cue lathe - What's a beginner to buy?

S

Strange_Days

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi again to everyone,

I've been looking through lots of the previous posts and trying to determine what I need to start making a cue or two. First off I plan to do this as a HOBBY, not a job. I have a good job so I want to do this for fun, to make something that my son ( almost 6 months old ) would be proud to play with and maybe grandchildren years from now. I have enjoyed woodworking for a few years now but I need something to allow me to be more creative and combine my passions.

I have a wood lathe, works well for what it is supposed to do but the more I read the more it seems that I need a metal lathe to do many of the jobs that I would come across even in normal repairs for cues. I have ordered Chris Hightowers cue building book so once I get that it should shed some light for me on the process to get started correctly but I would like to find out what all the experienced cue builders on here would do if they were starting out in my shoes? I really don't mind spending a bit of money on this to get quality equipment, after all where I live most people own snowmobiles that run $10-15,000 to buy plus $20 an hour in gas as their hobby and I have bought and know the value of good equipment for woodworking. I would like to start out as reasonably as possible even so. I would like to know what people think of this lathe

http://busybeetools.ca/cgi-bin/picture?&NETID=1106111030050879616&NTITEM=CT043

I am looking pretty closely at the cuesmith deluxe as well but I don't want something that I will grow out of or that does not or cannot have the capabilities that I want or need. I could probably take a trip down to a grizzly warehouse and buy a lathe from them if they have better offerings for me as its only a 5 hour drive from Toronto.

I guess I'm rambling quite a bit but I'd just like to know if you think a full size metal lathe is the way to go, or a cuesmith or if I should just start by buying a mini lathe and start doing tips and ferrules. It seems as though I'm going to have lots of local business for doing tips at least since no one can do them worth a damn up here. I've already had one poolhall willing to give me all their business and probably more when I go looking. Any advice would be very much appreciated as I will soon have to start convincing my wife that we need another $4000 tool taking up room in our garage :)

Thanks to all,

Matt LeClerc
 
Strange_Days said:
Hi again to everyone,

I've been looking through lots of the previous posts and trying to determine what I need to start making a cue or two. First off I plan to do this as a HOBBY, not a job. I have a good job so I want to do this for fun, to make something that my son ( almost 6 months old ) would be proud to play with and maybe grandchildren years from now. I have enjoyed woodworking for a few years now but I need something to allow me to be more creative and combine my passions.

I have a wood lathe, works well for what it is supposed to do but the more I read the more it seems that I need a metal lathe to do many of the jobs that I would come across even in normal repairs for cues. I have ordered Chris Hightowers cue building book so once I get that it should shed some light for me on the process to get started correctly but I would like to find out what all the experienced cue builders on here would do if they were starting out in my shoes? I really don't mind spending a bit of money on this to get quality equipment, after all where I live most people own snowmobiles that run $10-15,000 to buy plus $20 an hour in gas as their hobby and I have bought and know the value of good equipment for woodworking. I would like to start out as reasonably as possible even so. I would like to know what people think of this lathe

http://busybeetools.ca/cgi-bin/picture?&NETID=1106111030050879616&NTITEM=CT043

I am looking pretty closely at the cuesmith deluxe as well but I don't want something that I will grow out of or that does not or cannot have the capabilities that I want or need. I could probably take a trip down to a grizzly warehouse and buy a lathe from them if they have better offerings for me as its only a 5 hour drive from Toronto.

I guess I'm rambling quite a bit but I'd just like to know if you think a full size metal lathe is the way to go, or a cuesmith or if I should just start by buying a mini lathe and start doing tips and ferrules. It seems as though I'm going to have lots of local business for doing tips at least since no one can do them worth a damn up here. I've already had one poolhall willing to give me all their business and probably more when I go looking. Any advice would be very much appreciated as I will soon have to start convincing my wife that we need another $4000 tool taking up room in our garage :)

Thanks to all,

Matt LeClerc
Click to expand...

