Need HELP from cuemakers: About lathes and other machinery for cue building

T

thubosky

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My old highschool is auctioning off their old metal shop equipment. Among the items are a Rockwell milling machine, Rockwell metal lathes, Sheldon metal lathe, metal cutter and grooving machine, drill press....

The question is what should I be looking for to be able to make pool cues. I believe i read that a metal lathe is required, but I'm not sure what kind and how big and etc...if anyone can help that would be great! Thanks..Tim
 
13X40 or even as small as 12x36 metal lathe but you will need other stuff to make it work for cues.you should also go ahead and grab the mill if it's cheap.
 
i believe the lathes are atleast around 6 ft. long..I don't know how much is average price for a Rockwell lathe that size?
 
thubosky said:
i believe the lathes are atleast around 6 ft. long..I don't know how much is average price for a Rockwell lathe that size?
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It varies greatly depending on many factors, including the age/condition, included tooling, swing, drive type, etc. Prices also vary greatly depending on where you live. Good deals can be found routinely on older machines if you live in or near the "rust belt", but in the west they are few and far between. The short answer is that they're probably worth anywhere from a couple hundred each, to a couple thousand each.

As far as what size of lathe you'd need for cuebuilding, you will need at least one lathe with 31" or more carriage travel, and a minimum of 1 3/8" spindle through hole size. Most lathes with 36" between centers will be long enough, and 40" between centers is sure to be enough. Any size lathe can be put to good use for various cuemaking applications though.
 
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If you don't know anything about machinery you would be well served to find someone that does to go with you and take a look at the equipment. Generally high school machine shop tools are pretty trashed by the time they get around to selling them. Even college level stuff most times is pretty rough. It might seem cheap when you buy (maybe because everyone else knows it is no good) something but when it doesn't work quite how you would like once you get it home you won't be too happy.
Oh, and you need a pencil sharpener also. So you can keep writing the list of things you need to make cues.

Bob Danielson
www.bdcuesandcomix.com
 
bdcues said:
If you don't know anything about machinery you would be well served to find someone that does to go with you and take a look at the equipment. Generally high school machine shop tools are pretty trashed by the time they get around to selling them. Even college level stuff most times is pretty rough. It might seem cheap when you buy (maybe because everyone else knows it is no good) something but when it doesn't work quite how you would like once you get it home you won't be too happy.
Oh, and you need a pencil sharpener also. So you can keep writing the list of things you need to make cues.

Bob Danielson
www.bdcuesandcomix.com
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And for writing checks!

Dick
 
I'm a beginner at this.. But, I looked at the large floor lathes at first untill i learned what all
was needed to make them a good cue making lathe.. Plus they were so big and heavy and hard to move..So, i figured i would be way ahead of the game if i purchased something that was made just for cue makers..I purchased a Deluxe from hightower and im so glad i did....
Just my 2 cents worth..
Good Luck
Max
 
I'd grab all the 11 by 36 Rockwell lathes if they are good.
3 would be great.
Use one as a taperer.
One with a collet closer.
One with Set True chuck.
 
thx for all the feedback...keep it coming...I think i am going to purchase all that i can afford there..would it be cheaper and better to just buy a lathe thats made for making cues? like a hightower?
 
Used Equipment

Hi,

With a lot of companies going out of business, there are some great deals out there on machinery auctions sites. What you might think is a good deal from the high school might not be.

Google used machinery auctions and look around.

Rick
 
I gotta agree with Rick and Bob that machines used in a school setting may not be as great a deal as they may appear. They often have been crashed numerous times (the people using them are still learning), and often have pretty bad bed wear/damage near the chuck. Here is a quick guide to help you evaluate a lathe, and much of it applies to buying machinery of all types.
http://www.mermac.com/advicenew.html


thubosky said:
would it be cheaper and better to just buy a lathe thats made for making cues? like a hightower?
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Cheaper? Maybe, I guess it depends on how much value you attatch to the time spent setting up a metal lathe for building cues.

Better? That issue has been argued both ways here many times. IMHO, if you don't know much about making jigs or setting up machines to be able to do what you need them to, you might be better off buying a ready to go system. If you're mechanically inclined and would enjoy the process of creating a system to build cues, maybe a metal lathe is for you.

If you do buy a metal lathe, I'd suggest either taking/auditing a class at a local college or trade school, or finding someone knowledgeable to teach you a little about running it. At the very least buy some books and do some reading. Metal working equipment can be dangerous if you're not familiar with how it works.
 
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