Which lathe?
- Thread starter Zims Rack
- Start date
Zims Rack said:
I use a homemade wood lathe with a homemade, extended bed so I can chuck up a whole house cue,,,my steady rest & follow rest use urethane skateboard wheels to not mar the finish,(no hole thru the headstock),,,recently bought a 9 x 20 metal lathe for more precise tenon and ferrule work,,next purchase will be a larger metal lathe,,,repairing for now, hoarding wood/plan to build a cue soon !
Which Lathe
You can't beat a Porper for repairs. I do over 1000 repairs a year & make 30-60 Qs a year. I have Porper's 1st lathe(the model A) & 2 model B's. They are the easiest to do repairs on 1 piece Qs & hold up very well under every day use. I turn all of my shafts on a model B & do all of my drilling & boring for forearms & handles on a model B. I have one of Chris's lathes, that I do all of my turning of assembled butts. I also do some of the inlay work on this lathe. I have an old Atlas that I make all of my parts on & also do most of the sanding on. I also have a wood lathe, with a chuck from a large drill press mounted on it. Wraps are easy to do on this one, because I have a DC motor & regulator that lets me have a slow speed, yet lots of torque. Hope this helps...JER
You can't beat a Porper for repairs. I do over 1000 repairs a year & make 30-60 Qs a year. I have Porper's 1st lathe(the model A) & 2 model B's. They are the easiest to do repairs on 1 piece Qs & hold up very well under every day use. I turn all of my shafts on a model B & do all of my drilling & boring for forearms & handles on a model B. I have one of Chris's lathes, that I do all of my turning of assembled butts. I also do some of the inlay work on this lathe. I have an old Atlas that I make all of my parts on & also do most of the sanding on. I also have a wood lathe, with a chuck from a large drill press mounted on it. Wraps are easy to do on this one, because I have a DC motor & regulator that lets me have a slow speed, yet lots of torque. Hope this helps...JER
Zims Rack said:
My favorite is a 13 inch Sheldon I have with chucks mounted on each end of the head stock. I have four others lathes, a S/B two Atlas lathes and a Delta wood lathe but I love this one. The bed is 80 inches and I have a little work table mounted on the far end with my grinder because it is so long. I bought it years ago from a boat yard that only started it up every so often when they needed to make a part or something. It runs like new, you hit the switch and all you hear is a pleasant woorrr as it runs. I own a lot of nice stuff but It is my most prized possession. I am an age now where I actually worry what would become of it when I die. Sounds pretty nuts I know. I have tools that my grandfather used when he was working on the Empire State Building. People who don't work with tools can't really understand what they can mean to you. Especially if you make your living with them. I guess I got a little deep.
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What kind of chuck do you have in the rear Mac?
Boy, those wheel chucks on Clausing look comfy.
Boy, those wheel chucks on Clausing look comfy.
Zims Rack said:
I would not sell my SouthBend for all the tea in china. I would love to have a Porper for doing tips, ferrules, sanding and other misc. tasks. I could get rid of my enco and two modified wood lathes and make some more room in my shop. I hate what they cost knowing I will have to tune on it but I will probably be buying one in the near future.
I also have several. Have chris's deluxe with all the bells and whistles. an import mini lathe for tool making & more, and three wood lathes, one of which actually has a ram style drilling tailstock on it even. Also building one for tapering, and will be looking to purchase a floor model probably later this year, or next spring, when i have the space ready for it. I also have several tools that were my grandfathers as well, but wish i still had some I sold many years ago, like the radial arm saw of his. Still have the old solid cast shaper/planer, but needs major restoration work, and have not found the time to do it yet. I also have several old spray guns that were his, an old mini wood lathe with brass bushings/bearings that i restored, and never use, just sentimental to me I guess. It might be a little atlas, but not sure. My dad kept telling me that My grandfather had a little gun lathe that was used at smith & wesson, but never ran accross It and found It, so guess he must have parted with it before passing away, because believe me I searched high and low around here for that and never found it. I have several other tools also, some of which i don't even have setup yet.
Lathes
I like conventional metal lathes for most everything but sanding and finishing.
I like conventional metal lathes for most everything but sanding and finishing.
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I have a 12x36 metal lathe and an old Porper Cue Lathe Mate repair lathe that I use for sanding and finishing. If somebody would come and get these two old Harleys out of my shop, I would have room for a couple of lathes. Oh yeah.........if the pool table was gone I would have even more room. Seriously, I am thinking of selling my ole Harley (the other one belongs to the wife) and I have no say on it. If I do sell it I may buy a couple of who knows what. Would love to have a saw machine.........I think.
Murray Tucker said:
I agree with Murray on this one. I have 12 lathes at last count, but find the South Bend indispensable! This lathe is bulletproof and is just awesome! I have a chuck mounted on the back of headstock` which I have dialed in dead nuts! I can bore with brad point drill bits from the tail stock, with this lathe just about as accurately as with a boring bar. I can do just about every operation on this lathe if I chose to. When I first purchased this lathe, it was powered with a 440 3phase 1 HP, 1750RPM motor. I replaced this motor with a Baldor, 120/240V single phase motor to avoid using a phase converter. I also chose to step up the speed by using a 3500RPM motor instead of the stock 1750rpm one. This works great for a cue building lathe as it cuts much cleaner in wood with the higher speeds.
Wish I had 3 or 4 more SB lathes in the shop. Probably will eventually!
Just more hot air!~
Sherm
macguy said:
Thank you, It is a bit overkill for cues but the extra weight is nice when doing metal work or an operation that you need that extra stability like cutting points.
Thanks.......T411 said:
Bench Lathe
I have two Logan's, a Ramco 16x32, a Grizzley 13x40, Grizzley 13x36 and a Porper.
My go to machine is my Grizzley 13 x 40. It is highly modified and accurate. I've heard all the bad stuff about the imports. Make up your own mind, I did after getting mine. I've had other chinese lathes (I don't care for them at all), and an Enco (not too bad), the Grizzley is pretty well built and good for Cue work if you set it up right.
Course the old USA iron is good too.
I'll try to upload some pics later, my file sizes are too big.
I have two Logan's, a Ramco 16x32, a Grizzley 13x40, Grizzley 13x36 and a Porper.
My go to machine is my Grizzley 13 x 40. It is highly modified and accurate. I've heard all the bad stuff about the imports. Make up your own mind, I did after getting mine. I've had other chinese lathes (I don't care for them at all), and an Enco (not too bad), the Grizzley is pretty well built and good for Cue work if you set it up right.
Course the old USA iron is good too.
I'll try to upload some pics later, my file sizes are too big.
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