Hightower Lathe
- Thread starter chipperd
- Start date
Kim, I have to say, your response, IMO, is a bad answer....why be that way? Sometimes it's better to not say a thing than to respond in a way that makes you look like a D#@k. You may be trying to be funny, but considering a lot of your posts as of late, I don't think 'funny' was your point.
To the O.P. I don't live in Fla. so I can't show you mine.....boy, that almost sounds wrong... But the lathes that Chris builds are top notch and his service is second to none. I own an older deluxe and I'm very happy with it. Are you buying direct from him, brand new, or second hand? Either way, he will be only a phone call away. Hope all goes well.
DAve
Dave
the OP said he was purchasing one......... so what was wrong with an answer like mine????
I say it again with no animosity or sarcasm intended......... get it , try it out, and then ask questions...................... From my experience, you don't know what questions to ask if you don't actually have hands on with the machine first.........
Of course, a visit to a cue shop would help.........
Don't be so fast to jump on people if you don't know their intentions..
Kim.
Lol
No offense taken here, I took it as its hard to go wrong with just ordering the deluxe to start with and going from there, I appreciate any feedback I can get. I did call Chris and talk with him. I have the porper mini lathe. I simply out grew it. The problem I am having is 60% of what I do is a mobile cue repair here in Fl. I need something I can do more extensive repair with in the shop and still be very mobile. I have to load my equipment by myself and am not sure if the 6' bed, taper bar, and box is the way to go. I repair all the house cues on site, so I don't know if a 4' bed will do cues that are a little warped. Lol, when I do them on my porper lathe, I have to get someone to actually hold the middle of the cue to help them from wobbling in my lathe. Just want to make sure I get the right combination. The only Hightower lathe I have seen is only on the website. Any and all feedback is appreciated.
No offense taken here, I took it as its hard to go wrong with just ordering the deluxe to start with and going from there, I appreciate any feedback I can get. I did call Chris and talk with him. I have the porper mini lathe. I simply out grew it. The problem I am having is 60% of what I do is a mobile cue repair here in Fl. I need something I can do more extensive repair with in the shop and still be very mobile. I have to load my equipment by myself and am not sure if the 6' bed, taper bar, and box is the way to go. I repair all the house cues on site, so I don't know if a 4' bed will do cues that are a little warped. Lol, when I do them on my porper lathe, I have to get someone to actually hold the middle of the cue to help them from wobbling in my lathe. Just want to make sure I get the right combination. The only Hightower lathe I have seen is only on the website. Any and all feedback is appreciated.
I bought the deluxe when I first started 5 years ago. I had some previous lathe experience that helped tremendously. I am no machinist but I was able to do it all with that machine. I did get a lot of help on the forum and from visiting Rick Geschrey's shop in Chicago. It is tough to go it alone with out some guidance.
A 6 foot deluxe is a chore to move around but you can get it in a 48 inch version if you ask Chris.
I practiced on pine 2X2's from Lowes. You can set up your tapers with them and do most anything else at only a few bucks cost.
Find out what you know and then what you don't know then search out the answers. It was 3 years before I really felt that I knew what I was doing.
Hang in there.
Kim
I do house cue work on a 4' Hightower. I originally had a Taig lathe by itself with the short Taig bed. I ordered the bed extension clamp from Chris and I clamp the old Taig bed to the cue but side of the lathe to do house cues.
I use Chris's large bearing steady rest all the way to the left, the headstock in the middle, and a three jaw steady at the tip end. I did forget my butt collets one time and just used the headlock with the three jaw steady and the middle can get unwieldy if you spin it too fast. But you can still do tip and ferrule repair, it just takes a little longer.