To be a full time cue maker and expect to make a living at it you definatly need at least one 12X36 or 13X40 lathe plus a mill, a pantograph or CNC mill and many other related tools. With this said, to make a few cues a year as a hobbiest then this is way over kill. A Hightower set-up or a Joe porper lathe will certainly suffice with a very large saving in money and time getting started in your adventure. These light machines don't take up a lot of room and are designed for building cues. Your larger lathes are designed for making metal parts so they need to have things done to them to make them efficient at working with wood. Their tooling is larger henceforth more expensive.
Start off with the light machines to get your feet wet and if all works out and you need more production then start up-grading to larger machinery.
I, myself, have 11 lathes, a mill, 2 shaft machines and I'm building another, 3 CNC mills and numerous other tools in an 1800' shop but the biggest part of this stuff was picked up second hand over the years as buys came along. Each of my lathes are set-up for one operation saving time in set-ups. This is definatly not needed for a hobbiest.
Dick
 
Hi again to everyone,

I've been looking through lots of the previous posts and trying to determine what I need to start making a cue or two. First off I plan to do this as a HOBBY, not a job.
Click to expand...
I did months of research, and am a garage hobbist cue builder. Chris's book is my guide, and I have one of his Dlx Cuesmith lathes and his inlay machine. I also have a wood lathe gathering dust, and a 7 x 14 metal lathe. I use the metal lathe for a variety of cuts. And I have a Unigue Cue Companion lathe also, Level III.

I guess I'm rambling quite a bit but I'd just like to know if you think a full size metal lathe is the way to go, or a cuesmith or if I should just start by buying a mini lathe and start doing tips and ferrules.
Click to expand...
I also started with tips and ferrules and shaft cleaning, and worked my way up to the Unigue Cue Companion. It was there that I realized the unit was not as accurate as I wanted it to be for many jobs. Not to knock the machine, it is great for what it is built for, and does a lot of jobs very well. I wanted to build cues and needed a larger more accurate machine. So I saved and bought the Hightower setup.

Any advice would be very much appreciated as I will soon have to start convincing my wife that we need another $4000 tool taking up room in our garage :)
Click to expand...
That's the easy part, wait till you start filling the garage with WOOD !! ;)
And a dust collector system, exhaust system, table saw, band saw, and a spray room. ;) Hey !! We hobbist have our priorities, now don't we.

To sum up everything, the previous post is correct IMHO. The Hightower lathe is plenty to do cues. I have already made 10 in 1/2 year. I bought semi finished parts and that quickened the "turn and wait" time. I also see your point as I have wished for a 1,000 pound gorilla when boring out wood, but that is only 5% of my problems, which I create when a new design pops in my head. Go with the Hightower, it was designed to build cues, and it does everthing ery well. Mr Hightower is a wealth of knowledge, along with all the other cue builder on-line here. If you do go into "full production", the lathe you linked to is the next step. I know, after 2 years of being a hobbist builder, that is my next step.

Good Luck
Richard Womeldorf
McAllen, Tx
 
hi matt
just thought i would let you know that the lathe in the link you posted is exactly like my grizzly. i suggest you get a grizzly catalogue or shop thier online store, you will save 800-900 dollars. i love my grizzly. i added the sargon digital readout and got several other things when i bought mine. i drove to springfield, mo to pick it up and my grand total was $3700 and change, the d.r.o. alone was $995. my first piece of dedicated cue building equipment was a porper "b" model, i still use it for: cutting v grooves, sanding, buffing, tips, and ferrules. the things it does not do well: shaft cutting, stainless joints. as for going with a smaller machine to start i would give hightower a shot, i have done business with him for several years and he has never misrepresented anything i bought from him. based on that and what others have to say about his stuff i would buy from him if i had the need. hope this helps. mark
 
mark smith said:
hi matt
just thought i would let you know that the lathe in the link you posted is exactly like my grizzly. i suggest you get a grizzly catalogue or shop thier online store, you will save 800-900 dollars. i love my grizzly. i added the sargon digital readout and got several other things when i bought mine. i drove to springfield, mo to pick it up and my grand total was $3700 and change, the d.r.o. alone was $995. my first piece of dedicated cue building equipment was a porper "b" model, i still use it for: cutting v grooves, sanding, buffing, tips, and ferrules. the things it does not do well: shaft cutting, stainless joints. as for going with a smaller machine to start i would give hightower a shot, i have done business with him for several years and he has never misrepresented anything i bought from him. based on that and what others have to say about his stuff i would buy from him if i had the need. hope this helps. mark
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Note that BusyBee is a Toronto outfit, and the original poster is from Timmins, Ont, Canada, a little north or Toronto (a lot north of Toronto if you are from Europe). The prices on the BusyBee sight are in $Canadian. Grizzly on the other hand is a US based company, with prices in $US, and I don't think they ship to Canada (but he could go there as he mentioned). They could easily be selling the same imported lathe, simply private labeled differently. BTW, I have found that House Of Tools (another Canadian supplier) often has better prices than BusyBee or KBC, but I haven't looked at these lathes pricing.

