How To Make A Custom Hybrid Epoxy Pool Cue On a Wood Lathe Plus Trick Shots 4k

Today I'm going to show you how to

make

a

custom

hybrid

epoxy

pool

cue. I started with some black walnut that was originally meant to be fire

wood

. The

wood

needed to be split into pieces that would fit into a

custom

made mold This is a bit of a pain though due to my ax handle breaking so I just grabbed a small sledge and ax head and went to work due to because my standard pressure tank was too small for this 30 inch mold I had. I built a custom pressure vessel using 4 inch diameter PVC, the PVC would work well for the 45lbs of pressure I planned to use to remove the bubbles from the

epoxy

while it cured to

make

the mold fit even though I needed to cut the corners off the bandsaw with the table set at a 45 degree angle make quick work of corners and the mold would now fit perfectly the mold was specifically designed to allow the walnut chips to be positioned around a solid center dowel this would give me a solid center to install the joint quill and a wait bolt later on as well as allowing for vibration damping through the butt of the cue, the point of this was to give the cue a nice crisp hit but not send much vibration to the shooter's hand now that the mold was ready it was time to start placing the nut now this was a bit

trick

ier than you would think due to the fact that all s chips are really crazy shapes and sizes and they all had to fit into this mold around the tang and it had to fit together almost like a puzzle.

This required a few different tries and a different orientation each time, but I finally got it ready to pour the epoxy. I figured I would need about 40 ounces of epoxy total from the pot. for this particular pour I made sure to use exact ratios of hardener to resin that way I could guarantee a perfect result from the epoxy and make sure it perfectly hardened all the way to the end of the pail, now one thing people overlook a lot of times. This is how they mix their epoxy. Two to three minutes of constant mixing is worth it to ensure how it hardens and how it mixes after mixing the epoxy correctly and making sure everything was set.

I added a little bit of this beautiful chakra. KP Pigments this is probably one of the most beautiful red pigments I have ever used or seen in a colored epoxy and it is insane it amazes me every time I look at it now another thing is with this mold to make all these little slivers protruding and odd angles the poor thing had to be done very very slowly a couple of times I tried to speed up and had to stop what I was doing to keep the epoxy from coming off the edge of the mold now while doing this most of the time , just pick out the little gaps and use a little stream of epoxy to allow it to soak past all the wood pieces and this also helps push some of the air out of the mold as it's pouring but with this one in particular and that was very difficult because to the layout of the wood pieces in the mole because my mixing cups could only hold about 30 ounces, I had to go back and mix 10 more ounces of the total pot of epoxy and finish filling it up. he mold.

There was a couple. of little marks on each end of the mold and this would give me an idea of ​​exactly how much to fill the epoxy to get a good fill around the blank due to it being winter here in Mississippi and this is a little cold outside. I didn't want this to get too cold so I decided to take it inside and take the pressure vessel too. Now this pressure vessel, as I mentioned before, is a 4 inch diameter PVC piece with both lids sealed and one with a twist on the lid with a little thread Locker after placing the mold inside and securing the lid, just add about 45lbs of pressure and let it cure for at least 24 hours once the epoxy has fully cured it was time to get it out of the mold now i had designed this mold so i could just cut off the end caps and I would have the dowel through both ends of the mold and then all I would have to do is remove the three side pieces with some chisels or screwdrivers and I had also lined the inside of this mold with packing tape which made removing the mold much easier the epoxy blank with the blank removed from the mold it's time to clean the top and remove the corners there are a few different reasons for doing this the main reason to clean the part your The bottom of the blank is to remove the excess epoxy wood and give it a square bite to work with before removing the corners, though be sure to dead center the ends of the bite to find the center of the bite place a ruler from corner to corner and simply draw a line again from the other two remaining corners, the point where the two lines intersect is your center mark, this is extremely important as this center point is also the mark to install your joint pen if the joint pins and all sins are not perfect completely straight will make the tail run poorly or look warm after marking its center on both ends of the blank it's time to remove the corners this is done similar to how you would remove the corners on the mold This Although it is time to make rough turning of the blank easier and cleaner, I have found that turning a square corner blank with n epoxy usually causes bad chipping or even breakage of the epoxy. going deep enough will affect the final product, it can also make it more difficult to get an even final finish due to the high and low points of chasing chips, as can removing corners of the mold.

