Finished cue building lathe build

[cueporn]

The lathe is essentially completed, just a couple little tweaks to go.

I wantec to be sure to thank those who contributed materials and ideas. Bassel at Custom Cue Lathes thanks for your advice and parts; Todd at Midamericanpool awesome headstock works as good as it looks, thanks for your patience and advice; Anthony Gotti thanks for the parts and build advice; Jaydog you took the time to help me early on with the powerfeed and electronics, it was a tremendous help. Thanks to everyone else too who helped here.

The taper bars are easily removed with the 2 large knobs mounted behind the 1.5" vertical 8020. This allows the headstock to travel anywhere along the bed for different tasks. The powerfeed is driven by a Dayton 50 rpm gearmotor that is supplied with a smooth dial 0-16 volt tatto power source. It goes from barely a crawl to traveling the full length of ge bed in about 20 seconds, three position left/ stop/ right. I will be adding a limit switch between the headstock and carriage that will be able to be placed anywhete in between to cut power to the router, powerfeed, vacuum system and lathe. motor when the taper cut is completed. I mounted tge taper bar to 1 inch wide 8020 square TSlot channel. On top of this is a 1 inch wide piece of steel held on derlin slides byv2 adjustible quick release clamps. The indicator magnetic base attachescto this and can be slid anywhere along the taper bar to make measurements.It is powered with a Penn State 1/2 hp varible speed motor to which I added a 3 way DPDT switch with forward/stop/reverse. The switch is right beside he headstock and is used to stop and start the motor.

If anyone has any questions about the build, feel free to ask here. Thanks again.

 

[juspooln]

looks good PM sent

 

[jaydog468]

Looks great. Now it's time to get saw dust all over it!




Jay Harper
Harper cues

 

[the kidd]

Looks great how much you have in it?

Really nice work how long and how much? Hope I'm not too nosey but was thinking of doing one myself but bought Chris' and love it.
(Too old to build my own now)

 

[whammo57]

Just a question.......... do you think it was worth it to put it together your self over buying a ready made machine??

Kim

 

[chuckpilegis]

Came out real nice. Did you buy the taper bar or slot it yourself

 

[cueporn]

Answers to above

I really enjoyed building the lathe just as I wanted, with extra features I wanted.

The lathe is 48 inches , I am going to build an extension for full length cues too. Yes it needs to get dirty, too pretty now.

I bought the taper bars and spring loaded carriage from Anthony Gotti, he had a setup for a lathe he had sold prior. They wouldnt be too hard to make though. I had 2 other members offer to sell me taper bars at good prices.

The build cost me just under 1400. I saved alot buying the taper setup , carriage, router mount and large steady rest in a package. Buying the motor factory direct, making my own powerfeed and doing the electrical saved a lot too.

It was a lot of fun to build. There is a lot I need to get. So as everyone here says, cuebuilding is really an expensive undertaking. This is not really a business venture for me, just an extension of my interest in cues and the game.

Thanks again to all that helped.

 

[Dirtbmw20]

I think it looks great, awesome job building it.

Taper bars and power feed are my next additions, I've already spoke with Todd about ading them in the next few weeks after some tax money gets here.


Is there any advantages or disadvantages to having the power feed driven by the rack gear versus a lead screw ??

 

[customcuelathe]

I really enjoyed building the lathe just as I wanted, with extra features I wanted.

The lathe is 48 inches , I am going to build an extension for full length cues too. Yes it needs to get dirty, too pretty now.

I bought the taper bars and spring loaded carriage from Anthony Gotti, he had a setup for a lathe he had sold prior. They wouldnt be too hard to make though. I had 2 other members offer to sell me taper bars at good prices.

The build cost me just under 1400. I saved alot buying the taper setup , carriage, router mount and large steady rest in a package. Buying the motor factory direct, making my own powerfeed and doing the electrical saved a lot too.

It was a lot of fun to build. There is a lot I need to get. So as everyone here says, cuebuilding is really an expensive undertaking. This is not really a business venture for me, just an extension of my interest in cues and the game.

Thanks again to all that helped.

Brian
The lathe looks great, good job on a well executed project. You really did great on overall cost, and you did saved a whole bunch of money. I just don't think anybody can get this done with a $1400 budget, nevertheless this is the best way to learn how to operate and tune and calibrate your lathe as long as you know what you are doing, which obviously you did. I always welcome do it yourself guys. It saves me a whole bunch of time, time which I seem never to have enough of.

Best Regards
Bassel
Custom Cue Lathes

 

[cueporn]

Brian
The lathe looks great, good job on a well executed project. You really did great on overall cost, and you did saved a whole bunch of money. I just don't think anybody can get this done with a $1400 budget, nevertheless this is the best way to learn how to operate and tune and calibrate your lathe as long as you know what you are doing, which obviously you did. I always welcome do it yourself guys. It saves me a whole bunch of time, time which I seem never to have enough of.

