help with shaft runout

NineBallNut

NineBallNut

New member
Silver Member
excuse my ignorance for I am new to cue repair. I am having problems with getting shafts shimmed in my 3 jaw chuck to eliminate the runout and be able to get the shaft to run true. Everything that I read says to shim the shaft on the "high side". Now I see the high side as being the side with the lip of the ferrule still sticking up. When I shim that side, it doesn't seem to get the desired result. So I was messing around and shimmed the exact opposite side and got better results. My question is this, Can somebody clarify this for me and explain it better.

Thank you,

Rob
 
Last edited:
In response to just the shimming, the "high side" would be the side that the tool is not touching- therefore not removing any material- leaving it high. To see this better, try placing the cutter up close to the ferrule and spinning the lathe by hand (POWER OFF PLEASE!) You will be able to see the ferrule run close and then run away from the tool tip showing you which jaw(s) need to be shimmed. Shimming the 1 or 2 jaws away from you will move the ferrule closer to the tool, therefore removing the "high side". Be careful not to dial in any, as you do not want to remove material on the "low" or "true" side. Because you are using a 3-jaw, more than likely you will need to shim 2 of the 3 jaws. Try marking the jaws with a marker to better keep track of them- shimming one at a time and use the tool test. A drop indicator is best used for checking the "high" side. (OD run-out) Cigarette papers work best as thin shims as they are cheap, go a long way, and tend to stick to the jaws.
Try testing on a piece of scrap and use a thru-hole ferrule. You can gauge concentricity better visually this way rather than using a capped ferrule.
Good luck.

Chris

Chris
 
JoeyInCali said:
Do you have a runout or a warp?
Click to expand...

I would say warp, not every shaft I chuck up has this problem. I may not use the right terms since I am new to this and have never ran a lathe before this at all.
 
Dial indicate as close to the chuck as possible, and just behind the ferrule. The HIGH side is the one where the indicator gives you the largest reading. Shim under the jaw(s) closest to this point to true your work.
 
Last edited:
I got one in the other day that the tenon was warped on, and beyond trimming, so make sure It's not that far off. All the shimming I could imagine would have done no good, and only a new tenon & ferrule would work. The minor stuff can be shimmed and trimmed though, as mentioned here already. Greg C
 
Take a look at THIS LINK. It shows the centering process when using a 4 jaw chuck. I know this chuck works differently than yours, but the centering process should be similar. The article should help you see what you need to do to center non-true work in a 3 jaw.
 
When using a three jaw chuck, the first thing I would do ingetting the machine is make sure the chuck is centered, after that I would look at the collets you are using to hold the shaft. * Example * I have about 34 collets just for ferrule side of the shaft, It varies there more than any other place on the cue when doing repairs. When doing new shafts that you turn yourself, It's very consistent but when doing repairs, IT'S A WHOLE DIFFERENT BALL GAME!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top