Lathe lengths 36-40". When do you use the 40"?

Newton

Newton

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I know this has been discussed earlier where many mentioned that a 40" lathe would be preferred compared to a 36" long bed.

However, when do you really need 40" ?

The lathe manufacturers do usually specify the lathe length without the chuck so for those who would like to make for instance a 30" shaft, I guess it might be a squeeze. However, modern lathes usually have Camlock systems for the chuck so would'nt it be just to take away the chuck and use a "center pin"/dead center (don't know the correct English word) in the driving end (with possible some tape on it to increase friction for turning) for this work?

The price difference between a 36 and a 40" is close to $1750, which is some expensive 4"... Of course, these are two different lathe manufacturers so there would most likely be quality differences between these as well..

Any comments and views on this would be highly appreciated.

Kent
 
Make sure the carriage will move the length you would like. Some 36 center to center may give less than 30 movement on the carriage.
 
BarenbruggeCues said:
Make sure the carriage will move the length you would like. Some 36 center to center may give less than 30 movement on the carriage.
Click to expand...

Very good point - I did forget that, even if I have "read" the values in the specs.
Rep for you Dave :thumbup2:

Kent
 
If you have a dedicated taper machine, then you don't need 40". Heck, i'd be happy with 20" between centers, so long as it had a big bore spindle & long travel tailstock.
 
I know a number of cuemakers and I have never heard one say that they wish they had a shorter lathe. On ther otherb hand I have heard some say that they wish they had a lathe longer than their 36" model.

My 13X40's allow me to chuck 33"-35"'s between centers using a 6 jaw chuck and live center. Once I have zeroed out my chuck, I don't want to remove it regardless of the fact that I have a D1-4 mount. The lathe is heavier. Another benefit is being able to crank the carriage far enough to the right that you can still use your normal cutters mounted on the left side of your tool post.

I have also built a few 64 inch long cues with no problems

You certainly can make adjustments and get along nicely with the 36" but if you can afford it, the 40" will allow you to do more.
 
Newton said:
I know this has been discussed earlier where many mentioned that a 40" lathe would be preferred compared to a 36" long bed.

However, when do you really need 40" ?


Kent
Click to expand...
The 36" distance is a bit misleading. If you drive the workpiece with an MT5 center and have the tailstock fully retracted, it should handle it, but when you add a tru-set chuck with a lathe pin on drive side, and some more tooling such as a live center or a turret on the tail side, and then add live tooling such as a router which needs some clearance, 36" can get tight pretty quick.
 
dchristal said:
The 36" distance is a bit misleading. If you drive the workpiece with an MT5 center and have the tailstock fully retracted, it should handle it, but when you add a tru-set chuck with a lathe pin on drive side, and some more tooling such as a live center or a turret on the tail side, and then add live tooling such as a router which needs some clearance, 36" can get tight pretty quick.
Click to expand...
tap tap tap.
Who really wants to take that chuck and use a dog plate?
 
Thank's friends for the feedback.

Joey knows my current setup and those who read the "small addition to my shop" thread;
The reason for a new lathe is for possible tapering of the butts among others.
My CNC would be used for the initial tapering, but I'm not sure if I would like to use the
CNC when I have glued up the butts for inlays,butterfly points and V-points.
This would however most likely need to be done on the whole length of the butt of course.
So this was possibly something the lathe would be used to,
among the other natural production runs I do (rings, joint install,threading,pin production etc)

I did by the way receive a feedback from the 36" shop saying the following :

"The top slide will travel the whole length of the bed, we have a
protection switch to prevent the top slide colliding with the headstock
casting, at the other end the top slide will pass the point where the
tailstock is located at the end of the bed. If you remove the tailstock
the top slide will travel into this space untill it reaches the end of
the gear rack.
So you have effective use of the whole bed length, i.e. the top slide
will travel further than the nominal distance between centers."

So I'm still sitting up on that fence not sure what to do he he :p

Kent
 
My CNC would be used for the initial tapering, but I'm not sure if I would like to use the
CNC when I have glued up the butts for inlays,butterfly points and V-points.
I would. :)
Take the glued up cue to the bandsaw and saw off excesse wood on the outside.
Then turn.
 
Well, my tappering tests has been very successful so I guess I end up with doing so even on the glued up versions. But the 36-40" question is of course there he he
Is there some one who do tappering over the whole butt and over in to the shaft section (given non-metal collar) using live tooling (shaft end through chuck - live center on butt end) ?

Kent
 
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