockman]

OK now I have to step in here and this is why I do not like answering posts. You Mark and so did Ken made it sound like I was down playing his work. You took my quote and I do not like that.

I said nothing about the use of cnc or lasers as being a bad thing when it came to making pool cues. It is a tool in the tool box. I answered basically Skips question about weather he used a scrollsaw. What I have seen here from Ken and it has mostly been laser designs and they are great. Skip has made the pool cue using his metal lathe and router and has shown his process here in photos. There are other ways to make the pool cue blank as was just shown using layer woods.

Most of Kens designs can not be duplicated by means of hand or machine tools. Just can't be done so his work is unique unto itself. That was all my point was so please do not make it sound like I dislike his work or am down playing it.

 

[Ken Wines]

Sorry, JT. I guess I missed the part where the question was directed towards you. I thought I answered both of his questions, but I might be wrong. My point was that I'm just not about using lasers. I do have a wide selection of tools(including handtools) that I use on a regular basis. I would rate my CNC skills much higher than my laser skills, but I've been doing that much longer. I will be doing a demo at the South East Pen Gathering in Augusta, GA in May about making a pen using a CNC machine. I acquired a small CNC machine that I can travel with and am in the process of building a mandrel based rotary for it from scratch. I'm certainly not an expert on either but I have paid my dues and spent plenty of hours exploring what is possible and what is not in the usage of both.

 

[jttheclockman]

Ken, again I did not say anything about your use of cnc or laser except that since you have been here all you have shown us is laser cut designs so that was my point about you being all laser. If you make pens other than cnc or laser I have not seen them here. I have no clue what the difference is between the 2. I did not see that you answered skip and thought I would add my thought. If this offended you then it was not my intention. That is all. I did not like Mark jumping on my comment and adding to this. He could comment on his own. I hate when people do that because my words get misinterpreted as they are here now. I too love your work and wish I could do it but it is out of my wheelhouse. Continue to do what you do and continue to show your work.

Again I meant no harm about my comment. Maybe Skip can show you his pool cue pen too and you can compare. Man I can not catch a break on this forum no how. Anything I say gets pulled threw the mud.

 

[Ken Wines]

JT, I'm not here to make waves or to try to swim against the current. Pen making has been my favorite woodworking activity for the past 15 years or so. It would be naive of me to believe that everyone would or should embrace technology the way I do. My motives are not to try and change the way anyone would feel about it. I just enjoy doing what I'm doing at this time. It gives me purpose and a reason to head to the workshop. I know in a earlier post you said I should share how something is made and I did try to do that in this post, not so much with words but the photo of the two halves should give most a basic idea of how the blank was constructed. When you do work that involves using technologically driven machine I feel that there is a higher expectation for results than using conventional methods. I did acquire a Byrnes Hobby saw last year and do have plans of pursuing some ideas with conventional segmenting techniques. I can and do appreciate what people make using conventional tools or any tool for that matter. I've tried to keep all things in perspective from a hobby point of view. I've seen too many hobbyist lose the joy of the hobby when converting to a business.