Cue lathe vs wood lathe newbe question
- Thread starter Lazerrus
- Start date
Have you looked at a picture of each? That will pretty much tell all. In a nutshell...for a beginner, a cue lathe like Hightower's excellent Deluxe will pretty much do all you need in one machine vs. the wood lathe which will basically do nothing. Most makers that have a wood lathe only use it as a finishing station for sanding/buffing.
I can not stress enough...buy Chris's book FIRST before you do anything, especially purchase equipment. Every question you may want to ask is covered in the book. :wink:
biggest differience b/t a wood lathe and a machinists lathe is the lack of a tool post on a wood lathe, you have a tool rest. All the turning is done by hand with gouges and other tools on a wood lathe, a machinists lathe has a tool post that travels parallel to the work allowing you to make perfectly straight cuts by taking the tool out of human hands, thus producing higher tolerance and quality work.
Can you build a cue on a wood lathe, YES just look at abe rich. Are your going to have a easy time doing so? HELL NO! It would take years of turning experience b/f you could put out a good cue on a wood lathe.
hope that helps,
Grey Ghost
A wood lathe essentially just spins the piece and all work is done by hand. A machining lathe does the work through the manipulation of precision tool holders. Having said that a wood lathe has a valued spot in any cue persons shop. Cleaning, sanding, shaping tips, spray support for finishing polishing and final finishing, wrapping of cues and so on. Either way you will need a wood lather anyway so it does not matter which you get first.
If you get a good buy on a wood lathe get it you are going to need it. Also there are some cleaver set ups that can be done to a wood lathe that makes them even more useful. You can get tapering attachments for roughing out wood as an example. Did I mention good old fashion wood turning with chisels is a lot of fun. Almost everyone I know has Christmas ornaments I have made them over the years.
I should add, some of the cue lathes sold are somewhat jazzed up wood lathes with some cleaver modifications.
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i agree 100% with varney.buy the bookfirst. wood lathes have there place in a cue shop,in the corner where you sand and finish the cue.
take my advise on this... buy the cue lathe because its ready to start making cues of the bat unless you're a good machinist and still probably won't save money