Porper lathes

I have an chance to buy a model B and a mini and my question is for the makers who already have full size lathes. What tasks get relegated to these smaller machines? I have three metal lathes and a couple of wood lathes so wanted to know if these machines would be an asset in my shop.
Thank you in advance for any thoughts or experiences.

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ratcues said:

What dedicated tasks are your machines currently set up for? Is there something that you are changing setups to do?

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None of my my lathes are truly dedicated to one task. I have different setups which were built for specific machines though. So to list the setups it would be :
Shaft and butt turning
indexing for points and ring work
coring
joint work
wraps
The other more general tasks like roughing, tenon work,thread grinding, ferrule and tip work I use which ever lathe is open at the time. My wood lathe I sand and do all my prep work on as well as finishing and polishing. If I purchase the Porper I would probably only use it for tips and maybe linen wraps? That is why I asked, was hoping to hear that someone found it is better than a metal lathe for certain tasks. I am trying to justify buying more equipment is what it really boils down to. The friend who is selling the equipment cant use it anymore and he wants me to sell it for him and was considering buying it for myself instead of selling it. I helped him set it up so I know what shape it is in. We completely rebuilt the the B and added the rear chuck as well as a dial on the cross slide so it is a nice machine, just not sure how much use I would get out of it. The other consideration would be to get into doing tourneys. Which leads to the next question, if there is someone in your area who does tourneys what is proper etiquette for becoming the competition sorta speak? Is it best to discuss the idea with that individual? I realize this is a big question and probably deserves a thread of its own.

josie said:

The variable speed is very useful for finishing for me. I use an epoxy base and letting the cue rotate at 60 RPM's for a couple hours is nice. It also has a higher top speed than most metal lathes so it is great for buffing as well.

It works well for tapering shafts as well but it sounds like you have that covered.

I would think you would get alot of use out of it for wraps, tips and ferrules also.

Although they can't replace a metal lathe they are great lathes and can save alot of set up time and are easier to use for alot of tasks.

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That is the kind of info I am looking for. Thank you for your input.

ratcues said:

There is no etiqutte that will make this ok with the current guy. Just be a man and discuss it. He's not going to be happy. Also, do not go try to get into tournaments he is currently working. That's uncool.

If new tournaments pop up, you can bid on them.

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If I decide to try my hand at tourneys I will certainly heed your advice. I am not out to create conflicts. Life is to short and community of pool players is to small to make bad waves.