Cue lathe

Kim Bye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Well I went and pulled the trigger on this... Enco 111-3320. Spindle bore 1.5 inches. 40 inches between centers an 35 inches from jaws on chuck to point of drill chuck when fully extended. Does metric and standard threads from 4 to 112 pi. It was a canabalization machine in a machine shop. 3 phase motor replaced by a single phase.

That's a nice bit of metal you got there. Enjoy you "new" lathe :)
 

CuesDirectly

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
IF you have a truck, here is another option.

Remove the tailstock and chuck. Then remove either 4 or 6 bolts and the bench is separated from the lathe. Back your truck right up to it with a couple guys and slide it right off the bench into the truck bed, the bench will be easier to put in but it may still weigh a few hundred pounds.

There are many lifts you can rent from a tool rental yard as well, you will be fine moving it.

Once you get it where you want it, do yourself a favor and leave it away from the wall enough to get behind it. Do this so you can keep it clean behind it and so you can get to the wiring, with the chord they used, you will be replacing your start capacitor real soon. Use a better chord and never plug it into a small strip like they used.

Use a machinist level to set it up and then use a dial indicator to check all points that need to be perfect in their runouts. (Go to youtube and type in "indicating a dedicated Pool Cue lathe" too see some of the basics.)

Hope this helps, Thanks, Dave.
 

Billiard Architect

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
IF you have a truck, here is another option.

Remove the tailstock and chuck. Then remove either 4 or 6 bolts and the bench is separated from the lathe. Back your truck right up to it with a couple guys and slide it right off the bench into the truck bed, the bench will be easier to put in but it may still weigh a few hundred pounds.

There are many lifts you can rent from a tool rental yard as well, you will be fine moving it.

Once you get it where you want it, do yourself a favor and leave it away from the wall enough to get behind it. Do this so you can keep it clean behind it and so you can get to the wiring, with the chord they used, you will be replacing your start capacitor real soon. Use a better chord and never plug it into a small strip like they used.

Use a machinist level to set it up and then use a dial indicator to check all points that need to be perfect in their runouts. (Go to youtube and type in "indicating a dedicated Pool Cue lathe" too see some of the basics.)

Hope this helps, Thanks, Dave.
Thanks for the great info! Been doing research all morning. You would be surprised how many companies don't do this kind of thing

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63Kcode

AKA Larry Vigus
Silver Member
Every place I have bought a lathe from had some way of loading it into a pickup. Cherry picker and some imagination can unload it.

Larry
 

cueman

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Well I went and pulled the trigger on this... Enco 111-3320. Spindle bore 1.5 inches. 40 inches between centers an 35 inches from jaws on chuck to point of drill chuck when fully extended. Does metric and standard threads from 4 to 112 pi. It was a canabalization machine in a machine shop. 3 phase motor replaced by a single phase.

So my question is what is the cheapest way to move a 1650lb lathe?

The cheapest way I know to move one is to borrow a cherry picker, a trailer or pickup and have some strong backed friends willing to help for free. :) Or maybe buy them lunch.
 

Billiard Architect

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Every place I have bought a lathe from had some way of loading it into a pickup. Cherry picker and some imagination can unload it.

Larry
I bought it used from a personal owner. I may have found someone with a lift gate that will do it for 100. Still looking tho.

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pescadoman

Randy
Silver Member
The cheapest way I know to move one is to borrow a cherry picker, a trailer or pickup and have some strong backed friends willing to help for free. :) Or maybe buy them lunch.

I've moved everything from a lathe to a Bridgeport, by myself. The only time I counted on someone for help....well they got too drunk the night before and wouldn't even answer their phone. I got pissed and tried using skates without the safety of my cherry picker and it toppled.. scratch one nice lathe.

That being said, I'll never use machinery skates again. They are extremely unfriendly to any cracks or debris on the ground.

Like Chris said, cherry picker. I bought one from Harbor Freight years ago and it has been indespensable. It folds up and doesn't take up too much room either. My first lathe was forklifted into the back of my truck and I removed the tailgate and drove my truck out from under once the lathe barely cleared the bed. You want to be moving anything heavy while it's as close to the ground as possible. I picked it up with large straps that I put through the webbing and around the bed. Moving the cross slide towards the tailstock is important to help balance out the load.

A couple local rental yards now own "kneeling" trailers that make life easier. They cost about 90.00 a day and are worth it IMO.

The takeaway here is there is "cheapest" and there is "correct". When I didn't do it correctly I turned a 10k lathe into scrap. It would have been a simple matter to have attached the hoist...but I didn't. I suppose I'm lucky, as it could have been much worse. As much as I wanted to keep it from falling over, I knew it wasn't worth risk of getting killed. It's amazing how time can stand still when something like that happens.

