Fab cue lathes

icbm

icbm

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Novice here: Just as a back ground I have no back ground. I turned 1 cue on a standard wood lathe. Just wanted to get that out of the way. I am no expert.

That said my question(s) are regarding modifying a wood lathe to turn cues. I have seen porper's, hightowers and unique's cue lathes and the high price tags that go with them. I am a wood turner and have a nice grizzly wood lathe. What I am curious about is how difficult it might be to fabricate a jig for mounting a router on a crosslide at an offset so as to create the taper. In your opinions is this likely a fool's idea or does it have merit? If it has merit would one of you gentlemen tell me at what degree I might set the taper offset to the spindle for shafts?

Any help is much appreciated.
 
Well get a 12 x 36 lathe and a CNC milling machine , no problem fabricating what you need ... or pay the price to someone who already has it ...:eek:
 
I started with the same idea as you, bought a dead cheap wood lathe which had no spindle hole. The idea was to buy a XY-coordinate table and mount the "gear" on this.

No spindle hole forces the need of a beefy steady rest with a ball bearing to support tip's and ferrule work. This could also be used for a "normal" tailstock but must be manufactured on you're own.

So if you have some metal lathes and possible some CNC or other stuff to produce alu-parts for you're wood lathe, everything is possible. It's not that big task, but you need some basic metal working equipment - or a friend which has it.
Knock a chuck on this late and make a beefy steady rest together with a coordinate table and you are in business.
http://www.bernardo.at/sitex/index....7/Wood_working_Woodturning_lathes_DM_450.html

I have decide to go for a big bore metal lathe which makes me able to make everything I need which also have feed possibilities.

Buying the chucks and metal parts locally adds up to be not to far from getting a metal lathe, so I have not bothered to go further on those ideas. Same with the US machines, high $ value and a lot of S&H charges together with 25% VAT has stopped me from going for any of the Unique,DeLux,Porper setups.

K
 
icbm said:
Novice here: Just as a back ground I have no back ground. I turned 1 cue on a standard wood lathe. Just wanted to get that out of the way. I am no expert.

That said my question(s) are regarding modifying a wood lathe to turn cues. I have seen porper's, hightowers and unique's cue lathes and the high price tags that go with them. I am a wood turner and have a nice grizzly wood lathe. What I am curious about is how difficult it might be to fabricate a jig for mounting a router on a crosslide at an offset so as to create the taper. In your opinions is this likely a fool's idea or does it have merit? If it has merit would one of you gentlemen tell me at what degree I might set the taper offset to the spindle for shafts?

Any help is much appreciated.
Click to expand...
just an example, not knowing where you are located
you can do everything to build a cue on this
i have the exact same lathe
if this wasnt in cali, i'm in ohio, i'd buy it
http://cgi.ebay.com/12-X-36-SHELDON...iewItemQQptZBI_Lathes?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116
 
icbm said:
What I am curious about is how difficult it might be to fabricate a jig for mounting a router on a crosslide at an offset so as to create the taper. In your opinions is this likely a fool's idea or does it have merit? If it has merit would one of you gentlemen tell me at what degree I might set the taper offset to the spindle for shafts?
Click to expand...

As long as your carriage has a drive, it is possible. The offset is something you will need to figure out on your own, I suspect. Each cue maker is a little different. In the pic is my personal shaft cutter. It is a Clausing that is older than me. The carriage is set on a tracer bar with roller bearings.

shaft cutter 1.JPG
 
There is another way. Its not the greatest, but it can work, and it is free except materials. Again, this is an alternative that is NOT the greatest and really just for hobby use...


Build a platform the length of your bed for your router so the router would sit above the bed of the lathe. THis platform can be made of birch plywood or MDF. The router would sit atop this platform, and its straight bit would protrude through a slot in the platform. Make the height of the platform such that a straight bit coming trough it can cut the cue stock using its side. THeir would be straight edge (or curved for shafts) guide that would butt up against the baseplate of the router. You can adjust the position of this straight edge to change tapers and cut diameters.

I made a platform like this 10 yrs ago. I remember it worked, but I don't remember how well. I think I only used it once or twice, and just for fun. I was just getting into cue repair then.

I think I still have it and can take pics if you would like to see later this week or weekend.
 
Also wanted to add that a lot of router base plates are not exactly concentric with their spindle. So either use a router with a flat on its baseplate, or paint a small dot on one spot of your baseplate. Then keep this dot against the straight edge guide of the platform. This will ensure that the distance from the edge of the baseplate to the spindle will always be the same.

And, also wanted to be clear that the user is moving the router with their hands, like you would use it in woodworking, not the typical arrangement for cue turning.
 
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