2 Sticks “ready to ship” This Week

It took four months to get my cue building machines. Then four more months to arrive at this place, after acquiring my main cue building machinery…

I saw all this 8 months ago….

I’m finally organized. I have a spreadsheet. A word doc with instructions for my way of stick building, so I do each task the same each time. Video cameras mounted over each work station. Labels on the cameras. A log to record each job performed on each stick. Rock N Roll.

Why does it matter?

I’ve been experimenting and learning. I have tons of DVDs and a super thickass book about stick building, but I’m making cues out of spalted wood, which introduces challenges and considerations. I’ve had to invent my own process from the best of the traditional practices, tailored to the specific machines I own.

(I should mention that every cue builder is an inventor. I respect all of them and claim no special insights. If I had more to smoke, I might write a paragraph claiming that all learning is inventing… but alas… ahem… Squirrel!)

Each major task in building a stick breaks down into many, many steps. Skip one, results vary. My stick building word doc is 21 pages and is detailed to the thousandth.

Lots of study, trial, and error… but what has come out of all the painstaking frustration is a process that works right the first time, is fairly efficient, and doesn’t expose my lungs to death on a daily basis.

Now I write down the stick, job, camera number and time for each job I do, then at the end of the day download all the video from my DVR. Each stick has a folder on my computer, and every day, the folders fill with video files that track each stick’s progress. When the build is done, I’ll cut out the boring stuff and dead camera time, and assemble the files into a single build-documentary. I’ll probably do a voice-over to be sure to discuss what makes the stick special, in my eyes.

The first videos will show mostly the final stages of the build, but the next sticks afterward will show even more details, until I arrive at stick 22, which will capture almost the entire process. For sticks 22 onward, I’ll include the video on a thumb drive in the case, when someone purchases the stick.

My goal is to become efficient enough to roll out a new stick and video each week. Each butt is built over months, so if I only do one a week, it’ll take half a year to complete the sticks I’ve already assembled and glued. I hope to get faster when my systems refine further. I’ll be building a presence on Youtube and Rumble. Maybe others. Idunno. I’ll keep moving forward and decide when I can see better.

As to today’s video, the butts for Sticks 4, Lascaux, and 5, Heaven and Hell have been polished for a while, but I never made joint protectors or shafts. I look to have them done this week, wrapped in cellophane, and placed in their bags to ship immediately upon purchase.

I saw all of this eight months ago, and I’ve been working like a madman (like?) to bring it to fruition. All the major blocks are in place.

I can’t wait to see all these sticks shine.