Cueman lathe!
Could anyone recommend the best cue repair books or videos ? using a lathe of course
Chris Hightowers, "Cueman deluxe" is a good place to start, and you can actually learn to build while your doing repair, too!
As far as info. on building goes, check out the cuemaking video's on YouTube, especially videos posted by Bob Dzuricky.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVAyMQj1DqI
Another thing to consider is, when your working on something like, the Hightower lathe, your working with low wieght on chucks, less than a 1 horsepower motor, and you can virtually stop the lathe by hand. All good inherent safety features for people with "little experience" working on a lathe!