I wonder what this will bring? http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNIQUE-CUE-...&otn=3&po=LVI&ps=63&clkid=3061189323989293823
Lathe
- Thread starter cuemaker03
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Don't know Mike but its already more than I'd give them.
It will be intresting to see. Does anyone on the forum have experience with one of these?
Agreed. I have one too with same options. Mine is not dead nuts so I'm having my 2 year old "fix" it...
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Yikes! Especially when you add in the shipping!
$1200 is cheap
Unique makes good equipment. I have the Taper Shaper, and the Companion III and love them for their purposes. I have used the exact type lathe that is for sale, and know it is a quality piece of equipment for an out of the box ready to use cue lathe. The digital readouts that easily mount, sweeten the deal. Any new cuemaker would love that lathe. It does as much as any on the market and they can either purchase or fabricate a taper system to go with it. At $1200 plus shipping it is priced about 40% of new. It compares well to a Deluxe in capability, the two rail system is inherently very accurate, possibly better than most dovetail beds. Some of you think the price is high??? WOW, and it is such a shame that McDonalds burgers are no longer 15 cents ! Prices have climbed a bit.
Unique makes good equipment. I have the Taper Shaper, and the Companion III and love them for their purposes. I have used the exact type lathe that is for sale, and know it is a quality piece of equipment for an out of the box ready to use cue lathe. The digital readouts that easily mount, sweeten the deal. Any new cuemaker would love that lathe. It does as much as any on the market and they can either purchase or fabricate a taper system to go with it. At $1200 plus shipping it is priced about 40% of new. It compares well to a Deluxe in capability, the two rail system is inherently very accurate, possibly better than most dovetail beds. Some of you think the price is high??? WOW, and it is such a shame that McDonalds burgers are no longer 15 cents ! Prices have climbed a bit.
Didn't mean any offense and certainly not bashing the lathe. This might be a fantastic lathe but I really don't know as I've never used one. I was looking at it strictly from a cost/functionality standpoint. The price is certainly under 1/2 the price from Unique. Although, IMHO their prices on everything is at the upper end.
I looked at the lathe on Ebay thinking I'd be spending just over $1,500 for a lathe that won't make a pool cue.
For arguments sake we'll say the quality of this lathe is the same as the Cuesmith Deluxe. We'll even go so far as to say its similar to the higher end Deluxe package #2
The Deluxe #2 sells for $3200 and its complete and ready to make cues.
The Unique on Ebay is not ready to make cues but you can get it up to speed. (unsure what else it would need besides the following)
Lathe 1525 w/Shipping
AutoFeed 700
Tapering 1100
Shipping 75 (rough guess)
So I'd be looking at roughly $3400 for a 3 - 4 year old lathe. And what else would I have to buy to make it complete? Like a Wrap Motor/Foot peddle, Maint Pins and the other things Chris includes. Not to mention on the Taper Bar you are locked into the 2 tapers they provide. There is no easy way to change them. Is there a way to cut points on the Unique?
Again, not bashing the lathe it just doesn't seem to be a deal at that price. I'd love to have a second lathe or a Taper Shaper but when I look at the $3,000+ price tags for the Unique products, the Cuesmith's price with all the added functionality and versatility seems to put the Unique at a disadvantage. Now, if the Unique is a much higher quality lathe then the price doesn't matter so much but I've yet to see a valid comparison of the two. If anyone can do an unbiased comparison I'd love to see it!
Just my opinion, for whatever thats worth.
Yeah they are not cheap
But for certain uses they are the nuts. I have the deluxe as well, and like it a lot for repairs, but never use the auto feed on it, and use the taper bars for butt repairs only, never a shaft. because I also have some metal lathes that do that much better, and have the Taper Shaper, which is super for butt or shaft tapering. I would never want to tie up my deluxe for tapering jobs. I use it for repairs. Tapering is time consuming, and a job that stresses and wears on a machine the most in my opinion. Keep in mind that you can make auto feeds and taper bars fairly easily and cheap. I think if you look at a taper shaper, which shares many design characteristics and basic parts as that lathe on EBAy, or a more deluxe equipped version of that lathe, you will see just how simple it can be. If you have your cuemaking skills, you have some good basic machinist skills as well? Jigs and tooling is something we have to make as cuemakers all the time.
I guess it boils down to: if it is used as a repair lathe, like I use my Deluxe for, it is great. If it is the one and only lathe in your shop, the deluxe may be a better bargain, in light of the package deals Chris offers, and the service by Chris is superbe. The shipping cost is negligible. You have to pay for that no matter what lathe you buy. I am not attached to any of the cue lathes out there, they all have positive features that make them endeared to cuemakers, and they all have limitations too! Just find the one that has the least limitations for the work flow you need it to do!
But for certain uses they are the nuts. I have the deluxe as well, and like it a lot for repairs, but never use the auto feed on it, and use the taper bars for butt repairs only, never a shaft. because I also have some metal lathes that do that much better, and have the Taper Shaper, which is super for butt or shaft tapering. I would never want to tie up my deluxe for tapering jobs. I use it for repairs. Tapering is time consuming, and a job that stresses and wears on a machine the most in my opinion. Keep in mind that you can make auto feeds and taper bars fairly easily and cheap. I think if you look at a taper shaper, which shares many design characteristics and basic parts as that lathe on EBAy, or a more deluxe equipped version of that lathe, you will see just how simple it can be. If you have your cuemaking skills, you have some good basic machinist skills as well? Jigs and tooling is something we have to make as cuemakers all the time.
I guess it boils down to: if it is used as a repair lathe, like I use my Deluxe for, it is great. If it is the one and only lathe in your shop, the deluxe may be a better bargain, in light of the package deals Chris offers, and the service by Chris is superbe. The shipping cost is negligible. You have to pay for that no matter what lathe you buy. I am not attached to any of the cue lathes out there, they all have positive features that make them endeared to cuemakers, and they all have limitations too! Just find the one that has the least limitations for the work flow you need it to do!
I will stand behind this lathe as I have one and it is superior to most of the machines that are three or four times this in price, I believe that "imho" that the machine is worth that price if it only intsalled the joint screws acurately and the boring operations that it performs, I wish I could have bid on this and added another one to my shop at this price, so If the winning bidder sees this I will pay you what you paid and add a few hundred dollars more because it is a great deal and more than worth the money. I could not build cues without this machine..........plain and simple 
thanks Bryan from BC cues
thanks Bryan from BC cues
Thanks for the info. I would still like to get a Taper Shaper but the $3k+ is a bit much for a single purpose machine, at least for me right now. I do need to get another lathe sometime soon but I may buy a CNC mill and just work with what I got. I can let the lathe turn shafts while I play with the mill.
I looked at the Unique lathe back when I was researching what lathe to buy. I guess the 2 big turnoffs for me was: The price, to get it with auto-feed and the ability to taper was almost $5k. The other was the absolute lack of info on their website. I mean damn, almost zero info and one picture..... doesn't really inspire a purchase. But given your good reviews, I'll at least give it a chance when I buy my next lathe.
I looked at the Unique lathe back when I was researching what lathe to buy. I guess the 2 big turnoffs for me was: The price, to get it with auto-feed and the ability to taper was almost $5k. The other was the absolute lack of info on their website. I mean damn, almost zero info and one picture..... doesn't really inspire a purchase. But given your good reviews, I'll at least give it a chance when I buy my next lathe.