Dave
 
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mark smith said:
hi matt
just thought i would let you know that the lathe in the link you posted is exactly like my grizzly. i suggest you get a grizzly catalogue or shop thier online store, you will save 800-900 dollars. i love my grizzly.
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Mark did you get the belt drive one ?
What chuck do you use?
 
Hi Matt:

I'm a hobbyist cuemaker/repairman and I started out doing what you are doing. I ordered Chris Hightower's book and videos and had them for about a year before I bought a lathe. I looked at everything that was on the market and decided on a Deluxe Cuesmith. One of my main requirements (even more than money) was that I wanted a machine that I could put into my basement that would run on 110. That pretty much ruled out huge metal lathes. The problem with metal lathes is that to get an acceptable distance between centers for cue work (30 inches or more) you need to buy a huge machine. Some of the smaller metal lathes that are available from Travers and Grizzly and places like that would be nice if you could get them with an extended bed but you can't get a small metal lathe without a small distance between centers. With a metal lathe you end up with a much larger, heavier, and more powerful machine than you really need for cue building.

I am very happy with my Cuesmith and I think that it's a great tool for someone like me who will build one cue at a time and not use the lathe continuously. Chris is a really creative guy and the Cuesmith is well engineered, it's an amazingly flexible little machine. Chris also stands behind his products and offers great customer support.....this is worth it's weight in gold when you are just getting started. The Cuesmith is designed specifically for cuemaking and has some great features like a large spindle diameter with chucks at each end and an extended bed on the left side of the lathe where you can support a cue with one of the well designed steady-rests. I also really like the fact that you can remove the tool carriage (and everything else that rides on the main rail for that matter) from the bed when you are drilling and tapping from the tailstock. This gets the carriage out of the way and allows you to get really close to your work. The indexing and router attachment allows a lot of flexibility with this machine. If you buy the Deluxe Cuesmith with the taper bars, power feed, extra steady rest and the tooling you need you are ready to go. I had watched his videos and read his books numerous times before I got my lathe and I was fooling around with my collection of "practice house cues" within one hour of taking the lathe out of the box. If you are doing this as a hobby or on a limited production basis I think that the Deluxe Cuesmith is the easiest way to get started. In addition to the lathe you will realistically need to spend another 1 to 2 K minimum on tools, tips, ferrules, wood, joint and butt materials, adhesives, abrasives, wraps, taps drills, etc, etc, etc. You can get most of this stuff from Chris. I've also had good luck with Atlas, Prather, Bell Forest Products, Schmelke Cues and Grizzly industrial. I would recommend you aquire some old house cues and "experiment" with them for practice. Replace tips, ferrules, tenons, add a wrap, add a joint and rings, butt caps, re-taper a shaft, make a new shaft, cut the butt in two and add a new handle, re-finish a cue, etc. You can learn a lot quickly and inexpensively and if you destroy a cue or two or three (and you probably will) you toss the thing in the firewood pile and try again. Be patient and have fun, it's really enjoyable but can also be very frustrating at times. I've been doing this for a year and although I can make a very playable and nice looking but simple cue from scratch I still consider myself to be in junior kindergarten as far as cuemaking is concerned. There's a lot to learn.

I think that the Cuesmith is almost the perfect machine for a small operation. It is a rather light-duty machine and has vibration issues and limited torque but cue building doesn't require a massive lathe. With the Cuesmith its important to be patient: go slow, take multiple small cuts instead of big cuts, use the router when turning anything longer than a few inches and bore bigger holes with a boring bar instead of trying to make the machine drive a big drill bit through something. I wouldn't attemp to drill anything larger than a 1/2 inch hole with the Cuesmith and even that is difficult sometimes. I use increasingly larger bit sizes to get to 1/2 inch instead of just trying to drill a 1/2 hole.

