Hightower Lathes

zx24

zx24

Cue Maker Apprentice
Silver Member
I just recieved my new Deluxe from Chris Hightower... Man, what a nice piece of work.... I can understand now when new users come here and ask about cue making equipment, most everyone steers them to Hightower equipment....This is awesome..
His video's are very informative also. I encourage all the new cue makers to check them out.
I didnt have the room for a full size 40" lathe, and really didnt want one..
I have limited space and wanted benchtop equipment..
Also, so far his customer service is second to none.. I also ordered the inlay machine..I cant wait to take it for a test run..
At this rate i should be a master cue builder in a week or so.LOL:smile:
Thanks Chris
Max
 
Chris seems like a top-shelf person who also happens to make top-shelf equipment. He's clearly a credit to the craft.
Mr H
 
I'll second that....

I'd love to have a full size metal lathe, but, like Max, I'm short on room.

I've been using one of Chris's lathes for over four years now and I love it. Besides providing a smaller footprint in your shop, the Hightower lathe is ready to do cue work right out of the box.
 
Nice work Bill...Looks like your on your way. Boy, I cant wait to start....Have you started your river of wood? I think i'm gonna start with just a small creek of wood. LOL..
What equipment do you use...So Far I just have the deluxe and inlay machine from Hightower.. I think i will pick up a taper machine. I can see where doing everything on one piece of equipment involves a lot of set up time. What would be the best tapering machine? I didnt see a stand alone taper machine on his Chris's site, but on his video he says he makes them too..
zx
 
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Taper machine

Thanks for the kind words Max!

I try to buy wood on a regular basis to keep the river flowing.

I do all my taperiing on the Hightower. It would be nice to have dedicated machines for every operation. However, you need a lot of room for that. I'm setup in a single car garage and space is limited. Every piece of equipment I have is mounted on a stand with casters. I roll it in place when needed and roll it out of the way when not in use. Even with this setup, I'm cramped.

If your interested in a taper machine, Chris has a saw taper machine for sale on his site. Look under "Used Machinery".

Good luck!
 
Thanks bill, i looked at the pics, but i really dont want a taper machine using a table saw...
i may just set my new cue smith up for tapering, and get another one for all my joint work..
I will talk to chris and ask his advice..
i also have a small shop..Just a 24' x 24'.. I have 24' of counter space on the north wall and 12 ' of counter space on the Northwest wall... I just purchased a 14" ridgid bandsaw...I only hope it does a good job..I also have a modified mini porper lathe that im prolly gonna do sanding and finish work with..I might sell it and buy chris's finishing lathe..Still undecided..I think i have almost everything i need to get started...the most important piece of equipment i have in my shop is a 4 1/2' x 9' gandy Big G Pool table, for when i get stressed out screwing up a bunch of wood, i can go knock a few balls around...
max
 
Most important piece of equipment.......

When you mentioned your most important piece of equipment, you reminded me of something I always try to bring up with someone starting out.

In all the discussion about equipment, dust collection was never mentioned. When I first started, I had no dust collection. Well, I did have a box fan and taped a furnace filter to the front. That shows that I did know that the dust was a problem, but I wanted to spend my limited resources on things that made cues (lathe, band saw, belt sander, etc.).

Big mistake! Make dust collection a priority from that start!
 
Bill is right

You may not kill yourself from the dust , but many cuemakers have had to quit because of acquired sensitivity to wood dust. Keep your lungs clean and you may never have a problem.
If you want to do tapering with some automation I can recommend the Taper Shaper from Unique. Put it in an enclosure with Plexi Doors and you can taper shafts all day with little dust escaping. Calibrated pins allow one to switch to butt taper, cones, straight rods, as well as tapered shafts in seconds, with quite repeatable results. I have the deluxe as well, but the TS is far less hands on for repetitive work. Why tie up the Hightower with all day shaft cutting? With the quiet router on my Taper Shaper I can do other jobs on my Hightower five feet away, without any need for hearing protection, I love it! Each machine has a task that it does best. I was going to build a saw taper machine, but love the TS so much it may never happen!
 
