Butt in Lathe

GoldCrown

GoldCrown

Pool players have more balls
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Cue: Predator Roadline wrapped by Seyberts. I bought the repair lathe for fun. Just to tinker with. Got restless and decided to go bumperless as I like the look. It came out decent but I need some help. I mounted the cue with nylon collets. They can "Dig In" if over tightened. Not tight enough and the butt rotates and gets scuffed by the collet. Are some collets better than others,
Next... recommend the proper bit to counter sink for a coin, bumper or whatever. Thanks, Frank
 

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Butt in lathe

I use 1" masking tape instead of a collet. Just make about 10-12 revolutions. Won't slip and wont damage the cue.
 
This section is truly scary sometimes. If you don't know how to make collets using a boring bar and parting tool. Call Chris Hightower, Unique products, Prathers, and or cue com.Check their web sites. They all offer tools to help you.........
.......Please!
 
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Michael Webb said:
This section is truly scary sometimes. If you don't know how to make collets using a boring bar and parting tool. Call Chris Hightower, Unique products, Prathers, and or cue com.Check their web sites. They all offer tools to help you.........
.......Please!
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Please trust I do not just do things. I come here first for info to do things right. Ok I will contact the suppliers. I did not know what to ask for. This is new to me. I'm moving on from tips, ferrules and cleaning. Aside from making collets can I simply buy quality ones or are self made better. Thanks for your help.



cueman said:
Use a boring bar to get the right size hole.
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Thanks Chris.
 
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cueman said:
Use a boring bar to get the right size hole.
Click to expand...

I will order the boring bars from you.

The collects you sell. Aside from saving money by DIY ...can I make a better collect than these or are they everything I will need for now.

The good news is I have your book & DVD's. The bad news is they are in PA and I'm in Florida
 
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GoldCrown said:
Please trust I do not just do things. I come here first for info to do things right. Ok I will contact the suppliers. I did not know what to ask for. This is new to me. I'm moving on from tips, ferrules and cleaning. Aside from making collets can I simply buy quality ones or are self made better. Thanks for your help.




Thanks Chris.
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Anytime. Safety for yourself and the cue 1st. Enjoy your journey. Shop carefully, tools add up quick.
 
You can make fabulous delrin collets that won't harm the cue, just buy a 1" rod of delrin and bore to the appropriate sizes.

Don't use tape.
 
Collets

Make a "FINISH" set from TEFLON (McMaster Supply). They won't mark your finish. Be sure to bore using your taper set-up and mark the "BIG" end. Keep in a baggie so the dust does not accumulate on the Teflon. 1 1/2" rod 12" long should be enough for everything you need including screw-ups.
 
GoldCrown said:
I will order the boring bars from you.

The collects you sell. Aside from saving money by DIY ...can I make a better collect than these or are they everything I will need for now.

The good news is I have your book & DVD's. The bad news is they are in PA and I'm in Florida
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I would never say my collets cannot be improved upon. So you might be able to come up with a better design and make better ones than the ones I sell. But I have used the ones I sell myself for many years and they work fine. What kind of lathe are you working with?
 
GoldCrown said:
Please trust I do not just do things. I come here first for info to do things right. Ok I will contact the suppliers. I did not know what to ask for. This is new to me. I'm moving on from tips, ferrules and cleaning. Aside from making collets can I simply buy quality ones or are self made better. Thanks for your help.




Thanks Chris.
Click to expand...

I would buy a set of quality collets - like those from Chris - and then once you see how they are made, you can make more in different sizes if you want.
It will be much faster to get you going and I/we almost never can make something new to us perfectly the first time.
My 2 cents,
Gary
 
cueman said:
I would never say my collets cannot be improved upon. So you might be able to come up with a better design and make better ones than the ones I sell. But I have used the ones I sell myself for many years and they work fine. What kind of lathe are you working with?
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It's a good quality taig repair lathe. No taper bar. I will order collects from you.



GBCues said:
I would buy a set of quality collets - like those from Chris -
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In the process. Thanks for the good push...I have no interest in making collets
 
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At the risk of being mocked by the more experienced cue makers here I use a nice quality smooth .060 thick leather strips stapled into loops with my Deluxe lathe. I bought Chris' collets and they are not tapered so you have to do that yourself anyway and they still seemed to slip under pressure. The stock turns as true or truer than the tolerances of the lathe itself using this leather and they grip, not slip and make it virtually impossible to damage the cue. If you have zero runout with bare wood, you will still have zero runout after putting leather in there. I have verified this time and again. Just get a good quality piece of leather and slice it into strips.

Take the savings and invest it toward a steady rest with a three jaw chuck on it. It's expensive but it's versatility is worth it.

BTW using leather wasn't my idea I learned it from reading an archived thread here.

I'm not that smart but I like it. Simple, cheap and effective.

JC
P1090278.jpg
 
JC said:
At the risk of being mocked by the more experienced cue makers here I use a nice quality smooth .060 thick leather strips stapled into loops with my Deluxe lathe. I bought Chris' collets and they are not tapered so you have to do that yourself anyway and they still seemed to slip under pressure. The stock turns as true or truer than the tolerances of the lathe itself using this leather and they grip, not slip and make it virtually impossible to damage the cue. If you have zero runout with bare wood, you will still have zero runout after putting leather in there. I have verified this time and again. Just get a good quality piece of leather and slice it into strips.

Take the savings and invest it toward a steady rest with a three jaw chuck on it. It's expensive but it's versatility is worth it.

BTW using leather wasn't my idea I learned it from reading an archived thread here.

I'm not that smart but I like it. Simple, cheap and effective.

JC
View attachment 402805
Click to expand...

No criticism from me. I use leather myself in the chuck and have for many years. The joint work collets are mainly used in the steady rest and do not need to be tapered.
 
cueman said:
No criticism from me. I use leather myself in the chuck and have for many years. The joint work collets are mainly used in the steady rest and do not need to be tapered.
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That's why I said to buy the steady rest with the chuck. It's well worth the money as you can use it anywhere on any size wood with just a strip of leather and forget about the collets altogether. Just keep it pointing to the right if you use it on the left side of the lathe head or it might unscrew.:smile:

In fact since I just picked up another deluxe I will probably be buying another one real soon. Will you take the other steady rests in trade?

JC
 
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JC said:
At the risk of being mocked by the more experienced cue makers here I use a nice quality smooth .060 thick leather strips stapled into loops with my Deluxe lathe. I bought Chris' collets and they are not tapered so you have to do that yourself anyway and they still seemed to slip under pressure. The stock turns as true or truer than the tolerances of the lathe itself using this leather and they grip, not slip and make it virtually impossible to damage the cue. If you have zero runout with bare wood, you will still have zero runout after putting leather in there. I have verified this time and again. Just get a good quality piece of leather and slice it into strips.

Take the savings and invest it toward a steady rest with a three jaw chuck on it. It's expensive but it's versatility is worth it.

BTW using leather wasn't my idea I learned it from reading an archived thread here.

I'm not that smart but I like it. Simple, cheap and effective.

JC

I've never done it but I'm not going to criticize you either.
Click to expand...
 
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