Unique Cuemaker vs Deluxe cue smith?

Kim Bye · May 19, 2015

I`m upgrading my basic repair lathe from customcuelathes to a bigger one. The two contenders are:

Unique cue maker: http://www.uniqueinc.com/cue_maker

Deluxe cue smith: https://www.cuesmith.com/deluxe-cue-smithtm-cue-lathe.html

I know that the Deluxe is very popular and a solid piece of equipment, but I have not read much about the Cue Maker from Unique and I would like some feedback before i pull the trigger.
I`m also wondering if I can use my Kress router for the the thread milling on a Deluxe if I have a adapter made?
The Dremel is a bit flimsy..

Nuts4Tascarellas · May 19, 2015

lathe

Cue Smith. I'm using a Unique - parts are breaking regularly and it has developed runout rapidly. It has some age on it. I think the Cue smith is more versatile also.

cueman · May 19, 2015

Kim Bye said:
I`m upgrading my basic repair lathe from customcuelathes to a bigger one. The two contenders are:

Unique cue maker: http://www.uniqueinc.com/cue_maker

Deluxe cue smith: https://www.cuesmith.com/deluxe-cue-smithtm-cue-lathe.html

I know that the Deluxe is very popular and a solid piece of equipment, but I have not read much about the Cue Maker from Unique and I would like some feedback before i pull the trigger.
I`m also wondering if I can use my Kress router for the the thread milling on a Deluxe if I have a adapter made?
The Dremel is a bit flimsy..

If you add the thread milling option to a Deluxe and can make the right adapter for a Kress you could use it for thread milling.

sileighty_guru · May 19, 2015

I love the Cuesmith! have not used a Unique so I have no input on their model

plus I have my dust box designed for the Cuesmith :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

whammo57 · May 19, 2015

I have the Deluxe Cue Smith lathe........... I have built over 100 cues on it..... it does everything you need..............

Kim

WilleeCue · May 20, 2015

I have owned and used both of these lathes and each has its own merits.

The Unique lathe has a collet type chuck using delrin jaws and requires the tail stock to help support any piece of wood you put into it.
There are two chuck assembly's available ... a large and a small.
It is safe for the fingers, very smooth and quiet running, accurate, and can be converted to a taper shaper or a pantograph inlay machine by buying the required parts.
It uses a reversible DC motor that is powerful.
It is built heavy duty and with proper care will last your lifetime.

You can see the headstock of one in my avatar (under the Shiner).

Russell Cues · May 20, 2015

Cuesmith deluxe. Mine is over 12 yrs old. I can keep runout under 1/4 of a thousandth. A few hundred cues later its going strong. Chris's customer service is top notch.

Kim Bye · May 21, 2015

Thanks guys. A Deluxe cuesmith it is, with all the accessories.
I'm having a Kress router mount, made locally.
The mount I'm having made is a horizontal mount, will that work or do I need a vertical mount for tapering?

qbilder · May 21, 2015

Kim Bye said:
Thanks guys. A Deluxe cuesmith it is, with all the accessories.
I'm having a Kress router mount, made locally.
The mount I'm having made is a horizontal mount, will that work or do I need a vertical mount for tapering?

That can work, but vertical mount is better. Then you can use slot cutters & get a much cleaner cut.

JBCustomCues · May 21, 2015

Russell Cues said:
Cuesmith deluxe. Mine is over 12 yrs old. I can keep runout under 1/4 of a thousandth. A few hundred cues later its going strong. Chris's customer service is top notch.

You know not trying to bash. But run out under .00025 with a 3 jaw scroll chuck. I'll believe that when I see it. So what kind of indicator are you using that accurately reads in tenths of a thousandths ?

cueman · May 21, 2015

JBCustomCues said:
You know not trying to bash. But run out under .00025 with a 3 jaw scroll chuck. I'll believe that when I see it. So what kind of indicator are you using that accurately reads in tenths of a thousandths ?

Try the tapping jaw or thumb pushing of the workpiece centering methods and you might be surprised how accurate of work you can do.

JBCustomCues · May 21, 2015

You can tap on those aluminum soft jaws all you want and you will never see .00025 tir constantly with that chuck. Expecially with wood. Now I'm not saying that you don't have a good product Chris but there is no reason to blow smoke up someone's ass like that. I am a machinest and I do this every day. And even with a accurate setup it's very hard to get tir that low.

Russell Cues · May 21, 2015

JBCustomCues said:
You can tap on those aluminum soft jaws all you want and you will never see .00025 tir constantly with that chuck. Expecially with wood. Now I'm not saying that you don't have a good product Chris but there is no reason to blow smoke up someone's ass like that. I am a machinest and I do this every day. And even with a accurate setup it's very hard to get tir that low.

