Listing all posts from May of 2014. Show all posts.
  1. Cuemaker's Gold




    Amboyna Burl is rare and expensive and everything else that makes cue collectors want it.
    I just retrieved this little stash and will be building cues out of it in the near future.  This stuff
    goes great with Ebony and Ivory and Turquiose and Cocobolo.  I have built many famous cues
    using Amboyna Burl.


    Other cues: http://www.dpcues.com/category/35212772


    DP

  2. The Cocobolo Brothers


    Sometimes I build a group of cues that are special.  There is something that is cool and different about these groups.  Could be the design or inlay materials or,  as is the case this time,  the wood.  This group is called the Cocobolo Brothers.

    Three of these cues are superior and better grade Cocobolo in a 6 point,  3 high and 3 low design.  The rings are simple but fit the elegance of this design.  These are pool cues that look like pool cues, no squiggily inlays or wild colors,  simple elegance.

    The fourth cue is exhibition grade Cocobolo, with amazing ringwork and highend inlay materials.




    The first one is the exhibition grade Cocobolo,  two through four are Superior or Better Grade Cocobolo.





    The tops are AAAA Grade Curly Maple.

    Keep watching,  I will add pictures as the cues are finished.

    Other DP Cues : http://www.dpcues.com/category/35212772

  3. No, No, No !


    I get this call once a week. Can I buy a joint screw, NO !

    Then I get a million reasons why the caller needs a joint screw, cuemakers call it a Joint Pin.
    Believe it or not I'm helping you.

    Spinning a shaft on an electric drill on just a Joint Pin will wobble out the wood threads or loosen the brass insert in
    other style shafts. It may not happen the first time but, over time the shaft will be ruined.

    • Clamping your drill in a vise will ruin the drill bearings

    • Your drill is way too slow, we spin shafts at about warp 9, in a lathe, to clean and polish them

    • You don't have the right stuff to seal the shaft and leaving it bare will warp it, period

    You need something that looks like the end of you cue so that the shaft is fully supported,  no wobbling.


    If the person working on your shafts doesn't know this...

    Walk in my shop and I will clean your cue shafts and shape the tips for free,  is someone charging you ??

    DP Shafts : http://www.dpcues.com/category/35212773

    DP

  4. The Best Player I Have Seen Play




    OK, I'm going to show my age here !!

    The Best Nine Ball Player I have seen play in person was was Buddy Hall in his prime, 
    it was Boring to watch!!  He was in line with perfect shape over and over and over again. 
    He played with seemingly no effort,  it was like the cue ball had eyes and a purpose,
    roll into perfect shape.



    The Best One Pocker Player I ever saw play was "Chicage Buggs". 
    His name in real life was Leonard Rucker,  in the pool hall he was simply know as "Bugs". 
    I saw him play in a tournment in SC about 25 years ago,  I was mersemrized.



    There were an are a lot of great others,  but these two guys are my personal high points.

    Some Great Deals Here.  http://www.dpcues.com/category/35212772


    DP
  5. An Old News Story About DP Custom Cues


    This article is about 10 years old,  I thought it was pretty cool when it was written.

    Mastercam
    Success
    CamZone

    Mastercam Helps Create Artistic Pool Cues

    “When I saw what real software (Mastercam) could do, even though I couldn’t afford it, I spent the money. I’ve been very glad that I did. The local support has been great too.”
    - Dale Perry, Owner
    DP Custom Cues
    Orange Park, FL
    During the day, Dale Perry made his living but at night he enjoyed his passion of building cues. Later Dale quit his job to build cues full time and is now the owner of DP Custom Cues and works on custom, one-off $5,000 pool cue sticks. Every part of the cue is made by Dale, except for the tip, joint screw, and rubber bumper.

    The Challenge

    For making a custom cue, inlay pieces need to fit together precisely which in itself is a piece of art. DP Custom Cues had to find a software package that gave them high precision but at the same time was easy to use.