Safety first
Bring more tie downs than you think you need and use them all
Use a good trailer
Keep it at 55 regardless of who starts honking
Plan on how you will unload it. Meaning if the seller loads it you need it in a position where you can take it off with the tools you have

You are buying something that will be used for years and years. Trying to save a couple bucks and having disaster strike makes no sense whatsoever. Think of it in that way helps...

My Bridgeport(actually a Sharp TMV, but everyone knows what a Bridgeport is) weighs over 3000 lbs, so I rented a rather large forklift with an extending boom....and then promptly pushed the back of the ram through the drywall of my garage....

The deals aren't really out there like they used to be, so if you find a good one use some of the money you saved to bring you and your machine home in one piece.
 

Kim Bye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
A cherry picker/engine hoist or whatever you want to call it, is an essential purchase and pays for itself in time saved, the first time you use it.
I have a 2000kg one, it cost about $200
 

Facundus Cues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Some wrecker services will transport machinery. I called around a while back and it was $200 or less. There are many youtube videos on building some pretty nice little machine skates too once you get it there.
 

Billiard Architect

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Some wrecker services will transport machinery. I called around a while back and it was $200 or less. There are many youtube videos on building some pretty nice little machine skates too once you get it there.
As suggested (thank you) I bought a cherry picker crane from harbor freight and rented a van from uhaul. It took us two hours to find the center point. Another 3 hours to get it mounted back on the base. It has been a VERY long day and we are exhusted. Now I get to have some fun.
944d26a38a9e847e6b5b0d494c1725b5.jpg
b22140e704945d1f4b9dd158f59ed6c0.jpg


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pescadoman

Randy
Silver Member
As suggested (thank you) I bought a cherry picker crane from harbor freight and rented a van from uhaul. It took us two hours to find the center point. Another 3 hours to get it mounted back on the base. It has been a VERY long day and we are exhusted. Now I get to have some fun.
944d26a38a9e847e6b5b0d494c1725b5.jpg
b22140e704945d1f4b9dd158f59ed6c0.jpg


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Next time, don't take it off the base..it's not necessary. If, for whatever reason, the ram failed and you had it as high as you do in the picture, you be left with a pile of junk. With the base attached and it a few inches off the ground, it would most likely be okay..
 

Kim Bye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
As suggested (thank you) I bought a cherry picker crane from harbor freight and rented a van from uhaul. It took us two hours to find the center point. Another 3 hours to get it mounted back on the base. It has been a VERY long day and we are exhusted. Now I get to have some fun.
Nice. Now you are getting somewhere. But next time tie the straps to the ways, not the spindle.
 

Billiard Architect

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Next time, don't take it off the base..it's not necessary. If, for whatever reason, the ram failed and you had it as high as you do in the picture, you be left with a pile of junk. With the base attached and it a few inches off the ground, it would most likely be okay..
I had to dismantle it to get it in the van. I couldn't lift it high enough with the base on it to get it in there

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Billiard Architect

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Nice. Now you are getting somewhere. But next time tie the straps to the ways, not the spindle.
I used a 5400lb capacity chain that goes through the ways and through a couple of c bars that lifted from the bottom. The straps were only used to keep it level because it wanted to roll over when got it into the air. There was less than 150lb on the 200lb capacity harbor freight straps.

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whammo57

Kim Walker
Silver Member
What modifications are you talking about Kim?

You have to add a taper bar........ does the spindle through hole accept a cue butt............. a rear chuck is handy......... you need a steady rest....................
you have to set up the cross slide so that it is spring loaded to follow the taper bar.... tooling .... maintenance pins............

just to name a few

all this costs extra money and set up time


Kim
 

Billiard Architect

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
You have to add a taper bar........ does the spindle through hole accept a cue butt............. a rear chuck is handy......... you need a steady rest....................
you have to set up the cross slide so that it is spring loaded to follow the taper bar.... tooling .... maintenance pins............

just to name a few

all this costs extra money and set up time


Kim
Saw a taper bar on YouTube for 20 bucks. I removed the tool post lock screw and it slides perfectly. I have a welder, plasma cutter etc to build the rest. Starting on pens and going to work my way up as I learn more about the machine.

Spindle bore is 1.5 inches. My cheap players cue fits it just fine.

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Kim Bye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
You have to add a taper bar........ does the spindle through hole accept a cue butt............. a rear chuck is handy......... you need a steady rest....................
you have to set up the cross slide so that it is spring loaded to follow the taper bar.... tooling .... maintenance pins............

just to name a few

all this costs extra money and set up time


Kim
If you want to taper shafts on you lathe, you need a taperbar setup, the cost is not that big. Butts you can taper by ofsetting the tailstock. Allmost all 12x36 or bigger lathe comes with a 38mm through hole or bigger.
Steady rests are often included and a rear chuck can be made in many ways, if your on a budget and a novice, machining a rear collett system from delrin isn't too hard.
The point is that with a metal lathe, you can build almost everything you would need to the lathe, with the lathe.
 
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