Unique Cuemaker vs Deluxe cue smith?

[cueman]

Now Chris when you bore your jaws they are only bored precisely to that diameter. Open the jaws and chuck up on a different diameter and it won't be the same. Now I don't think that Russell is a liar I think that he don't know or completely understand how small of a tolerance he's talking about. You know when I had you lathe I had a hard time getting .001. But I did and it took a lot of work. So when I called tag and talked to cliff and he told me that if I could get .001 I was doing great. Because typical tir of the chuck is .003. That is when I decided to upgrade to a machine lathe. And it was the best decision I made when I was building cues.

You are correct. Near Zero run out at the large diameter you bored it to and within .002 throughout the rest of the scroll is the goal. I just learned the jaw tapping method recently compared to my old cigarette paper wedging of jaws and pushing with the thumb. I was actually surprised myself when I saw how good that method worked.

And guess where I learned it?

You guessed it. Right here on AZ from some of my customers. It sure made life easier on me. And people can learn things from less experienced people if they are teachable.

 

[whammo57]

If you have your chuck bored to automatically chuck down at less than .002" you can get the needle on the dial indicator to barely move with the jaw tapping method. That is not blowing smoke, it is a fact. I don't usually worry about getting it much less than .001". Once I get it below .001" I am good for any operation I want to do. You really should apologize to Russell for calling him a liar.

I can always get ,001 by taping and anything down close to .001 runout will never be seen in any part of cue building.

Kim

 

[Terry Aeschliman]

runout

How many thousand's in an inch??? Must be a hundred of them little bastards, Williard!!

 

[conetip]

Usually getting to 0.01mm about 0.0004 inches is difficult enough on the Taig setups. Getting better takes a lot more work. Without going to special bearings, I doubt that it will run round to 5 or 6 micron, assuming you have a cylindrical test piece.

All that aside, the Hightower machine does have great support via Chris.
I have not used a Unique, but have seen a few at shows doing tip installs.

Since you already have a tip repair station, maybe getting a bigger lathe with screw cutting capability might be a good look at as well. Something with more than 1 meter between centres.

 

[Kim Bye]

Since you already have a tip repair station, maybe getting a bigger lathe with screw cutting capability might be a good look at as well. Something with more than 1 meter between centres.

I`m mostly repairing cues, making extension etc. so building cues is not my first priority ( altough I will be making a cue or two for myself, just for the experience )
I Have a fairly big metal lathe on order, but as of now I don`t have the space to set it up, so the Deluxe cue smith is a good solution, I ordered one with taper bars and thread milling attachment, so I can cut the most common thread patterns.
When I set up the Weiss lathe I will be ablo to do even more cool stuff, but for now I`m happy with my decision to buy a Deluxe cue smith

 

[Terry Aeschliman]

chris's machine

Just for grins I decided to get my test cylinder and my trusty old Hi-Test out and check my Mid Size. I've owned it since June 2013 and use it practically every day.
I had never checked the accuracy because I never felt the need. As a retired Tool and Die Maker, the results I achieved always met my standards. Working to tenths was never something that made me apprehensive.
The needle showed .0004 TIR turning the chuck by hand, and it did not change when I turned on the motor. Guess I better upgrade to the Deluxe!!
Well done Mr H.

 

[Kim Bye]

Discussing TIR is fine and accuracy is a good thing, but the numbers thrown around in this thread are all within acceptable tollerances.
The only thing that struck me is that, since the jaws are set at a diameter where they are the most accurate, maybe it would be a good thing to have two sets of jaws, one for small diameter stuff like tips and ferrules and one set for butts and joints?

 

[WilleeCue]

Discussing TIR is fine and accuracy is a good thing, but the numbers thrown around in this thread are all within acceptable tollerances.
The only thing that struck me is that, since the jaws are set at a diameter where they are the most accurate, maybe it would be a good thing to have two sets of jaws, one for small diameter stuff like tips and ferrules and one set for butts and joints?

It would take about as long to change jaws as it does to shim them to center.

The fellows that think they require .0001" accuracy to make a cue are the same fellows that whip out the 10x loop to look at a finished cue.

willee

 

[Kim Bye]

It would take about as long to change jaws as it does to shim them to center.

The fellows that think they require .0001" accuracy to make a cue are the same fellows that whip out the 10x loop to look at a finished cue.

willee

Your probably right about that

 

[JoeyInCali]

It would take about as long to change jaws as it does to shim them to center.

The fellows that think they require .0001" accuracy to make a cue are the same fellows that whip out the 10x loop to look at a finished cue.

willee

I can't believe some are talking .0001" either .
Half a thou indicator is all I use for pin install .
I also sold a lot of jigs b/c people were tired of jimmying their taig scroll chuck.
I use a 4-jaw as rear chuck in both of my metal lathes . Mounted on a sleeved dialed up via 8 indexed set screws.

