WildWestBilliar
Wild West Billiards
Well if portabilty was not an issue what would you have for cue building and what lathe if a metal lathe was choosen```````
Cue Lathe vs Metal Lathes
- Thread starter WildWestBilliar
- Start date
WELLLLLLLLLLL.........with a metal lathe you could BUILD a cue lathe.
with a cue lathe you could build a cue !!!
with a cue lathe you could build a cue !!!
13 by 40 belt driven old American lathes would be fine ( SB, Clausing or Logan ).
LOU'S CUE'S said:
I myself have a 13X36 Enco Bench type lathe, a 12X40 Jet engine lathe, a 14X54 National engine lathe, 2 Atlas 9X18 bench lathes, a 10X24 Atlas bench lathe and a 7X10 Central Machinery bench lathe. I also have 2 wood lathes and 2 saw type shaft machines.
Dick
Dedicated cue lathes are somewhat limiting. I don't own one. What I do own : 13 x 24 Sheldon, 10 x 36 South Bend w/30" taper bar, 7 x 10 Central, extended to 32", 2 Craftsman wood lathes & a converted wood lathe for my spray booth (variable speed DC mtr.). I prefer the mass, the rigidity and the fact that I can cut a custom tap when I need one. Through spindle size on both big metal lathes is 1 3/8. I also have a Bridgeport type mill and a mill/drill dedicated to cutting points.
Hey KJ you wouldn't happen to have pictures of the taper bar installed on the metal lathe that you could post do you? I have a 10 by 54 atlas and it would help me to visulize what I need to build for it to work right with a router.
Leonard
Leonard
Harrison M300 for turning metal parts, making ferrules, threading tennons.
Central 14 x 40 for assembly.. 6 x24 Sebastian dedicated for a ring machine. Sooner or later I am going to set it up for cnc and throw the billet in an let it slice it up. Bludworth 4 head saw and 1 head mill with nsk spindle. Central wood lathe for sanding Enco mill for cutting points and making jigs.
If I were to buy another lathe I would buy a Clausing with DRO. I am tired of setting up dial indicators all of the time. Speaking of that any one know where I can find a Trav-a-dial cheap?
Cue lathes I started on but as time goes on the big lathes hold up better. Started on a Model b nice for repairs and good for building in the beginning but longevity isn't there.
Central 14 x 40 for assembly.. 6 x24 Sebastian dedicated for a ring machine. Sooner or later I am going to set it up for cnc and throw the billet in an let it slice it up. Bludworth 4 head saw and 1 head mill with nsk spindle. Central wood lathe for sanding Enco mill for cutting points and making jigs.
If I were to buy another lathe I would buy a Clausing with DRO. I am tired of setting up dial indicators all of the time. Speaking of that any one know where I can find a Trav-a-dial cheap?
Cue lathes I started on but as time goes on the big lathes hold up better. Started on a Model b nice for repairs and good for building in the beginning but longevity isn't there.
Cue
Jet 13x40 BDB with sony Dro for joint/ferrule/threading/facing. Sheldon 11x36 with a converted logan taper bar for wrap channels and occasionally used as a 1500 pound clamp. 1937 long bed 9 inch SB that is currently taking up a corner of the shop until I fix a bearing in the drive assembly, course it has been there for 9 months. Old cheap wood lathe for sanding.
If I had more room, I'd have more lathes. I like heavy metal, just not as touchy as some of the small stuff.
Jet 13x40 BDB with sony Dro for joint/ferrule/threading/facing. Sheldon 11x36 with a converted logan taper bar for wrap channels and occasionally used as a 1500 pound clamp. 1937 long bed 9 inch SB that is currently taking up a corner of the shop until I fix a bearing in the drive assembly, course it has been there for 9 months. Old cheap wood lathe for sanding.
If I had more room, I'd have more lathes. I like heavy metal, just not as touchy as some of the small stuff.
WildWestBilliar said:
A full size lathe was not made just to make cues with. What you want to keep in mind is alot of $$$ goes into a full size metal lathe after purchase. You will need to figure out how to get a straight taper, and if you want to make shafts with a pro-taper you will need a special taper bar for that. That being said, if you have a choice, go with a lathe with 40" of travle in the long axis(Z). You will want a hole through the spindle of at least 1 3/8" though 1 1/2" is better. You may want to make sure you can put a back chuck on the spindle. You will spend alot of $$$ for tooling. What you will find though is that this size lathe ex. 14x40 will hold very good tolorences. Now hold on, you will want a six jaw chuck or better.
Befor you spend the money you may concider purchasing Joes introductory dvd. He does show examples of all the top lathes designed for cue making and a full size metal lathe.
http://www.cuecomponents.com/intocuebu.html
Of course this is all IMHO.
By the way, I have 1 Grizzly 14x40, one shaper taper cnced that I made myself, 1 cuesmith deluxe that is rarely used, one jet wood lathe that is great for sanding, and one Grizzly knee mill for cutting in points. Oh yes and one taig mill for cutting inlays in. Boy, I should have gotten into a differnt hobby. The money I could have saved.
good luck, Jimbo.
Have 5 or 6 old Atlas lathes, Logan, and mainstay is an old Cinncinnati (almost as old as I am). Even have a "Harvey Butterfly"
Mc2 said:
I often here about how expensive the tooling is on a Bench lathe but I have never found this to be true. Just what tooling is needed on a large lathe that is not also needed on a toy lathe? You can buy a brand new 13X36 or 40" lathe, put on a 6 jaw set-tru chuck, a chuck on the rear of the spindle, a full length taper bar and a quick change tool post and have less money invested than buying one of the small cue lathes. When I bought my first new lathe, an Enco 13X36, I put on a rear chuck the first day and the second day I put on a full length taper bar. I had about 15.00 invested in making the taper bar and about 70.00 in a rear chuck.
One nice thing about having a real lathe is that there is so little tooling that you need to buy as you can make everything yourself for pennies on the dollar. With the miniature cue lathes you buy everything at retail plus. The only draw back on a large lathe is the need for room for it. It won't fit into a closet or the back seat of your car if you want to do tournaments.
Dick
bubsbug said:
Bubs,
First of all, you should never buy what someone else has just because THEY have one. You should buy what fits YOUR program. Determine what it is that you want to do and buy the machine that best fits that need. I like the 7 x 10 mini lathe because it's small, relatively light and portable. It's the lathe that I use to do repair at tournaments. That's why I extended the ways. Of course it does tips & ferrules but now I can spin shafts for turn-downs or just cleaning. Being variable speed DC drive, I can also do wraps. Since I work alone, I only need the one machine. The basic lathe, before the extended ways, was around $400. It more than paid for itself the first tourney I took it to. It's been all gravy since then. I'd love to post some pics, but I haven't figured out yet how to upload to this site. Been shootin too much finish lately I guess.
I have seen a lot of repairmen use the 7x10 with extended ways at tourneys. Babyface has one. How much does this cost to have done? I have one I have been thinking about extending. With the extended ways you can do joint owrk between centers as well. Did you extend the feed screw as well? Thanks!
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WildWestBilliar
Wild West Billiards
A friend of mine was inquiring about a bed for a Taig he has is this a good cue setup or is it better to buy a midsize in the long run.