Well i do get 1/4 to 1/2 thou runout. And being you came off with that tone and think im blowing smoke, I'm not about to elaborate. It takes effort for sure but if you put forth some effort you can make it happen. Enjoy your day. The things people say when they are not standing in front of the person.

cueman · May 21, 2015

JBCustomCues said:
You can tap on those aluminum soft jaws all you want and you will never see .00025 tir constantly with that chuck. Expecially with wood. Now I'm not saying that you don't have a good product Chris but there is no reason to blow smoke up someone's ass like that. I am a machinest and I do this every day. And even with a accurate setup it's very hard to get tir that low.

If you have your chuck bored to automatically chuck down at less than .002" you can get the needle on the dial indicator to barely move with the jaw tapping method. That is not blowing smoke, it is a fact. I don't usually worry about getting it much less than .001". Once I get it below .001" I am good for any operation I want to do. You really should apologize to Russell for calling him a liar.

JBCustomCues · May 21, 2015

Russell Cues said:
Well i do get 1/4 to 1/2 thou runout. And being you came off with that tone and think im blowing smoke, I'm not about to elaborate. It takes effort for sure but if you put forth some effort you can make it happen. Enjoy your day. The things people say when they are not standing in front of the person.

Well I use to own a Hightower deluxe lathe..so I am speaking with experience with this machine. Now I never said that this is not achievable. I said that .00025 tir consistently with this machine is not. Now even with my 6 jaw set true bison chuck I could get .0005 tir with a little work. But to sit there and tell people that you get .00025 tir consistently is just plain malarkey. And just so you know I am no key board jockey. If I think your full of it I'll tell you straight to your face.

JBCustomCues · May 21, 2015

cueman said:
If you have your chuck bored to automatically chuck down at less than .002" you can get the needle on the dial indicator to barely move with the jaw tapping method. That is not blowing smoke, it is a fact. I don't usually worry about getting it much less than .001". Once I get it below .001" I am good for any operation I want to do. You really should apologize to Russell for calling him a liar.

Now Chris when you bore your jaws they are only bored precisely to that diameter. Open the jaws and chuck up on a different diameter and it won't be the same. Now I don't think that Russell is a liar I think that he don't know or completely understand how small of a tolerance he's talking about. You know when I had you lathe I had a hard time getting .001. But I did and it took a lot of work. So when I called tag and talked to cliff and he told me that if I could get .001 I was doing great. Because typical tir of the chuck is .003. That is when I decided to upgrade to a machine lathe. And it was the best decision I made when I was building cues.

Russell Cues · May 21, 2015

JBCustomCues said:
Well I use to own a Hightower deluxe lathe..so I am speaking with experience with this machine. Now I never said that this is not achievable. I said that .00025 tir consistently with this machine is not. Now even with my 6 jaw set true bison chuck I could get .0005 tir with a little work. But to sit there and tell people that you get .00025 tir consistently is just plain malarkey. And just so you know I am no key board jockey. If I think your full of it I'll tell you straight to your face.

Well I may just have to make a video showing the low runout I can achieve. And if you called me a liar to my face and Im not lying, which I don't believe in doing, the out come would not be to your favor. But like Chris just stated Yes I can get very low run out IF you put forth some effort, but now your questioning Chris and myself, wow.

Russell Cues · May 21, 2015

Now that I think about it, why the heck should I bother ? I don't need to be aggravated and wasting time talking further about how I do things. If you don't think I can get runout below 1 thou, then that's your prerogative. Talk to Chris, I cant imagine he would know anything about how to dial in the machines he makes......

JBCustomCues · May 21, 2015

Russell Cues said:
Now that I think about it, why the heck should I bother ? I don't need to be aggravated and wasting time talking further about how I do things. If you don't think I can get runout below 1 thou, then that's your prerogative. Talk to Chris, I cant imagine he would know anything about how to dial in the machines he makes......

this is getting funnier by the minute. You are taking this way too personally. I never said that .00025 is unachievable. I said that there is no way anyone can achieve that tir consistently with that chuck. once you turn on the lathe motor the vibration would probly be enough to add some run out. and if your using a dial indicator I know your your not getting it. Put a test indicator on and see what it reads. And you better use one that has .008 of travel so you can get an accurate reading. You guys act like I call chris's lathe a piece of crap or something.

Terry Aeschliman · May 21, 2015

Run out

Sounded to me that you did!

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