Advice on turning down cue tips on a lathe

jconant44

jconant44

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
First off, I'm not a cue maker. I'm just a guy who doesn't want to be at the mercy of the local shop to clean and retip my cues. What I have is a cheap Harbor Freight lathe I've adapted to clean and retip my cues. I've reduced the spindle speed down to about 200RPM, added a chuck and maintenance pin to hold the joint, and a concave live center for the tip. This works well for cleaning. For turning newly installed tips I bought a roller guide and collets to hold the tip end so the tip is accessible. And of course I have the standard tool rest that came with the lathe. All I'm really looking to do here is to be able to turn the tip down even with the ferrel and perhaps get a rough start on the radius.

What I'm wondering is if I would be better off using a skew chisel or a long handle razor scraper to trim the tip, or is there a better way? I'm just looking for a little advise as to how to proceed to minimize as much trial and error as possible. If a chisel is my best bet, can anyone make any recommendations as to which would be best for this application? Straight, angled, 1/2, 1/4, etc. Any and all advice gladly accepted.

Thanks
James
 
Sheldon said:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=39092
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=129252
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=115978
Click to expand...

Blue Hog ridr said:
On a Deluxe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAcuVlGK0Jo

I wet my tip slightly. I find it cuts easier.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the links, you both saved me a lot of time. It appears Stanley is the way to go. One last question if I may. I searched for this but couldn't find what I was looking for. I have some OB-2 and Predator break shafts that have the carbon fibre pads between the tip and ferrel. How do you cut those down when you need to replace them?
 
Take the tip off, clean up the pad. Unless someone butchered the pad during a tip install, they should last for a long time.
 
You need to keep the pad on. As stated remove the tip face the pad and install the new tip. Removal of the pad and not installing a new one will void any warranty you may have on the shaft.
 
also if the pad comes off and you need a replacement, the ob pads are not the standard fiber pads, they are carbon fiber and you can buy replacements from royce at ob cues.

if you need to replace one, just rough sand one side and glue to tip, then rough sand the other side and glue combo to shaft and turn down as normal.
 
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