I set the bandsaw table at a 45 degree angle and use the fence to cut all four corners of the bike now the fun part is starting to turn the blank on the

lathe

like with most turning projects until you have reached a row shape i keep the speed a little slower around my lane average speed you sing a spindle gouge i start removing material to round off the blank as you can see i am using the smallest point of the gouge this is to reduce chip shedding as much as possible also make sure your tools are as sharp as possible and be prepared to sharpen them often as the sharper your tools the cleaner the cuts.

You'll also see me using some carbide tools and it's not a bad idea to turn the blade around and look for a fresh edge before you start cutting an epoxy blank. Make multiple lights. cuts and do not cut a section of the hub to its final diameter all at once progressively shape the full length of the hub before continuing this will require moving your wrist back and forth repeatedly the center of the dowel is the most difficult to press hard into the cutting tool will cause the plane to bend slightly and not remove some of the epoxy.

The best advice I can give is to take your time and don't rush. Remember that you can always remove more material but you cannot add back what you have Ready to Remove once the stud is rounded. I use a flat sanding block and 80 grit sandpaper to completely smooth the bench. This does two things: it makes it easier for me to identify high and low areas and also using the flat bench allows me to make this almost a perfect cylinder the closer you get to a straight cylinder with the same size all the way through the easier it will be to build the tapered part of the hub end section make sure not to hold the sanding block with the sandpaper in one area for too long as the heat can cause problems with the epoxy or could burn the sandpaper.

Also if you hold it still you are actually removing a fair amount of material with this 80 grit and it can cause a low point. i want to use the flat part of the sanding block so the whole blanket part is as straight as a cylinder as possible after the preliminary sanding of the blank i noticed there were still some high spots so i went back and used the carbide cutting tool and just slowly lower them into the correct dimensions now its time to mount the gasket cover to the butt of the key the gasket cover i am using accepts a dowel with a small lip on the outer end and puts the epoxy in the Instead I measured the width of the joint cover and marked it on the bench as well as placing my calipers on the widest diameter of the opening of the joint cover this is a very tedious part of the build and should done very carefully, remove small amounts until extremely close to the final diameter of the tang, you should go into the joint cap once almost to the point where the tang is good.

I actually stopped using my calipers and started testing the joint cover. This is a much more accurate way in my opinion as you can actually get a feel for exactly how the cap fits and if you need to make small adjustments to the tang do it in extremely small increments that way you don't cut too much and then do having the joint cap move on you while on the tang once the joint the cap fits properly on the tang it's time to epoxy it now in my opinion it should stay on the

lathe

and once it's mounted , you should leave it for at least 24 hours before doing anything else with it.

It's a bit of a long process, but that's how you get the best adhesion to the cue butt and you don't have to worry about the fit or any issues with the joint cover moving, cracking or coming off later, just a stick mount. of the epoxy on the spigot and also on the inside of the gasket cap and while installing the actual gasket cap rotate the gasket caps slightly from side to side so everything is well coated and let it sit for a 24 hour minimum now it's time for the most critical part of the build and the part that made me the most nervous installing the joint pencil this has to be perfect if it isn't you may have to start completely from scratch.

I used the staggered drilling method starting with a bit of countersink working my way up to the proper bit so I could install 3/8 by 10 threads for my joint boom, take your time and by no means rush this part. that your joint marker is the heart of your cue if the joint marker is not directly in the center of the cue or if it is not perfectly straight once the cue is assembled and the shaft is added, the shaft will actually be off-center and will not hit where you are aiming or the shaft will look warped or the whole cue will look out of place.