    The Solution
    Mastercam Mill
    Benefits
    • Mastercam allows DP Cues to customize any part of the cues, quickly and easily.
    • For their detailed inlay designs, Mastercam provides DP with precise toolpaths so their pieces fit together.
    • Allows DP to be creative – if they can think a design up, they can draw it in Mastercam.
    • Edits can be made quickly with Mastercam’s full associativity.
    • Excellent local Reseller support when needed.
    Project Details

    Precision is one thing that’s needed when you’re working on a custom, one-off $5,000 pool cue stick. Another is having the ability to design one that meets a customer’s expectations for quality and uniqueness.

    Dale Perry, owner of DP Custom Cues, uses desktop engineering technology with hand crafting techniques to make distinctive cues sold the world over.

    Years ago he learned woodworking in high school. Even though he enjoyed it, he got himself a real job in bank auditing. Because he liked to play pool and had a custom cue, he found that cue makers were very rare individuals when he had a hard time finding one and had to wait six weeks to get ten minutes of work done on his cue. He thought, “I can make cues too.” So, during the day he made his living, but at night he enjoyed his passion of building cues.

    Later he quit his job to build cues full-time. Along the way, he acquired a 3,000 square foot shop in Orange Park, FL and advanced tools used for cue making. “My way of building cues is a vertically integrated system that allows me to start with raw lumber and finish with true custom cues. I make every part of a cue except the tip, joint screw, and rubber bumper.” Perry notes, “I’m currently on my third generation of cue making equipment, most of which I have built or modified to fit my needs. I draw all of my cues using Mastercam and it is also used to program my CNC routers. This equipment allows us to customize any part of our cues.”

    Perry builds his cues from exotic woods like ebony, cocobolo, and birdseye maple. To set his standard and custom one-off cues apart from others, he used beautiful inlays that consist of either contrasting woods, synthetic ivory, mother-of-pearl or other materials. For these pieces to fit precisely together is truly a work of art. To get this precision, Perry goes one step further by using the CNC router that gives thousands of an inch precision on the inlays and pockets.

    Perry says he started out using some low cost CAM programs to save money. But he quickly realized that they didn’t offer him the capabilities that he needed. “When I saw what real software (Mastercam) could do, even though I couldn’t afford it, I spent the money. I’ve been very glad that I did. The local support has been great too,” he says. Perry says that the ability to program with Mastercam has definitely helped with his cue-making creativity. “It gives me the ability to do whatever I want. If I can think of it, I can draw it.”

    Perry has been using Mastercam for about eight years. He states that the drawing tools help him with designs, but the biggest advantage of Mastercam is the local support. His Mastercam Reseller, CamTech in Palm Bay, FL has been a great help to him. “When I have a question, I pick up the phone and call. I always get an answer. I haven’t had any problem. If you’re making a living with Mastercam, I don’t know how you could NOT spend the money and just be done with it. It solves so many problems over less expensive software. Mastercam makes going from an idea to a reality fast. When I’m drawing a new shape or design, sometimes I’ll have three or four versions of it before I’m satisfied with one. So I may draw a part four or five times before I’m happy and with and Mastercam lets me do it quickly,” he adds.

    Perry is passionate about his cues and keeping his customers happy. Mastercam is one important component in his cue making that makes a difference.

    CNC Software

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    Lot's of cue pictures here : http://www.dpcues.com/category/35212772


    DP
  6. All About Snakewood


    Snake wood is beautiful, rare, expensive and a real pain to work with and that's not just my opinion.

    This is from : ndmknives.com

    Snakewood is an incredibly beautiful wood which originates, mostly, in Suriname, South America.  This is one of the worlds hardest woods.  The part sold as snakewood is really the heartwood of the larger tree.  The wood is usually felled with axes and carried on the back of hard-working natives over streams and through snake-infested jungle areas.  Each tree felled is monitored since the government has developed a strict permit process to control harvesting.  Much of the wood has inferior or no figure, but the small amount that has attractive figure is exported.



    I have made a cue with Snakewood inlays: http://www.dpcues.com/product/SW

  7. Snap Shots From Around The Shop





    These are one time designs, the inlay colors are completely random
    and a real pain to assemble.   I destroyed the patterns late last night
    so that I never have to deal with them again.  I saw a design like this
    in ring and thought it was good idea....no.







    This picture is about 15 minutes old,  these cues
    are running right now.

    Other cues:  http://www.dpcues.com/category/35212772