If I could have my dream machine it would be a metal lathe about twice the weight of the Cuesmith (200-300 lbs) with a larger RPM range and a gear or smoother belt drive system. The physical size of the machine would be about like the Cuesmith with the large spindle, dual chucks and extended bed on both sides of the headstock. I would also prefer a screw actuated tailstock feed for more precise control and more fine control of the X and Y cariage controls. As long as I'm dreaming a digital readout and CNC control of the X and Y axis would be awesome for tapering and would eliminate the need for mechanical type taper bars. Having said that, for what I need and what you are looking for the Deluxe Cuesmith is pretty close to perfect, I really enjoy using mine and you won't be disappointed.

Ken N.
 
hey joey

my grizzly is gear head. i have a smithy (belts) i bought new about 12 years ago. yeah the grizzly may be a little louder but speed changes are more, easier/quicker, and i don't get grease on my hands. have fits off and on over the years with the smithy motors, replacements have fried immediately, capacitors smoked and on and on and on. they finally fessed up that the guys in china sometimes do not follow prints and just start hooking up wires until the get it to work, then when you replace the motor it is a crap shoot as to wheter you can get it right without totally frying the new one. the grizzly popped a capacitor at about 6 months, no other problems (almost 2 years old). the grizzly model i got came with the quick change tool post, it is a cheap knock off of the phase II but works almost as good (one of the holders will only go on the 'y' side and not the 'x'. the digital readout was a nightmare to install but worth it.
 
missed question 2

it is the 3 jaw chuck that came with it. i also added a smaller chuck on the back side to hold stuff centered
 
Chris,
What is the current wait time for a Deluxe Cuesmith Lathe?
This is an excellent thread! Nice info from all posters!
I too have a Cuesmith Lathe, but I have the Mid-Size. I plan to have a Deluxe in the next4 months or so.

Thanks,
Zim
 
Wow thanks for all the replies. I've gotten a great load of information to help me along so far. It seems like Chris hightower must put out a quality machine to get that many people willing to support it. I still am not decided on how I should proceed yet but I am getting closer. Can't wait to get Chris's book and tear it apart.

I've got a few more questions if you guys don't mind answering.

rwomel said:
If you do go into "full production", the lathe you linked to is the next step. I know, after 2 years of being a hobbist builder, that is my next step.
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rwomel, wouldn't it make more sense then to spend just a little more and get a machine that can handle everything right from the get-go? I do not know how much it will cost over the cost of the machine to turn a 12X36 metal lathe into a fully working cue building lathe. If anyone has a rough guess I'd like to hear it. presently it'll be about $4000 cdn for Chris's machine to my door and about $3600 for a brand new 12x36 lathe in my link above. maybe less once I really go about looking at all my options.

Zagiflyer said:
In addition to the lathe you will realistically need to spend another 1 to 2 K minimum on tools, tips, ferrules, wood, joint and butt materials, adhesives, abrasives, wraps, taps drills, etc, etc, etc.
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I planned on buying a small amount to start for the actual cue building, I want to get my feet wet by doing repairs and "playing" around with house cues but I do want enough to start building a few in the first year. What should I get right away that is essential (meaning how much shaft wood, blanks or just hard maple? What will I need for finishing a cue the best way without a dedicated spray booth and everything associated?(I do have a compresser that I use to spray some things but nothing so fine as I would need for cues) What do you guys use to protect from harmful effects of the woods you use in cues? after all I'd like a hobby I could enjoy for many years down the road. how much should I set aside for calipers, dials, cutting tools etc?) I will just purchase a bunch of tips, ferrules, wraps and all that right away to get right at the repair stuff.

I'm sure I could ask a hundred more questions but its after 12 and I should really save some room for people to post back :) thanks for all the great replies and help

P.S.

rwomel said:
That's the easy part, wait till you start filling the garage with WOOD !! And a dust collector system, exhaust system, table saw, band saw, and a spray room.
Click to expand...

I'm already getting there my friend. A few years of woodworking projects and I have a corner of my garage taken up with wood already :) not to mention my woodworking machinery eating up a large portion of the rest.


Matt LeClerc
 
Not to discourage, but Honestly cuework is a money pit like few others no matter which way you go LOL, that's why you really have to love it, have very deep pockets, or both. All the stuff needed just keeps piling up, and needs replenished constantly.