Best Regards
Bassel
Custom Cue Lathes

Thanks, Bassel. You gave me guidance on several issues, I really appreciate it.
All your lathes are great. Anybody in need of a lathe or parts definately needs to give you a try.
Lack of time is really our biggest limitation in life. Good luck to you, thanks again.

 

[cueporn]

I think it looks great, awesome job building it.

Taper bars and power feed are my next additions, I've already spoke with Todd about ading them in the next few weeks after some tax money gets here.


Is there any advantages or disadvantages to having the power feed driven by the rack gear versus a lead screw ??

I had a Hightower Cuesmith deluxe a few years back with pinion drive powerfeed like this one.
I had bought a acme lead screw to use on this build. I decided against it because for me I knew the pinion drive worked good enough and cost less. There are ways to do it with a lead screw, but is it any better? The router provides little resistance on passes through the wood, so the added strength of the leadscrew isnt required.
The brackets for the leadscrew to attach to the carriage and yhe motor to turn the leadscrew were costly and seemed like a more complicated means to an end the pinion drive did for about 80 and some creativity.
BTW I know Todd' price on the pinion drive setup and carriage was very fair. I never got quotes from anyone else. Since I had the carriage already and knew how to build the powerfeed, I just did it myself.

 

[Blue Hog ridr]

Very nice job buddy. Nothing is cheap these days but at least you build it with your own hands and made what you wanted.

Other than a Deluxe and a repair lathe, I have one that is basically a Deluxe minus the taper bar set up.

I like how you built yours and would like to do the same for mine.

 

[cueporn]

Very nice job buddy. Nothing is cheap these days but at least you build it with your own hands and made what you wanted.

Other than a Deluxe and a repair lathe, I have one that is basically a Deluxe minus the taper bar set up.

I like how you built yours and would like to do the same for mine.

No problem, pm sent and I have tge 8020 you will need too.

 

[Onecrazyplayer]

The lathe is essentially completed, just a couple little tweaks to go.

I wantec to be sure to thank those who contributed materials and ideas. Bassel at Custom Cue Lathes thanks for your advice and parts; Todd at Midamericanpool awesome headstock works as good as it looks, thanks for your patience and advice; Anthony Gotti thanks for the parts and build advice; Jaydog you took the time to help me early on with the powerfeed and electronics, it was a tremendous help. Thanks to everyone else too who helped here.

The taper bars are easily removed with the 2 large knobs mounted behind the 1.5" vertical 8020. This allows the headstock to travel anywhere along the bed for different tasks. The powerfeed is driven by a Dayton 50 rpm gearmotor that is supplied with a smooth dial 0-16 volt tatto power source. It goes from barely a crawl to traveling the full length of ge bed in about 20 seconds, three position left/ stop/ right. I will be adding a limit switch between the headstock and carriage that will be able to be placed anywhete in between to cut power to the router, powerfeed, vacuum system and lathe. motor when the taper cut is completed. I mounted tge taper bar to 1 inch wide 8020 square TSlot channel. On top of this is a 1 inch wide piece of steel held on derlin slides byv2 adjustible quick release clamps. The indicator magnetic base attachescto this and can be slid anywhere along the taper bar to make measurements.It is powered with a Penn State 1/2 hp varible speed motor to which I added a 3 way DPDT switch with forward/stop/reverse. The switch is right beside he headstock and is used to stop and start the motor.

If anyone has any questions about the build, feel free to ask here. Thanks again.

Hey buddy you can't have your deluxe back I love it too much. But great job building this one up. One thing get a new rear steady rest with a centering chuck attached. Your deluxe had 2 chucks on the head stock so getting the adjustable one vice the Block you have is going to make your life so much better.
Great job now build me a cue ! Take care let me know if you need anything.

 

[Tommy-D]

That's a pretty slick setup,esp for a home-build. You'll never hear of me saying anything else.

Your power feed rig,controller mount,and taper bar mounts are the "strongest" parts to me,good stuff. Your indicator mount is the most innovative thing I've seen for Taig based lathes in a while too,:thumbup:.

I was planning on just bolting down a 36" long piece of 1 1/2" wide,1/4 thick hot rolled plate I have laying out back and just setting the indicator bases on that,once I get up and running. Using a variation of your idea,I can save about 5 pounds of weight,and wind up with the same result.

Is the board you have it all mounted on meant to stay where it is,or can it be picked up and moved reasonably?

Reason I ask is I'm curious about the weight and the amount of space it takes up when moving it around,even though you intend to build more with it rather than having it mobile for example setting up for repairs at a tournament,etc.

I'm leaning towards mounting my eventual rig on 1/2 HDPE cutting board plate.

You have every reason to be proud here,Tommy D.