Best all in one lathe

Guerra Cues

Guerra Cues

I build one cue at a time
Silver Member
Hello,
I have been thinking more and more about getting a all around lathe to actually make cues. I wanted to start slow and try making a couple of cues every couple of months or even less cues but do it right. Probably start off doing ring works and plane janes and work on pre-made blanks from Prather, Bell Forest, Schmelke. What would you consider the best all in one lathe?
Money is an issue as always...
I have been between a Porper and a Deluxe Hightower.
What are your thoughts?
 
You know the saying about opinions, But I say Hightower, hands down. I can do everything on this lathe. I do have 3 other metal lathes, but the Hightower I can not do without. Good luck Jim
 
The Hightower would be my all-in-one choice. Equip it with the big tailstock right away & if you can afford, get the threading attachment as well. Get it all at the beginning.
 
qbilder said:
The Hightower would be my all-in-one choice. Equip it with the big tailstock right away & if you can afford, get the threading attachment as well. Get it all at the beginning.
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Thanks Eric.
That's my gut feeling right now. Slowly getting my $$$ together for that.
 
Ordered mine with a threading attachment. Haven't had a chance to try it yet but its well made and no doubt will do the job.
 
Hightower delux all day any day


not to mention Chris posts regurarly on here, so he could be easily reached to trouble shoot problems or answer questions......try doing that with Joe Porper
 
tlcff8 said:
Eric,

What are you referring to by the big tailstock?
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He is talking about the Heavy Duty quill feed tailstock with #2 Morse taper. Eric was one of the first several ICA members that got to try one of these out before I released them to the general public.
 
cueman said:
He is talking about the Heavy Duty quill feed tailstock with #2 Morse taper. Eric was one of the first several ICA members that got to try one of these out before I released them to the general public.
Click to expand...

Chris,
Excuse my ignorance... What are the advantages of a bigger tailstock?
 
The advantage is it will drill the larger holes with less vibration. Some say it is more accurate, but I have no issues with the other one on installing joints and such, so I prefer the speed of the lever action one for most work.
 
The #2 Morse Taper Quill feed tailstock is $175 plus shipping.
If you need a chuck it is $35
I had been getting so many emails and PMs I decided to just post up pricing.
 
The threading attachment is a cool little jig that unites the feed speed with spindle speed and uses gear ratio to designate thread pattern. I got gears for 18, 10 & 11 threads per inch & they are spot on perfect. It comes with thread cutting dremel bits so you can use a dremel on the tool post. The dremel cuts just fine. I prefer to use a router with a thread bit but admittedly it's a lil overkill doing it that way. The dremel does a fine job.

The tailstock is the nuts. It's essencially what I have on my metal lathe with the hand wheel instead of the lever. The major thing that I noticed was no flex, no slop, and steady feed rate. I found with the lever that the drill bit would sometimes grab & pull in to the hole on it's own. That cannot happen with the big tailstock. Mine is equipped with a heavy chuck & quil from Grizzly, costed around $50. I usually spend around $100+ for drill chucks but Grizzly had a good deal at the time.

Overall, with these two add-ons, the deluxe lathe takes a huge step toward having all the accuracy & capabilities of a metal lathe. Now if I can get Chris to build me a headstock that has faceplates & bored 5" 3-jaw chucks, i'd be just fine :)
 
I'm glad to hear about this tailstock. That is one of very few things I have never liked about my deluxe.(having the lever feed) I'll have to check that out. Could anyone post a couple of pics of that HD tailstock? Maybe Chris if you see this thread? Thanks!
 
i agree with qbuilder

qbilder said:
The Hightower would be my all-in-one choice. Equip it with the big tailstock right away & if you can afford, get the threading attachment as well. Get it all at the beginning.
Click to expand...

deluxe, all the options possible, wont find a better man to deal with.
 
tableman said:
I'm glad to hear about this tailstock. That is one of very few things I have never liked about my deluxe.(having the lever feed) I'll have to check that out. Could anyone post a couple of pics of that HD tailstock? Maybe Chris if you see this thread? Thanks!
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The ICA members bought these with the agreement not to post pictures. That has been many months ago and I have not had any complaints on them so far.
 
greyghost said:
Hightower delux all day any day


not to mention Chris posts regurarly on here, so he could be easily reached to trouble shoot problems or answer questions......try doing that with Joe Porper
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I have both a Deluxe and a Model B (along with three other metal lathes) and wouldn't be without either.

I've never had a problem reaching Chris OR Joe!

Paul
<@>
 
I'm a little confused here. Why would you not want anyone to see pics of something you offer for sale? Can you PM me some pics? Just curious :confused:
 
tableman said:
I'm a little confused here. Why would you not want anyone to see pics of something you offer for sale? Can you PM me some pics? Just curious :confused:
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I am in the redesign phase on the Deluxe Cue Smith and I am not wanting to give away the design improvements until I am ready to introduce the whole package. The tailstock will not work on any of my lathes except the Deluxe. I have had some partial machines sitting on the bench and shelf for many months and just have not secured all suppliers and such to want to introduce it to the public. If I show it to the public, and don't release it for a few more months then my guess is someone will copy it and introduce it before I am ready to. Then it will appear that they came up with it first.
 
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