If i had It to do over I would have got the deluxe to begin with because it's ready to go without any special modification, and can handle most repair work to bring more money in for more equipment.

Yep, there are just a few things that a machine lathe could be used better for, such as extremely deep boring operations used in building cues, and some threading operations, but there are ways around that when learning, and still can make a really decent cue in the time being. Metal lathes could always be added, and setup for individual operations later. I would still use the deluxe for alot of repair because of the ease.

I don't know if I'll ever have as many lathes as some of our fellow members, but I imagine, I'll have atleast 6 or 7 in the coming years, with most setup just to do 1 single task per lathe, so I don't have to keep setting up breaking down and setting back up again. you can waste alot of time doing that, and it could be better spent with more setups. I'd always have a use for the deluxe either way. His book will give some better ideas. the videos might be worth checking out also to see It in action.

The main difference I see is one will take more time to modify and setup then the other, so really depends on what you want to do with it, and how soon you want to use it. Peoples opinions vary on that one, so really just a personal choice. Myself I want as many of both types I can afford to get My hands on :D .

Greg
 
rwomel, wouldn't it make more sense then to spend just a little more and get a machine that can handle everything right from the get-go? I do not know how much it will cost over the cost of the machine to turn a 12X36 metal lathe into a fully working cue building lathe. If anyone has a rough guess I'd like to hear it. presently it'll be about $4000 cdn for Chris's machine to my door and about $3600 for a brand new 12x36 lathe in my link above. maybe less once I really go about looking at all my options.
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Greg, in the prior post, just about sums up everything. If you look at being a hobbiest, invision what I do in a normal day. Work at making money during the day, and SOMETIMES have a few hours to walk out into my garage and view the mess.

Now cuebuilding is really a lot of turning square wood round. Not the thrill you would expect. And then waiting, then a little turning, and then a little waiting, and so on. So during the waiting, you need to build some ring billets, those fancy rings made of wood and other materials. So lets turn some wood down to round. Humm, now lets build some butt sleeves, so turn some wood round. Humm, lets do a fancy handle, so lets turn some wood round. Humm, lets do a shaft. What do we do class?

Once a lot of wood is round, assembly is pretty straightforward. Then the assembled butt is... turned some more. Excuse the rambling, but beside MANY hours doing inlays and point work, the majority of cuebuilding as a hobbiest is turning wood round accuratly. And with that here lays the time problem, Greg spoke about. It would be nice to have different machines available to do differnet jobs (stages) of the building process, instead of resets of one machine for different stages. But we are hobbiests, are we not.

The metal lathe has a big enough spindle bore, and long enough, and you could taper by offsetting the tailstock, without taper bar(s). Adapting bars to hthe big lathe can be done. Your issue is for the dollars spent why not buy the big lathe. I have no defense other than if you want to see if you enjoy building cues, and you didn't, then the big lathe will sell for less money second hand, than if you try selling a used Cuesmith.

When I said I am looking at a large lathe as my next step, I meant as an addition lathe to the Cuesmith. To walk before you run, with a lathe that is set up for building is a pleasure to use, and takes up minimal room.

Excuse me folks. I had many months of debating this issue with myself, and have gone the normal course of buying dust gathering equipment. Now my Cuesmith is the dust maker, and is used all the time. I wished I had bought it in the first place.

Your other comments still go the course of a hobbist, woods, parts, etc. You will put in a LOT of TIME building a cue. Frankly, I just don't know how cue builders make any money. It is a very rewarding hobby, if you like to create, and work with your hands. The few cues I have completed are so dear to me now, just like new born babies...how can I sell them? ;)

Good Luck and please excue the rambling (I had some time on my hands this morning)

Richard Womeldorf
McAllen, Tx
 
Rwomel, and Cue Crazy you both make very strong arguments towards the cuesmith. I love the idea of getting a machine that I could unpack, and start working almost right away. As well I am not very familiar with metal lathes other than some minimal work with some very experienced machinists who were helping me out. Although I've only dealt with cuemakers in person that used large metal lathes I am leaning towards a deluxe as my first large purchase. I've even gotten close to convincing my wife on the deal and as we all know that's 90 percent of the work. building a cue is going to be childs play after that :)

I was looking at CNC machines online quite a bit today. Alignrite has a sweet looking cnc made exclusivly for cue building

http://www.alignritetool.com/cnc_router_poolcue.htm

Back to reality as I doubt I'll have $13500 burning a hole in my pocket anytime soon what would I be looking at to make up a cheap CNC and how would that compare to buying a panagraph or Chris's inlay machine. It seems expensive at $100 a shot every time I want a new design for an inlay but maybe I am missing something.

