Frankenstein cue lathe - parts from MidAmerica, Hightower, GlockCNC and a 5" jaw chuck!

Otterman

Otterman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Since we started making cues a little over a year ago, I've often wondered about combining one of the Taig-based cue lathes with a larger headstock/chuck combination that would provide better torque from the added rotational mass, plus would do away with those annoying small chucks and Tommy-bars. I ended up coming across products from GlockCNC that are designed to work with Taig and Sherline mills and lathes, in particular their 5C headstock. This headstock is accompanied with spindle bearings that will easily handle the weight of a larger jaw chuck and is threaded 2-1/4x8 to accept available chuck backplates.

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Unfortunately, the Taig lathe mount that I ordered sat the headstock at a goofy height (.41" higher than standard Taig fare), so I had to machine aluminum risers to match the height of my tailstock and steady rests that sit on 1" risers. I drilled and tapped the rear riser to mount my 3/4HP motor from MidAmerica (Todd Shultz).

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A 5" jaw chuck is the maximum size I could fit with the existing swing, and I found an inexpensive Shars 3-jaw on eBay that came with a threaded 2-1/4x8 backplate. The chuck had a smaller bore than I needed, so I used a boring bar to open it up a bit after installing (1.31" bore now to closely match spindle capacity). After installing the chuck, I put a dead center in it and hooked up an indicator, and it literally registered no discernable run-out whatsoever. I'm not particularly surprised the GlockCNC headstock would be that accurate, but I'm pretty surprised that my machining job on the chuck backplate was good enough to produce that.

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I ordered the headstock with a 2-step 5-rib pulley that accepts an automotive-type belt, but neglected to order a belt with it (but it's on the way now thanks to Amazon). Works fine so far with the v-belt the MidAmerica headstock used, so I tested the new set-up by turning a 5-rib drive pulley to use when my new belt arrives.

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Comparison of the MidAmerica headstock and the GlockCNC:

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That's all for now! Looking forward to actually doing some cue work on this today, but first it's Shop Vac duty to clean up a shop full of aluminum shavings....:rolleyes:
 
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I should add that prior to receiving the GlockCNC headstock, I filled the lathe bed with pea gravel and concrete and mounted it to a 12x50 piece of 2” thick butcher block for added weight. I’ll bolt it to the table if necessary, but I had no problems doing cue work on it for several hours yesterday. It works fantastic, and drilling and tapping are much improved with the bigger jaw chuck.
 
Very Well Done. Great to see people putting together their own creations. Nothing like having something you like that has precision as well. Mine is an ER40 spindle with angular contact bearing set up. The 1st one I made had the Timken taper roller bearings in it, but that did not deliver the roundness required for the project I was doing at the time for my model engines. It is great that you got everything aligning how you want it as well. I have a support under the motor assembly so that it does not impart any twisting to the bed assembly of my set up. I have made some chuck adapter plates that use the 1.5mm pitch thread for the nut. That way I can use existing 3 jaw and 4 jaw chucks. Have only used the 4jaw one since I made them quite a few years ago now.
 
Regarding the support under the motor, I'm surprised that more people don't do that.
That always seemed like a lot of weight hanging off to the side of the headstock at the bed's expense.
I mount my motor on a piece of plywood that I can move to 3 different positions along the bed.
I'm a hobbyist, you all would probably get a good laugh if you saw my setup.
 
Thanks for the comments, all. dendweller, I actually mounted my motor to the butcher block base prior to machining the risers. I've tested out a lead screw configuration on one of my other MidAmerica beds and had everything mounted to the wood base, including a separate motor turning the lead screw. Nothing wrong with it if it works!

Neil and Larry, thanks for giving this a look and taking the time to comment. I had exactly zero machining experience when we started on this cuemaking journey. Most of my friends and co-workers that know I make cues think of it as woodworking, and I always tell them it's more about machining and that a good machinist would be a good cuemaker. Out of the million things I didn't realize initially was how much equipment needs to be modified (or built from scratch) in order to build a cue, and in particular to fit into your individual cuemaking process. Before going this route, I looked into quite a few of the larger bench-top lathes, but there just aren't many that I thought would work well for our purposes. Size and weight are both issues, as we don't have much space and we really need to be able to move things around a bit as our process evolves. To make things tougher, the few lathes that fit those parameters are pretty much all on backorder due to demand/supply chain issues. Once I landed on the GlockCNC headstock idea, they only had 1 of the headstock bodies in stock and I still had to wait 5 weeks for them to get in the spindle from their supplier. This one's working out really well so far, so I'd buy another right now but they're out of stock and who knows when they might be available again in the current environment.

dafunkdawg - I'll send you a PM on the MidAmerica headstock. ;)
 
Burnett Custom Cues said:
Looks heavy duty for that lil motor.
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The motor is 3/4 HP, so it runs the bigger chuck with no problem, but I'd prefer something with a little more torque. I'll be looking at some different motor options, but right now just enjoying using it. Actually worked on cues this weekend for a change. It was kinda nice!
 
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Burnett Custom Cues said:
Is your headstock stationary or does it move?
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I'm going to call it stationary. It technically can be moved, but the base mounts with set screws that press directly into the underside of the bed ways, so I want to minimize marring there. It's something I definitely wouldn't mount any place along the bed where I intend to use the carriage. Eventually I may machine my own complete dovetail base so it can be more readily moved, but I'm primarily using this set up for a-joint construction and assembly and joint pin installation, so it's not something I plan on tackling soon.
 
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