House cues on Hightower lathe

[john coloccia]

I have a deluxe lathe, and I'm curious about something. A friend of mine has a bunch of house cues that need tips. I'm happy to do it for him, and I could just do it by hand, but I'd like to do it on the lathe.

I'm wondering what the best technique for doing this is? In other words, that's the best way (or a reasonable way, anyhow) of chucking it up and supporting the tip end?

Thanks for any help!

 

[KJ Cues]

You chuck at the tip end, tip and ferrule approx. 1-1/2" exposed and support the butt end.

 

[john coloccia]

You chuck at the tip end, tip and ferrule approx. 1-1/2" exposed and support the butt end.

Well, that's pretty straight forward. I had this image in my head that the butt end would just flop around like crazy because there's a lot of unsupported length. OK...I'll give it a try! Thanks, KJ.

 

[cuewould]

Another way

I support the large end at the head stock and support the tip end with my shaft center bearing. Works well,hope this helps..........Ray Weeks

 

[john coloccia]

I support the large end at the head stock and support the tip end with my shaft center bearing. Works well,hope this helps..........Ray Weeks

You mean the one with the felt in it? I'd never though of that. I figured that it would have a lot of run out. I'll give that a try too.

Thanks!

 

[bob_bushka]

I actually have someone "spot" the butt of the cue by having them use a dry washclothe and their hand to steady the centrifugal force the buttend will want to generate.

 

[JC]

Buy the large bore steady rest with the 3 jaw chuck. You will never use the other two that came with the lathe again. In fact I sold mine and recovered a good percentage of the cost of the new one. You will use it a lot and not just for tips on bar cues. I mean a lot. I use leather loops on the butt to hold it tight in the chucks of the headstock and not mar it. Way easier and safer than collets on this lathe

Back to the bar cues. Chuck the butt in the lathe head stock and chuck the tip near the right end of the lathe in your 3 jaw chuck of the steady rest and go to work. Always use the steady rest with the chuck with the chuck pointing to tighten in the direction you are spinning or it will unscrew on you off of it's spindle.

JC

 

[KJ Cues]

Please let me make the point that I don't use a HighTower type lathe for cue work. I stated what I did because
that's the way that I do it on the machines that I have. Obviously, the HighTower users would know better than I
how to achieve the best results using that type of lathe. Also, I don't do many tips either so what do I know ?

 

[TeeA]

Hi Ray, just came across this and thought I give you a shout out... hope you had a great Thanksgiving and same for the upcoming holidays. Tom

 

[cuewould]

Thanks

Tom, I hope all is well.....Hopeyou have a great Christmas and your tools are staying sharp!!!..Ray

 

[cueman]

If you have the lead screw machine without a bed extension you can take the headstock off and move the cross slide to the left hand end of the lathe and put the headstock back on. Then run the house cue in from the right and do the tip work on the left side of the headstock using your two steady rests to hold the big end of the cue.

 

[john coloccia]

If you have the lead screw machine without a bed extension you can take the headstock off and move the cross slide to the left hand end of the lathe and put the headstock back on. Then run the house cue in from the right and do the tip work on the left side of the headstock using your two steady rests to hold the big end of the cue.

Thanks, Chris. I don't know why I didn't think of that. Seems obvious now. That may actually be what I end up doing. If I end up doing a lot more of this work for some reason, I'll just pickup the steady rest with the chuck in it.

 

[cueman]

Thanks, Chris. I don't know why I didn't think of that. Seems obvious now. That may actually be what I end up doing. If I end up doing a lot more of this work for some reason, I'll just pickup the steady rest with the chuck in it.

You already have the collets to hold the big end in your steady rest. Just wrap painters tape around the cue up against the collet to keep the warped cues from vibrating them loose. A bed extension two foot long would be the better solution than the steady rest with chuck. Although you would find a lot of good uses for the steady rest with chuck.

 

[JC]

You already have the collets to hold the big end in your steady rest. Just wrap painters tape around the cue up against the collet to keep the warped cues from vibrating them loose. A bed extension two foot long would be the better solution than the steady rest with chuck. Although you would find a lot of good uses for the steady rest with chuck.

This is what I do. The large bore fixed steady rest with plastic collets is nothing but trouble IMO. Shakes loose, mars the cues when it does. etc.

Even with that much of the butt sticking out the left side it doesn't give trouble. If the house cue has enough warpage in that area for that to matter it's time for the trash can.

I'm really happy since I started using those leather loops instead of plastic collets. Just as accurate and so much safer. By the time something comes loose it's many times too late and the damage is done. At least that's been my experience. The leather never comes loose and grips better too. Could just be my paranioa but I don't want to buy any cues just because I screwed them up.



JC

 

[whammo57]

This is what I do. The large bore fixed steady rest with plastic collets is nothing but trouble IMO. Shakes loose, mars the cues when it does. etc.

Even with that much of the butt sticking out the left side it doesn't give trouble. If the house cue has enough warpage in that area for that to matter it's time for the trash can.

I'm really happy since I started using those leather loops instead of plastic collets. Just as accurate and so much safer. By the time something comes loose it's many times too late and the damage is done. At least that's been my experience. The leather never comes loose and grips better too. Could just be my paranioa but I don't want to buy any cues just because I screwed them up.

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JC

that's exactly how I do it........... works great

Kim