Lathe mounted leather seam cutter

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
Not for sale. I only had one made.
After tinkering with a ghettoish proto, I drew the parts on Inventor and had it made.
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Cuts both directions on the lathe and cuts as straight as the lathe bed is.
You can mark the center line 180* from the seam too. Pivots easily and dead level.


Won't be getting these made to sell.
Just showing it to scare Gina Cue. J/k :grin-square:
U can make your own if you have a cnc mill of course.

I am mulling the idea of making a tip trimmer as well.
 
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Renegade_56

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I tried something very similar years ago but I kept getting a pucker in the seam. I was cutting it doubled over, which thinking back may be why it was a miserable failure. Are you cutting the edges together or individually?
 

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
I tried something very similar years ago but I kept getting a pucker in the seam. I was cutting it doubled over, which thinking back may be why it was a miserable failure. Are you cutting the edges together or individually?

One flap at a time.
You have to figure out on your lathe how to get back to the same spot or A blade thickness over.

The best one to use are old American steel where you can engage the bull gear and get back to it easily. And it actually has a little play that you can play with.

On a thread gear lathe, the spindle is heavy enough to keep the chuck steady.
 
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cueman

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Mounting the blade in the toolpost on the smaller cue lathes and leaving it barely loose so it can rotate has been a favorite way of doing it for some. Some also use the taper bar and the blade locked if their taper bar matches the cue. What I did not like about that method was that it was harder to keep the leather from moving around than it was when using a seaming guide pressed up against the leather. One customer uses two sided tape to hold it down while seaming each seam.

Joey's fixture looks really nice.
 

pescadoman

Randy
Silver Member
Cool Joey. McWorter uses some sort of wood cradle thing he made out of wood about 100 years ago.... Someday I hope to approach his finished product...
 

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
Cool Joey. McWorter uses some sort of wood cradle thing he made out of wood about 100 years ago.... Someday I hope to approach his finished product...

I've seen one with hinges but not wood.

His leather work is pretty darn good.
And tall is he does leather work for a huge brand too.
 

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
Mounting the blade in the toolpost on the smaller cue lathes and leaving it barely loose so it can rotate has been a favorite way of doing it for some. Some also use the taper bar and the blade locked if their taper bar matches the cue. What I did not like about that method was that it was harder to keep the leather from moving around than it was when using a seaming guide pressed up against the leather. One customer uses two sided tape to hold it down while seaming each seam.

Joey's fixture looks really nice.
Thanks Chris.
My late mentor used double-sided tape in installation too ( permanently ) and a hinged jig.
I've used white glue and contact cement. They have their own quirks.
 
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