I really appreciate the great feedback you guys are giving me on all this, its exactly what I was looking for. I have to wait another few days yet before paypal will release my money to chris before he can send me his book. The wait is killing me.

Chris, if you are reading this I'd love to find out as well as Zims Rack above what kind of waiting period I would be looking at for a deluxe cuesmith if I choose to go that route. My playing cue tip is getting very low but I really don't want to pay $50 for a moori this year (going rate cdn at CCS ontario championshps in toronto the last two years) if I am going to be doing it myself soon :)

thanks again

Matt LeClerc
 
Strange_Days said:
Rwomel, and Cue Crazy you both make very strong arguments towards the cuesmith. I love the idea of getting a machine that I could unpack, and start working almost right away.

Chris, if you are reading this I'd love to find out as well as Zims Rack above what kind of waiting period I would be looking at for a deluxe cuesmith if I choose to go that route. My playing cue tip is getting very low but I really don't want to pay $50 for a moori this year (going rate cdn at CCS ontario championshps in toronto the last two years) if I am going to be doing it myself soon :)

thanks again

Matt LeClerc
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Hi Matt,
The wait on a Deluxe Cue Smith right now is about 10 weeks. Sometimes during the middle of the winter it can get to be about twice that long. Extra patterns for the inlay machine are $100 each or 5 for $400. But you make your own patterns and you can also put parts of various shapes off the patterns you have to make other patterns. The book and videos go into that a little clearer. The small CNC set up I now use for inlays runs $4500, but it is a little hard to learn to use.
Chris
www.cuesmith.com
www.internationalcuemakers.com
 
hi again matt

sounds like you are getting loads of info so a little more won't hurt. the alignrite cnc system is not a stand alone cue building machine. you have to have a lathe for drilling, boring, tapping, etc. although you could write progams to cut tennons i also do that on the manual lathe. the alignrite machine was a huge investment for me but i love it. my retirement is tied up in cue equipment and materials that will sell for pennies on the dollar at an auction some day but i'm happy. good luck. mark
 
Hi Mark,

Its nice that you can do something so rewarding in retirement. The alignrite machine looks great, maybe if I save every penny I make for, well, a LONG time I will get one :)

I am getting pretty convinced that a hightower lathe is going to be the way to go to start for me. I do have a promising lead on a JET 1340A tho. its the geared head 13x40 lathe that they offer. My friend works for a company that sells JET equipment and is looking into getting it to me for cost (My payment I have to build him a cue when I get going :) ).

Do you ever see a deluxe cuesmith for sale second hand? I see some porper model B's around and some unique lathes but never a cuesmith.

Chris, that's probably a testamony to your equipment!

Thanks, Matt
 
grizzly vs jet equipment and other ramblings

I am one more person considering building cues. However I owned a jet lathe and bridgeport mill until a move a few years ago and still knock around in a friend's machine shop. I seem to be the negative cylinder specialist. Sounds a lot better than saying I spend a lot of time drilling, threading, and cleaning up holes!

Getting on to the subject of the post, the report is that all of the chinese made machines start with the same castings that they build machines from. I owned a jet and run a jet and an enco now along with a jet mill. I thought to save money and buy the grizzly next time as it seemed I was paying a lot for gray paint on the jet and the grizzly's look almost as nice. However reading on the dedicated machine forums I find that jet has super service and grizzly seems lacking. Everybody has to make their own choices but I am going to pay a few hundred extra for the jet if and when I buy a metal lathe.

Food for thought: Blud is a dealer for jet and could probably get you anything you want and you would be supporting someone who always gives generously of his time and knowledge on these forums. He also offers a tricked out jet lathe ready to build cues on, and a handful of other machines for cue building with new ones being designed all of the time.

