Lathe Advice Needed

TC Mabe said:

http://boltontool.com/Lathes/metal-lathe/metal_lathe_BT1337G

I generally believed that a 40" metal lathe was widely used for cue building ... Is there any major reason this 37" would not get the job done ? The spindle bore is 1.5 and the 37" is between centers ... Says bed length is actually 58"


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Yes it would. There are a few guys using "shorter" lathes, but the 40 is nice to have.

Bolton lathe parts

Bolton is an English company. I'm sure this equipment is made in China - my concern would be parts down the line. Whoever is the US distributor my not always be around. I am not a cue maker so take this with a grain of salt.

Big Al

I thought Bolton was made in India .
I skipped on Chinese lathes and went with a Taiwanese company.
Biggest reason was the inside spindle on my Eisen is polished.
Like old American steel.
I just have a 36". I have two other taper machines .
I also have a rear chuck.

TC Mabe said:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/12-x-36-Gear-Head-Cam-Lock-Spindle-Gap-Bed-Lathe/G4003

That is a good point ... Maybe this would be better in the same price range.


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36" between centers is marginal for cuemaking. Also, gear drive will leave
tooling marks on the piece you are working on. Look for a 40" belt drive made in Taiwan, Japan or the good old USA.

37 not long enough

i wanted to buy the 36 inch grizzly, but there is not enough room, once you put on a tailstock designed for the larger lathes,
i bought the 40 inch grizzly and it is close on it.. go look at the 37 incher with the tailstock attached, then put in a live center, then put a drive pin in the headstock. then see if you can get a 30 inch shaft on the lathe.

I'm running a 37" Delta Rockwell- it can be made to work but if buying new a 40" is the way to go.

Mario

I have a 1340 with a Bison 6 jaw. I recently squeezed(literally) all 3 of my machine lathes against the wall. I have a boring head to offset the tailstock and put together another to rock points. Guess what? With both boring heads you can't get a cue between centers. Right now the tailstock wheel is butted up against the spindle bore of the other lathe and I'm not sure I could get enough room by moving them....again. Yah, I can offset a dead center at the chuck with paper or whatever, but...crap:angry:

Get the 40 and forget about anything smaller. Next step is a 60, but that would be a waste of a big lathe....

Don't be in a rush. Craigslist is your friend. Sometimes Ebay. For example..\

5 Lista desk height cabinets and butcher block tops. 550.00 total
1 Sharp HMV variable speed mill with real Servo 140 and 150 powerfeeds, plus a Kurt power draw bar... 400.00
1 Ingersol Rand t30 compressor with 5hp Baldor and 80 gallon tank.. 600.00
2 1340 lathes 1000 and 1400(dropped that one....)
1 Phase Perfect PT-330 800.00. It is one model older than this unit, but they cost about the same.... 3200.00 new. This was a jackpot, as I now have enough 3 phase to power anything up to 10hp. There is actually a 20HP unit on Ebay right now for 2k, but it looks very questionable. These things RARELY come up because they work so welI. just got really lucky. Mine feeds on 70 amps of 220.
1 dowel milling machine... 300.00 I think. Ended up being 600.00 after Castaly(the importers) decided every single piece of electrical needed to be replaced.....I'd avoid them if possible. The repair was a hack job and the parts are junk... It worked well until the switch(new) gave out. They offered to sell me another for 80.00
1 Jet Xacta table saw... 400.00
1 20" Shop fox planer...400.00
1 Jet 1100 canister dust collector 200.00

Make sure the carriage has the travel needed even if you can get the shaft between centers.

QMAKER said:

36" between centers is marginal for cuemaking. Also, gear drive will leave
tooling marks on the piece you are working on. Look for a 40" belt drive made in Taiwan, Japan or the good old USA.

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How does a gear drive lathe leave tooling marks on a piece you are working on and a belt drive doesn't? I have never heard of this phenomenon.

I have a Jet 1340 belt drive. If I could do it over again, I would have definitely gotten a gear drive. I get tired of having to constantly clean my hands any time I have to change spindle speeds. I find working on finished cues and shafts and going under the hood to change belt positions is a PITA.

TC Mabe said:

Thanks for all of the great feedback ... I do have a 48" Mid America with the large bore chuck also ... I was mainly looking for an additional lathe to increase the level of precision for joint pin installations. My current setup does almost everything I need but I have been struggling with getting an accurate pin install. I was kind of hoping that I could do the major work on the new lathe and still use the 48 for finishing, cleanings, wraps etc ... In no way am I saying the Mid America setup isn't a good setup ... I'm just looking for the next step ... Thanks again ...


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In that case, a 12 x 36 should be more than adequate.

Dale

MVPCues said:

How does a gear drive lathe leave tooling marks on a piece you are working on and a belt drive doesn't? I have never heard of this phenomenon.

I have a Jet 1340 belt drive. If I could do it over again, I would have definitely gotten a gear drive. I get tired of having to constantly clean my hands any time I have to change spindle speeds. I find working on finished cues and shafts and going under the hood to change belt positions is a PITA.

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At every point the gears mesh it sets up a vibration--how much depends on the accuracy of the machine. I used to own a fuel injection shop where we worked into the millionths of an inch. All the tooling was belt driven in order to eliminate chatter marks. Your high end tool room lathes are usually belt driven. Having been around machine tools for 60 years I have learned a FEW things worth knowing.

QMAKER said:

At every point the gears mesh it sets up a vibration--how much depends on the accuracy of the machine. I used to own a fuel injection shop where we worked into the millionths of an inch. All the tooling was belt driven in order to eliminate chatter marks. Your high end tool room lathes are usually belt driven. Having been around machine tools for 60 years I have learned a FEW things worth knowing.

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OK. I guess that is the same as saying a belt drive is smoother. I did hear that from some folks when I was shopping years back. Ultimately, I bought a belt drive to save money. I don't think that is the same as suggesting there won't be any tooling marks with a belt drive. That isn't true, and your original statement was implying that. I appreciate you explaining what you were trying to say.

Personally, I would still get the gear head if I could do it over again for my previously stated reason.

Bolton lathe country of origin

JoeyInCali is right. A search revealed India is where they are manufactured. I could find no one that that spoke highly of them