Advise on a full size lathe

There will be times when the 36 in lathe will be too short......... you need the 40 inch...

Kim

The more expensive one has a few extra features, the main one being a larger spindle bore. Worth the extra $ in my opinion. But Whammo57 is right, the 40" would be much better as the carriage travel on the 4003 series is only 30.5". But if these are what is in your budget then by all means spring for the 4003G. Comes with a cabinet that would surely set you back the $300 anyways. - Joel

The gun lathe has a lever lock tailstock. They argue that is more accurate .
The gun lathe also has a spider at the rear . Might be useful to zero out parts that are long enough that stick-out that. You'd still want a rear chuck though.
The gun lathe has NSK spindle bearing . That's a very good bearing .

Save up as you will most likely fork-up another $1000 for a really good chuck.

I got lucky when I first started and found an old Clausing lathe for about $1000. That was 18 years ago.

It had a $3000 Jacobs spring collar chuck on it. Love the chuck as you can put your hand anywhere on the chuck while it is spinning and don't have to worry about being eaten alive. I changed it over to single phase from the 3 phase motor and went to work.

It's almost as old as I am but it still works and I have replaced the motor twice, drive belt once and the forward/reverse switch 3 times. The good part is that I can still get parts from Clausing.

Might be good to look around Portland for people that sell machinery and see if they have any trade-ins. Might find a jewel at a reasonable price just be sure to check it out to verify that it is a sound machine.

The Differing View

I've build many a cue on lathes with less than 30" btwn cntrs.
My current main lathe is13x26-28" I believe. 40" btc presents problems.
It's more machine than you need, it's much heavier and it takes up more space.
I've never bought a NEW lathe other than a H/F 7x10".
I've always bought American iron, used. Shoulda bought the H/F used.

One philosophy that I follow is to match the machine to the job at hand.
IOW, use the right tool for the job.
A 36" or 40" length for a cue-lathe is way overkill and a waste of a lathe just to do taper-turning.
A taper/shaper is much better suited for that task.
They are designed and built for just that purpose, they are dedicated.
So why a 40" btc lathe? Do you ever expect to put a 40" piece in that lathe?
A precise and rigid joint-work lathe and a T/Shaper are all you really need for
a lot less money, less floor space wasted and a lot less modifications (maybe none).
You can buy brand-new if you want to but a year or two from now you might wish you hadn't.

JMO, KJ

I concur with KJ. Everything you do in cues could be done with a 12x24 bench lathe, simple taper machine, a point jig, bandsaw, tablesaw, belt sander, and some type of inlay outfit if so inclined. Aside from tapering, a 13x40 can do nothing to a cue that a 12x24 cannot, except take up several more sq. feet of your shop. The machine doesn't need to be heavy for tapering. It really doesn't need to be heavy for anything except coring. A 12x24 equipped with rear chuck will do all of your joint work, facing, drilling, threading, coring, etc., and do it exactly as accurate & effective as any 13x40.

lathe

13x40 lathe $4600 + $1200 deco taper setup = $5800 plus more tooling $ ?

12x36 lathe $3400 plus tooling $? taper shaper $3400 = $6800

do you see where were going for a few dollars more you can equipment that will do more things with less screwing around

[
They look very similar to me, so i'm asking you folks for advise on the two. Is the first one worth the extra $$ ?

Thanks for the advise.

I've been looking on craigslist for sometime now and have yet to find a nice machine in my area, so new might be the way i go.[/QUOTE]

Enco's are sold just a few miles from Grizzly. You might give them consideration. A belt drive is fine as well. You might be disappointed with the chuck on either of them.

You can also buy a Hightower deluxe for $3400 and do it all.... and you can carry it and set it up by yourself.

Kim