Chris Hightower offers the cuesmith line of lathes and accessories. Seems like I am likely to be dealing with both Chris and Blud in the future. The only question is what I will be buying first. Reading this thread, if I was trying to get started to build cues in a reasonably rapid fashion it looks like Blud's new shaft turner and the cuesmith deluxe with bells and whistles might be the least costly option. The one catch is I like the capability to actually cut threads, not just use dies and taps and I believe a metal lathe would still be needed for that. I do have to note that this is a personal "like" and not a must to build good cues.

Hu
 
hi matt

i did not make myself very clear, i just meant i spent my retirement fund on cue equipment (and materials). i own a pool room, sell and service tables, and do the cue stuff. central arkansas is not exactly the hot spot for pocket billiards so we have to do a little bit of everything to make a living. as for the used purpose built cue equipment it is about like hen's teeth (rare) one of the forum threads did have a link to an ebay auction selling a lathe and inlay machines. cannot remember if it was from chris or unique, if i see it again i will add a post on here for you. good luck. mark
 
Hi Matt:

Just a few more comments since you had a question about some of what I said. As far as other items in addition to your lathe; start small and get what you need. Atlas in Chicago and Prather will send you catalogs if you ask and they have all the little stuff. I bought a little of everything, for example, I bought various joint screws and inserts and taps to try all the types of joints (except uni-lock because of the excessive cost). Get some single wrap spools of irish linen, the taps and drills you need for sure, joint screws and steel+aluminum 3/8 screws for the handle joint, tips, ferrules, bumpers, tenon threaders (from Chris) etc. Try out the various materials from plastics to the different varieties of linen phenolics to see what you like.....they are all a little different to work with. Chris' book and videos have a lot of great information about materials and woods, they are a fantastic reference. As far as wood goes, it needs to sit for awhile so if you can afford to get some do it. I think that woods like plain maple, birdseye and curly maple, Bocote, Goncolo Alves, Purple heart, Rosewood and a few others are good to start with with along with small pieces of some others for rings work well. Again, Chris Hightower's book talks about the weights and stability characteristics of wood and which woods go together well to build a naturally weighted cue. Some combinations of wood just won't work together without coring out pieces and that's too much hassle for me at this point. I've personally had good luck with wood from Bell Forest Products (they will sell you small butt-sleeve sized pieces as well as bigger pieces and slabs and for $1 per square they will send them to you round if you want) and Shmelke cues. Shmelke has 30 inch round pieces of a few basic woods (they have a very limited selection) that are reasonably priced and seem to be very nice based on my very limited knowledge and experience. The Bocote and Goncolo Alves makes really pretty cues. I've also ordered some wood from Chris which was nice. Chris and some of the other makers (Shmelke and Atlas) also sell 4-point bar-cue style 30 inch spliced butt blanks that are good for your first attempt at a cue. I'm sure the better cue makers know a lot more about wood and have their own sources that they will never reveal but the wood I've gotten for the above places has made some pretty cues. I started with some final turned shaft blanks from Prather and Atlas because I didn't have a lot of time to wait between turnings. Now I buy first turned shaft blanks from Shmelke. You will probably ruin a few shafts at first because they can be really tricky to turn, even with taper bars sometimes. Next to finishing, making a really well tapered, straight and smooth shaft with smooth transitions on the taper segments has been the hardest thing for me.

The other comment I wanted to make was about inlays. I don't have an inlay machine and if I get one it will be from Chris. Keep in mind though that with the indexing on the Cuesmith and the router attachment you actually have a fully functioning milling machine for cues that will do a lot of stuff. Chris points this out in his book and he is right, there is A LOT of suff you can do with just the Cuesmith. Points, slots, dots, stacked veneers in slots, slotted rings in a zillion variations, "windows" and the list goes on and on. In the town where I live there is an old cue maker who has been making cues for 35+ years and has never had an inlay machine but does a lot with just slot and ring work. There's so many cues today with elaborate CNC inlays that the old-school slot, veneer and ring decorated cues actually stand out from the crowd. I plan to build cues for years before getting an inlay machine and I'm sure I won't run out of things I can do with indexing, router bits and laminating. It also depends on what you like, I've always had a fondness for for more basic, simply styled cues that aren't too "busy." I want my pool cues to look like pool cues :)
 
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