I talked to chris today and he told me the same thing about the dust...So i'm all over it.. We took a sneaky pete and made a 3 pc jump break with a little ring work, and just that little bit of wood work got a good a bit of dust floating around in the air....
How do you post a pic on here?
max
 
taper equipment

:wave3:high olsen... I thought about the taper shaper....I was at one time gonna buy
unique's Cue maker, shop companion and the taper shaper...I tried for 2 weeks to contact them on the phone and got the answering machine each time...By the time they called me i had already purchased a porper mini.(big boo boo)...Anyway, after finding this site, and reading through the post on cue machinery, most everyone liked the deluxe the best...So, i ordered a deluxe and a inlay machine.....I called chris and asked about a taper machine today.. He said he doesn't like to build them, but a couple other fellows wanted one, so he said he would build me one too....I really prefer to stay with the same manufacturer on my equipment, that way i can get all the parts and info from 1 place....Plus, so far, chris's customer service is second to none and that means a lot to me...And trust me, i'm gonna need a lot of customer service.LOL....:smile:
Max
 
Nothing wrong with your logic

Chris builds good equipment, and provides unmatched service. I just did not want you to think that the Deluxe is good for volume shaft tapering. I am sure Chris will make an excellent dedicated tapering machine. I would love to see some pics of it when you get it running.
 
i'll be sure to post pics when i get it.... im just about out of room in my shop now....only thing left is dust system and put together my gandy......
max
 
The best solution to dust collection

is to pipe it outside of your workshop. The really effective systems have a shed attached to the shop with the dust collector inside the shed. That is good if you do not need AC or heat. If you pipe it outside then you loose heat or cool. BUT if you keep your collector inside the shop: even the best bags available are only 1 micron filter ability, and those still do not guarantee your health! The finest (less than 1 micron) dust is the most dangerous, and one teaspoon of the finest is enough to contaminate your whole house. Do not believe me, research it for yourself.
I live in northern Ohio, so I need to heat inm winter, and in the humid summers, I need AC. I have two 1 micron collectors, Delta and Jet, and still use an overhead JET to further clean my small shop. I keep all heat and AC ducts closed into my shop and have the room sealed up. But I still have to be very careful to not let dust fly around. It is a real challenge, but one I cannot afford to lose! Best Wishes.
 
Only if you locate it outside.

The problem with the bagged systems is the level of containment. The one you show only filters down to 35 microns. This is not nearly good enough unless you are going to locate the machine outside your shop and simply use it to pull the dust outside. If it will be located with you in the shop, it will only filter the big stuff and you will be breating the small stuff. It's the small stuff that is the real danger.

If you place the collector outside and pipe through the wall like Chris, it might be adequate. The problem might be a lack of power to generate the required suction over a long run.

In my current shop, I'm forced to have my dust collection in the shop rather than outside. I have a canister filter on my 1 1/2 HP Jet dust collector that filters down to 2 microns and a Jet air filtration system that filters to 1 micron.
 
Bill the Cat said:
The problem with the bagged systems is the level of containment. The one you show only filters down to 35 microns. This is not nearly good enough unless you are going to locate the machine outside your shop and simply use it to pull the dust outside. If it will be located with you in the shop, it will only filter the big stuff and you will be breating the small stuff. It's the small stuff that is the real danger.

If you place the collector outside and pipe through the wall like Chris, it might be adequate. The problem might be a lack of power to generate the required suction over a long run.

In my current shop, I'm forced to have my dust collection in the shop rather than outside. I have a canister filter on my 1 1/2 HP Jet dust collector that filters down to 2 microns and a Jet air filtration system that filters to 1 micron.
Click to expand...
I do not put it outside. I put it right beside the machine it is catching dust from. I remove the bags and attach the suction hose to the system directly without using the bags. Then I run a hose out the wall through a dryer vent.
I do not try to catch wood chips, but only remove the dust. I vaccum up wood chips between turns. With the Plexiglass enclosures it works really good. I have to run my heat and air more, but the health benefits make it worth the extra heating and cooling bill.
 
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My bad!

Sorry Chris! I misunderstood your setup. Sounds like a good way to go! Get rid of the dust, but bypass the expensive canisters. I like it!

Regardless, you are NOT relying on the (inefficient) bags to filter the dust INSIDE your shop. That's the point I was trying to make for Max.
 
Uploading pics

chuckie said:
How do you post a pic on here?
max
Click to expand...

This is how I do it:
1. Make a JPEG photo, name and save
2. Open an account in Photo Bucket (PB)
3. Upload your photo into PB
4. Click on box in PB which shows your photo description
5. Click "generate HTML and IMG code" box at bottom of page.
6. Scroll down to "IMG images for message boards"
7. Highlight info in box
8. Click on "COPY" command in EDIT box in tool bar. Close PB
9. Open AZ assuming your post in AZ is ready PASTE into your post
10. Click on "preview post" to see post with pic.
There might be a short cut but that is how I posted the below photo.

CUE03-09001JPEG.jpg
 
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