Best lathe to purchase around the $500 mark.

branpureza

branpureza

Ginacue
Silver Member
Hey guys, I figured input from experienced cue builders and cue repair people like yourselves would offer more insight than a random google search.

I'm basically looking to do small cue repairs such as tips and ferrules and such and eventually grow into possibly making some very basic players cues... mainly as a hobby.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Brandon.
 
don't waste your time

many wanted to start out cheap, even myself i bought a $150 wood lathe, and as soon as i spun it one time i realized, you cannot do quaility work on a piece of crap.
first thing is get hightowers book, then talk to chris abought what you want to do now. he will sell you a lathe for tips and minor repairs. then later he will sell you attachments that will alow you to do more work.
i gave away the wood lathe the second day i had it. from that 150 i have invested 30 to 40 thousand dollars in the last 12 years. i have owned 3 hightower lathes and one hightower inlay machine. great equipment.
do yourself a favor, get on his waiting list, get a lathe ordered and then start buying wood, you will need quality equipment and wood that has had time to rest, before you can build a quality cue.
 
desi2960 said:
many wanted to start out cheap, even myself i bought a $150 wood lathe, and as soon as i spun it one time i realized, you cannot do quaility work on a piece of crap.
first thing is get hightowers book, then talk to chris abought what you want to do now. he will sell you a lathe for tips and minor repairs. then later he will sell you attachments that will alow you to do more work.
i gave away the wood lathe the second day i had it. from that 150 i have invested 30 to 40 thousand dollars in the last 12 years. i have owned 3 hightower lathes and one hightower inlay machine. great equipment.
do yourself a favor, get on his waiting list, get a lathe ordered and then start buying wood, you will need quality equipment and wood that has had time to rest, before you can build a quality cue.
Click to expand...

Thanks buddy, are you from DESi Customs out of NC? I actually live in Raleigh now. I'll definitely take your advice and was actually looking at the Hightower stuff last night. As I said this would just be a hobby for me and I'm not looking to become a serious cue builder but I definitely want something that would allow me room to grow. I'll be ordering that book ASAP.

Thanks again for your reply, I appreciate it.
Brandon.
 
Hi Brandon, and welcome to NC,,,,,I'm in New Bern, which is a couple hours southeast of you, and I have a Daughter in Cary, so I get over that way on occasion. Keep an eye out on the Cue machinery section here as lathe packages show up pretty frequently, but they go quick usually. One just went a couple of days ago. Another way is to buy a small Taig setup on ebay and then buy the accesories you need later, as you need them. Of course, a longer bed will be essential to start out with for most cue repair work.
 
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