Reviewing tip repair lathes

T

thebaby

Jack of all trades
Silver Member
I'm sure this subject has been gone over and discussed , but I'm going to ask it anyway. I have played pool all my life , and very fussy about the equipment I use.
I'm retired for several years now. I still love to compete. I have been thinking about getting into the other side of the billiard industry , repairing and doing tip work. I have seen a few makes and model of cue repair lathes out there. I would love to hear people opinions on the different table top tip lathes on the market. Or maybe point me in the direction in this forum where it has been discussed . Thank you
 
To what extent do you expect to be able to do repairs. Is it just tips and shaft work, or more than that? Just tips and shafts, the basic Mid America cue repair lathe $900 does a great job. More than that, you will need a lathe with a lg bore and bigger motor like their professional lathe $1600. Of course there will be more than that you will probably want, figure a couple hundred bucks to start and up from there. It's addicting, even if you don't want to do work for others. There are other similar makers of similar equipment.
The old saying of buy once cry once is true, but in the case of lathes like these, there is a strong market to sell your lathe if you decided later to move up a level, even if trying to sell without shipping. When I posted my standard repair lathe for sale on this forum, I had multiple offers from all over the country, and some up to a 4 hr away drive willing to come pick it up. They are not hard to resell, especially if you are reasonable in your selling price. I moved up to their Professional version and it will do most everything I need it to do. I do wish I had a machinist metal gun lathe though, but at about 10k with accessories, that's getting up there to just play around with.
What I really wish for would be if they could make a zeroable chuck to zero out the runout on these Mid America type lathes easily like they have for larger lathes.
 
You will also want to fabricate some form of a simple dial indicator setup. Without that it can be frustrating.
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muskyed said:
To what extent do you expect to be able to do repairs. Is it just tips and shaft work, or more than that? Just tips and shafts, the basic Mid America cue repair lathe $900 does a great job. More than that, you will need a lathe with a lg bore and bigger motor like their professional lathe $1600. Of course there will be more than that you will probably want, figure a couple hundred bucks to start and up from there. It's addicting, even if you don't want to do work for others. There are other similar makers of similar equipment.
The old saying of buy once cry once is true, but in the case of lathes like these, there is a strong market to sell your lathe if you decided later to move up a level, even if trying to sell without shipping. When I posted my standard repair lathe for sale on this forum, I had multiple offers from all over the country, and some up to a 4 hr away drive willing to come pick it up. They are not hard to resell, especially if you are reasonable in your selling price. I moved up to their Professional version and it will do most everything I need it to do. I do wish I had a machinist metal gun lathe though, but at about 10k with accessories, that's getting up there to just play around with.
What I really wish for would be if they could make a zeroable chuck to zero out the runout on these Mid America type lathes easily like they have for larger lathes.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the Feedback . Much appreciated.
I have a line on the High end Cue companion Lathe . They have 3 levels. My guy is letting the 3rd level lathe go at a great price.
I would like to start off with replacing tips , cleaning shafts.
Thanks again for your feedback
 
muskyed said:
To what extent do you expect to be able to do repairs. Is it just tips and shaft work, or more than that? Just tips and shafts, the basic Mid America cue repair lathe $900 does a great job. More than that, you will need a lathe with a lg bore and bigger motor like their professional lathe $1600. Of course there will be more than that you will probably want, figure a couple hundred bucks to start and up from there. It's addicting, even if you don't want to do work for others. There are other similar makers of similar equipment.
The old saying of buy once cry once is true, but in the case of lathes like these, there is a strong market to sell your lathe if you decided later to move up a level, even if trying to sell without shipping. When I posted my standard repair lathe for sale on this forum, I had multiple offers from all over the country, and some up to a 4 hr away drive willing to come pick it up. They are not hard to resell, especially if you are reasonable in your selling price. I moved up to their Professional version and it will do most everything I need it to do. I do wish I had a machinist metal gun lathe though, but at about 10k with accessories, that's getting up there to just play around with.
What I really wish for would be if they could make a zeroable chuck to zero out the runout on these Mid America type lathes easily like they have for larger lathes.
Click to expand...

To this point I am looking into this DNA system to help dial it in easier in some situations. Chris, the new owner is working on making this great lathe even better.

 
thebaby said:
When you speak of a simple dial indicator set up, are we talking about keeping everything centered .
Click to expand...
Not just centered, but also in and out, and forward and back. You will understand when buying a lathe. Machinist lathes have things such as this built in, these lathes you have to make something for yourself if wanted.
 
SSDiver2112 said:
To this point I am looking into this DNA system to help dial it in easier in some situations. Chris, the new owner is working on making this great lathe even better.

Click to expand...
Not sure I'm crazy about that as those shaft and butt inserts will get chewed up in time. Too bad there can't be some way to mount some form of an adjustable insert direct to a chuck body.
 
chuckpilegis said:
What do you want to do? How much room do you have?
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Hello, If you are referring to me. What I want to do is tips and shaft cleaning. I have nice Husky work bench with a nice wood top where I want to mount the lathe on. I'm not going to travel with my lathe, just do it out of my home.
 
thebaby said:
Hello, If you are referring to me. What I want to do is tips and shaft cleaning. I have nice Husky work bench with a nice wood top where I want to mount the lathe on. I'm not going to travel with my lathe, just do it out of my home.
Click to expand...
Forgot to ask. How much you have to spend. Tip repair you can just use a mini metal lathe or a taig lathe
 
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