 

[qbilder]

At what point of accuracy do you reach the pinnacle, where anything more accurate is nothing but a waste of time & effort? I'm guessing it's way lower of a standard than most of you are willing to admit. How much run out does it take to see a cue wobble when rolled across the table? Wouldn't logic dictate than so long as you are holding tolerances less than what can be seen by human eyes, then it's plenty good enough for a wooden cue stick? They're not engineered to re-enter Earth's atmosphere. They're made to push a cue ball. A lil perspective goes a long way, IMO.

 

[cueman]

At what point of accuracy do you reach the pinnacle, where anything more accurate is nothing but a waste of time & effort? I'm guessing it's way lower of a standard than most of you are willing to admit. How much run out does it take to see a cue wobble when rolled across the table? Wouldn't logic dictate than so long as you are holding tolerances less than what can be seen by human eyes, then it's plenty good enough for a wooden cue stick? They're not engineered to re-enter Earth's atmosphere. They're made to push a cue ball. A lil perspective goes a long way, IMO.

I think once you are under a thousandth of an inch that the rest is a waste of time.

 

[JBCustomCues]

Just for grins I decided to get my test cylinder and my trusty old Hi-Test out and check my Mid Size. I've owned it since June 2013 and use it practically every day.
I had never checked the accuracy because I never felt the need. As a retired Tool and Die Maker, the results I achieved always met my standards. Working to tenths was never something that made me apprehensive.
The needle showed .0004 TIR turning the chuck by hand, and it did not change when I turned on the motor. Guess I better upgrade to the Deluxe!!
Well done Mr H.

Now my question to you is this. Did you just slap the test cylinder in and check it? How long did it take to achieve .0004 tir. Did you use different diameter cylinders and check consistently of tir?

Ps.
I would be thanking Taig Tools for there great product.

 

[qbilder]

I think once you are under a thousandth of an inch that the rest is a waste of time.

I think you're right.

 

[Russell Cues]

I think once you are under a thousandth of an inch that the rest is a waste of time.

Absolutely, we are not making metal parts that spin at 20,000 rpm and have to be balanced so as not to wobble at high speed. I mentioned the run out i can achieve to say it is quite possible to hit under 1thou run out, a plus any way you look at it. It only takes minimal effort to dial in the runout and when you can hit slightly below 1 thou run out...life is good.

 

[pdcue]

At what point of accuracy do you reach the pinnacle, where anything more accurate is nothing but a waste of time & effort? I'm guessing it's way lower of a standard than most of you are willing to admit. How much run out does it take to see a cue wobble when rolled across the table? Wouldn't logic dictate than so long as you are holding tolerances less than what can be seen by human eyes, then it's plenty good enough for a wooden cue stick? They're not engineered to re-enter Earth's atmosphere. They're made to push a cue ball. A lil perspective goes a long way, IMO.

+1,,, and then some.

Tho personally I use "used to poke balls into a hole with" but same idea.

Dale(who is not opposed to hi precision)

 

[tomatoetom]

How do you do the tapping method?

 

[qbilder]

How do you do the tapping method?

Not sure what everybody else does, but I lightly tighten the chuck so it holds the piece secure, then spin the lathe by hand or let it run at lower speed. I tap on the side of the piece until it spins true, then tighten the chuck the rest of the way. Unlike others, I do not use an indicator. If I cannot see wobble, then it's spinning true enough for cue work. Like I said, if I cannot see it wobble in the lathe, then nobody will see it wobble when rolled across a table. I'm not saying that's the best way, or even a good way to do things, just that it's the way I do it. Nothing wrong with indicating everything. It's a safe method. Just doesn't get me any better results.

 

[Kim Bye]

Not sure what everybody else does, but I lightly tighten the chuck so it holds the piece secure, then spin the lathe by hand or let it run at lower speed. I tap on the side of the piece until it spins true, then tighten the chuck the rest of the way. Unlike others, I do not use an indicator. If I cannot see wobble, then it's spinning true enough for cue work. Like I said, if I cannot see it wobble in the lathe, then nobody will see it wobble when rolled across a table. I'm not saying that's the best way, or even a good way to do things, just that it's the way I do it. Nothing wrong with indicating everything. It's a safe method. Just doesn't get me any better results.

That`s how I do it too, but I use a dial indicator to give me some idea of what tolerances I work within.

 

[qbilder]

That`s how I do it too, but I use a dial indicator to give me some idea of what tolerances I work within.

With what components do you feel require indication? And have you ever considered creating a cheat to bypass having to indicate things to reach an acceptable tolerance?