Would someone please elaborate on the differences between repair and builders lathes.
Lathes
- Thread starter roberthans
- Start date
"Generally" a builder is going to have a full on commercial grade lathe, usually a metal turning lathe, wheras if your only doing basic repairs you may be able to get away with a simple small table top unit that does little more than spin a shaft.
yes....
and really most repair work should be done on a commercial grade lathe also...
Anything beyond tip replacement and shaft reconditioning I would say requires a full on commercial grade metal lathe...
Jaden
and really most repair work should be done on a commercial grade lathe also...
Anything beyond tip replacement and shaft reconditioning I would say requires a full on commercial grade metal lathe...
Jaden
A repair lathe typically is smaller than a Lathe capable of building a cue.
A repair lathe is used to do tips ferrules clean shafts and possibly re wraps..Most have a small thru hole in the headstock that will not accommodate the but of a cue stick. You're limited to what your able to do by the usual lack of a larger headstock thru hole, taper bars or a motorized carriage (to taper shafts, buts, wrap grooves). Some repair lathes are able to be upgraded to cue building lathes..most are not as they are meant to just do the tips, ferrules, cleaning of shafts.
Hope this makes some sense, also you probably should have this in the ask the cue-maker section...response would I'm certain be a lot better.
A repair lathe is used to do tips ferrules clean shafts and possibly re wraps..Most have a small thru hole in the headstock that will not accommodate the but of a cue stick. You're limited to what your able to do by the usual lack of a larger headstock thru hole, taper bars or a motorized carriage (to taper shafts, buts, wrap grooves). Some repair lathes are able to be upgraded to cue building lathes..most are not as they are meant to just do the tips, ferrules, cleaning of shafts.
Hope this makes some sense, also you probably should have this in the ask the cue-maker section...response would I'm certain be a lot better.
Obviously that is debatable.
I have 2 commercial metal lathes, 2 full CNC multi axis production models and a Enco (metal) benchtop which is at home in my shop. There's not much I can't do on the little Enco outside of turning raw shafts. It's more than capable for 'repairs' , depending on the repairs. It just depends on what 'repairs' one is expecting to do.
Tips,ferrules shaft cleaning,wraps etc can be done with much less.But I'll add that given the option, I'd agree.
Last edited:
Tip lathe: 1/2-3/4 HP motor, 1.25" chuck opening. With live center can be used to clean shaft, and adjust taper, or change tips. You might be able to renew (or change) joints on such a lathe.
Builder lathe: 5-10 HP motor, 3" chuck opening, multiple guides to cut tapers; face ends, and generally do things necessaray for building butts. Most such machines are accompanied by a mill for cutting points, ring work,... When a but has had points cut and points epoxied onto the cuts, the whole ensemble is completely out of balance and needs a stiff set of machinery to cut it back into the shape of a butt, stiff tool rests to slowly eat away at the (soon to be) shards and dust.
A tip lathe can weigh as little as 30 pounds, a building lathe will typically run in the near 1000 pound (plus) range, often 3 phase 220 service is required or desired.
I partially agree...
a 1.5 hp with a 1.5 inch spindle bore is more than enough to build cues...
You can do it with less, but I don't like using anything less than a 1.5" spindle bore...
I also think that to truly make high quality cues, you need a double chuck or one on either side of the spindle and lots and lots of add ons and additional tools.
Most top quality cue makers have also custom fabricated and modified other tools for specific functions.
But the main thing I agree with you on is the weight of the lathe.
If you have a 200 pound lathe, it just doesn't seem to be able to accurately do some of the work that's required.
For instance, on my porper model b, you can't use the cutting blade for cutting the handle because it creates too much chatter.
I can do it easily on my 1000 pound lathe/mill combo.
Jaden
a 1.5 hp with a 1.5 inch spindle bore is more than enough to build cues...
You can do it with less, but I don't like using anything less than a 1.5" spindle bore...
I also think that to truly make high quality cues, you need a double chuck or one on either side of the spindle and lots and lots of add ons and additional tools.
Most top quality cue makers have also custom fabricated and modified other tools for specific functions.
But the main thing I agree with you on is the weight of the lathe.
If you have a 200 pound lathe, it just doesn't seem to be able to accurately do some of the work that's required.
For instance, on my porper model b, you can't use the cutting blade for cutting the handle because it creates too much chatter.
I can do it easily on my 1000 pound lathe/mill combo.
Jaden
Thanks
Thank you all for your replies.
Thank you all for your replies.