This will greatly affect how well it plays and how good it feels in your hand. I used one from Atlas Billiards and it worked great once everything is tested properly installed epoxy the pen in place and don't move anything and allow a minimum of 24 hours for the epoxy to fully harden before moving the cue much later now to installing the butt cover this goes into operation The positive end of the cleat head is the gasket cover which is why it is called the head cover now which with that being said it installs in a nearly identical process to from the joint cap just to measure everything go on to a dowel with a little take down end and epoxy it in place make sure you also reduce the bite length until the end of the bike length is exactly the same or just slightly longer than your desired finish length, that way you have enough room at the end where you can trim the bottom and length of the butt section of your cue to be exactly what you want it to be for get your teeth full length now just like with the joint cap just add epoxy and allow to set for a minimum of 24 hours to fully harden much much later now its time for final shaping start with a joint section of the tail and slowly work the end of the joint cap until it is only slightly larger than the end of the joint section of your shell which has kn The joint cap ee, a small amount larger than the joint section of your shaft, it will allow the final sanding and finishing to the perfect diameter if you cut them perfectly at this point after shipping, the joint section of the end section will be a little too small the section of the joint is the smallest diameter of the hub base and the rest of the tail has a tapered taper, this means that from the end of the joint to the end of the hub there is a smooth taper of a small torch like t ú Cutting the cone remember you can stop and use 80 grit sandpaper with a flat sanding block to remove any rough edges or anything you need to do to find high and low spots or to smooth out the cone something you should definitely keep Mind you, you should periodically stop removing the tail end section and weighing it, as the shape, size, and diameter will affect the weight of the hub end.

The more material you remove, the lighter it will be. Now we will have a removable wait bolt on the back of this tail but those only go so far so you want to make sure you dial in your weight to the best of your ability and withthe material that is in the queue, just take your time and check it repeatedly. and you'll be fine the process of adding removable weight bolts to the tail end is almost identical to making any joints so the only real differences here are the size of the bits and the threads you are going to install this will allow you to add a Removable weight bolt with an allen key that can be attached to add weight or removed to take weight off the row.

Also, when it's done, we'll drill a small hole that's just big enough to fit. a rubber bumper for the bumper cap this is so that when you put your tail on the ground while playing you don't break the end of the tail or cause any damage to install the rubber bumper we just use a 3/4 foster bit inch to drill the pre-set depth of the fiber stop rub tang, then take 80-grit sandpaper and slowly smooth the inside of the hole until the rubber stop is very tight; its very very tight now we are in the home stretch using the sand paper sheets or a flat sanding block sand from one end of the mat to the other this is where you are going to score your taper take your time and see if there are high or low spots and also check your taper repeatedly you want to be able to put a ruler on the shaft and align it all the way down with no light under the roar repeat this process several times until you get to 1500 grit to 1500 grit sandpaper I use a method of wet sanding to make sure the end of the bias is extremely smooth and has a large surface area to apply my finish.

I decided on this cube. I was going to do a nice thick CA glue finish. This was going to be a multi-layer finish that I was going to micromesh each layer until I was happy with the finish with the micromesh I'm using. up to 12,000 grit i wet sand from one end of the tail to the other and if there are any blemishes i start with 1500 grit and go back and repeat the process until the blemishes are gone, this can be a very very tedious and time consuming process, but how? The finish that comes out is great, it comes out like glass and has a great feel after that, I use a bit of Turner's wax or polish, as you might call it, and use that to buff out the CA glue. finish and give it a hyper glossy shine what you get here yeah guys i had a blast making this

pool

cue as you can see in the video i love to play i am an avid player and i think i need to. make one of these for me here soon but with that said go check out the total boat epoxy you'll love your foxy products and go check out the KP pigments they have over 200 different pigment colors and you guys are lovely they have change too color. that i'll be doing some projects before the tour they'll show that off that being said guys make sure you subscribe and give me a follow on youtube and if you want to show your support head over to patreon there's a link in the description and i'm going to have some stuff interesting in t here before home so guys thanks for everything thanks for your support and see you guys