Looking to buy a lathe

devorator

devorator

Ipoolmyheart@thetable
Silver Member
Hello everyone,
I posted this here for 2 reasons:

1. I want to know what's best for what I want to do which will be retiping, cleaning shafts, changing ferrules, changing collars, rewrapping (maybe leather wraps in the far future), retapering (far far future, i know i need more tools to do it professionally). I might look into refinishing and cue building (conversions mostly) as well but again not in the next 50y. Lol. So I am looking for a solid lathe to be able to spin shaft and butts on it. Not looking to upgrade soon so I rather have something smart and solid that can be used for a few good years for a little more money.
2. You guys always have some something to sell because of the upgrades and just seemed right to check with you first...

Thanks and please feel free to make suggestions. I don't know if I was clear enough...I am still learning about it...

My budget is around 1000$ maybe less definitely not more than that...
Thank you all for your precious time,

Chris@2015


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I see your in Boston, if you are ever out in the western Mass side of the state...Springfield to be exact, let me know. I wouldn't mind a visitor in my shop.
As far as lathes, you can't go wrong with either Hightower's Mid size or Mid America's...just keep a sharp eye in the Cue Machinery area as they come up for sale quite often. A Harbor Freight 7x14 style metal lathe can work for tips and ferrule work, but needs a lot of re-working to be satisfactory and doing wraps and shaft cleaning won't work as the bed is way to short.

Dave
 
Dave38 said:
I see your in Boston, if you are ever out in the western Mass side of the state...Springfield to be exact, let me know. I wouldn't mind a visitor in my shop.
As far as lathes, you can't go wrong with either Hightower's Mid size or Mid America's...just keep a sharp eye in the Cue Machinery area as they come up for sale quite often. A Harbor Freight 7x14 style metal lathe can work for tips and ferrule work, but needs a lot of re-working to be satisfactory and doing wraps and shaft cleaning won't work as the bed is way to short.

Dave
Click to expand...

Dave I'll make time to come by sir. I surely do. That's a promise!
A little bit crowded this days with the kid going to school and stuff...but I'll be there as soon as I get a little more time on my hands.
Last time when I was in Springfield was for Artistic Pool last year. Nice town. hehhe
See ya soon Dave and many thanks.

Also thanks for the suggestions and links. I was thinking of Mid America but it's a little bit over my budget...a little bit more lol.

Thanks guys...anyone else?

Chris@2015
 
Get one of those drill setups for re tipping and cleaning.

If you like doing it, then invest in something bigger.
 
devorator said:
Hello everyone,
I posted this here for 2 reasons:

1. I want to know what's best for what I want to do which will be retiping, cleaning shafts, changing ferrules, changing collars, rewrapping (maybe leather wraps in the far future), retapering (far far future, i know i need more tools to do it professionally). I might look into refinishing and cue building (conversions mostly) as well but again not in the next 50y. Lol. So I am looking for a solid lathe to be able to spin shaft and butts on it. Not looking to upgrade soon so I rather have something smart and solid that can be used for a few good years for a little more money.
2. You guys always have some something to sell because of the upgrades and just seemed right to check with you first...

Thanks and please feel free to make suggestions. I don't know if I was clear enough...I am still learning about it...

My budget is around 1000$ maybe less definitely not more than that...
Thank you all for your precious time,

Chris@2015


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Click to expand...
You can get a mini lathe and a used wood lathe. With a few jigs a gizmos you can do a lot of cue work.

With the wood lathe you can do sanding, wrapping, polishing and a host of things in the way of cue work. No matter how much equipment a cuemaker has every cuemaker also has a wood lathe.

http://www.mini-lathe.com/

Should be well within your budget and you will be learning some real hands on machining practices on a real lathe. You can do part making, joint caps and a number of things that will make the lathe pay for itself in no time not to mention the fun you will have..
 
Thanks for suggestion. I am not totally noob in woodworking but it can be helpful indeed. Appreciated.


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Ok .... you can get a mini metal lath, a wood lathe or a giant lathe and spend hours and dollars trying to configure them for something they were never intended for........

OR

You can call Chris Hightower or Todd at Mid America Pool............ tell the what you want to do and see what they have ............................. these are lathes that have been configured specifically for cue work......... you can get one and, after a little practice, you will be repairing cues and maybe even building cues.

don't buy a wheel barrow and then try to turn it into a car


You also might want to buy Chris Hightower's book............. or read mine..... let me know if you want to see it



Kim
 
whammo57 said:
Ok .... you can get a mini metal lath, a wood lathe or a giant lathe and spend hours and dollars trying to configure them for something they were never intended for........

OR

You can call Chris Hightower or Todd at Mid America Pool............ tell the what you want to do and see what they have ............................. these are lathes that have been configured specifically for cue work......... you can get one and, after a little practice, you will be repairing cues and maybe even building cues.

don't buy a wheel barrow and then try to turn it into a car


You also might want to buy Chris Hightower's book............. or read mine..... let me know if you want to see it



Kim
Click to expand...
I am a little confused. If you buy a Hightower or similar cue lathe there is no learning curve? You set it up and you are somehow miraculously empowered with the knowledge and wisdom to build and repair cues?

Most cue lathes on the market are Rube Goldberg setups that mimic what you would do with a real lathe if you had one. While very clever in how they accomplish what they do, they are never as good as a real machinist lathe.

I am also curious as to what machining processes are done on cues that are so unique they were never intended to be done on a machinist lathe? A lathe does what it does regardless if it's making auto parts or cue parts. Wood, plastic, metal, the lathe does not know the difference or what it is to be used for.
 
Kim actually said that if i want to learn how to repair/make cues it will be easier on a lathe that is already configured for that type of work.
No arguing here and like I said I'd like to have the chance to work on a wood lathe like you suggested . My budget is limited tho and Kim was right ...spending more money and time on configurations is not my goal.
Thank you both and I appreciate the input.

Now, Kim I am interested in your book but for now I only want to keep is simple. Shafts, tips, ferrules, stuff like that...and like I said maybe rewraping and refinishing but later on.

It's nice to have you guys here with all the knowledge you're sharing. That's why I always come back on this forum.

Hightower and MidAmerica are in top of my list for now...

Thanks again,
Chris@2015



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