LTB Lathe

SK Custom Cues

SK Custom Cues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I am wanting to see about getting something that I can learn on an not grow out of right away. I've been doing a little reading and studying lately and have a good amount of confidence that this is the next move for me maybe not at this particular point in my life, but soon.

If I were to choose one off this page, would one of those $500-900 ones be worth getting?

http://www.grizzly.com/products/mach-specs.aspx?key=460000
 
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lathe

http://www.cuesmith.com/ Chris Hightower

http://www.porper.com/ Joe Porper

http://www.uniqueinc.com/ Bryan Swank

I have used a Cue Companion lathe from Bryan Swank, for ~10 years.
It is a basic lathe...for tips,ferrules,wraps,clean & condition shafts.
Make very basic sneaky pete cues.

Any one of the above would have a great repair lathe to start out with.

Get some old house cues to learn with.....so, when you made mistakes...
you will make lots of mistakes... just grab another cheap house cue !


Sorry, Don't know much about Grizzly lathes, Any of the about would have
a turn key lathe designed for repair or a more advanced model for building cues.

later,
sax
 
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Which Lathe?

deadgearplyr said:
I am wanting to see about getting something that I can learn on an not grow out of right away. I've been doing a little reading and studying lately and have a good amount of confidence that this is the next move for me maybe not at this particular point in my life, but soon.

If I were to choose one off this page, would one of those $500-900 ones be worth getting?

http://www.grizzly.com/products/mach-specs.aspx?key=460000
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Hi: If I had only ONE lathe it would be a Hightower. Right now I have 5 including a Grizzley but I use my Hightower most. Hope this helps.
 
QMAKER said:
Hi: If I had only ONE lathe it would be a Hightower. Right now I have 5 including a Grizzley but I use my Hightower most. Hope this helps.
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Well, from what I understand, I want a lathe that is going to run the piece true right? I just want something that is going to provide good results.

When people say Hightower, I don't know what that means. There are a few different ones on that page. Cue smith II? Cue Smith III? Deluxe?
 
The grades of lathes regarding the Hightower or Unique brands warrants the tooling and functions you can perform . Higher grade more functions ... If you 're wanting to do repairs either will suffice , but if making cues , you will need something more rigid with a tapering ability . The better your tools , the better your work ... I would make an effort to find someone with either machine and see firsthand how they perform and then decide. It's expensive , but worth getting good stuff . going the cheap route buying inferior equipment will be frustrating in performance and quality of your results ... good luck ...:eek:
 
Eric Wynne said:
The grades of lathes regarding the Hightower or Unique brands warrants the tooling and functions you can perform . Higher grade more functions ... If you 're wanting to do repairs either will suffice , but if making cues , you will need something more rigid with a tapering ability . The better your tools , the better your work ... I would make an effort to find someone with either machine and see firsthand how they perform and then decide. It's expensive , but worth getting good stuff . going the cheap route buying inferior equipment will be frustrating in performance and quality of your results ... good luck ...:eek:
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Yes, I want to make cues. I want to buy one lathe for now though. I know absolutely nothing but have bought Joe Barringer's dvds (don't laugh). It is a start right? They serve it's purpose for me anyways.

Can I make cues with a hightower? if so, which one? can I get away with the cue smith II? It looks to be more affordable for me.
 
That's what I wanted to know

cuewould said:
Get the deluxe . I have one, you will never ''out grow it''....
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Thank you. If there is anyone out there who has one or something of it's equivalent, I would be willing to look into it. It is expensive for me at this time though. I have been studying the Barringer dvd's and they are informative, but he does talk A LOT. I would much rather see a variety of techniques and use of the many different tools than just looking at him talk.
 
deadgearplyr said:
Thank you. If there is anyone out there who has one or something of it's equivalent, I would be willing to look into it. It is expensive for me at this time though. I have been studying the Barringer dvd's and they are informative, but he does talk A LOT. I would much rather see a variety of techniques and use of the many different tools than just looking at him talk.
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I have a hightower as well as a 36" metal lathe. I use both constantly, mostly for different things. Just as a example coring wood. You would be hard pressed to do it with the hightower. Its doable but nothing compares to a metal lathe for coring dowells. If I were you I would go for the Deluxe (thats what I have) Its expensive but worth every penny!!! If youre gonna build cues you"ll need the deluxe or a similar machine at some point. The main benifit of a lathe like the deluxe is its movable by one person and its 110 wired. A metal lathe is no fun to move at all..Theres Deluxes up for sale on here with some regularity if you cant swing full retail..I would suggest you get one from Chris Hightower as not only do you get the machine but you can call him anytime for advice, problems, Ect...The new machines also come with a video to show you all basic operations.......Hope this helps........Dave
 
I understand the desire to buy a lathe as your first purchase in this cue building endeavor, but you should really start by purchasing wood.

Ask any cuemaker, you can't have too much wood! Get your inventory going now, and you won't be tempted to say "3 months has got to be long enough for the wood to be stable" when you are itching to build that first cue!


Royce Bunnell
www.obcues.com
 
Anyone?

http://www.wttool.com/category-exec/category_id/12920/nm/Lathes

I was out searching today, and I stumbled across this place. It just so happens to be in my town and I am totally thrilled I got to actually put my hands on a real lathe!

I think if I understand correctly, I can get one of those gap bed lathes 13x40 for around 2800. It's a big puppy too. The dude said I'd have to rent an engine hoist to get it loaded and unloaded. I could be wrong about all this though, maybe I should just bite the bullet and get the Deluxe. To me though, bigger is better, more stable, will run truer, and so on and so forth, but that's just my gut feeling.

Thank you Royce for your tip, I already have a wood shop, so I do have a small supply of walnut, birds eye, padauk, ph, but I guess it isn't the same as shaft wood, like dowels and turning blocks of coco huh.?

Getting closer.....
 
deadgearplyr said:
http://www.wttool.com/category-exec/category_id/12920/nm/Lathes

I was out searching today, and I stumbled across this place. It just so happens to be in my town and I am totally thrilled I got to actually put my hands on a real lathe!

I think if I understand correctly, I can get one of those gap bed lathes 13x40 for around 2800. It's a big puppy too. The dude said I'd have to rent an engine hoist to get it loaded and unloaded. I could be wrong about all this though, maybe I should just bite the bullet and get the Deluxe. To me though, bigger is better, more stable, will run truer, and so on and so forth, but that's just my gut feeling.

Thank you Royce for your tip, I already have a wood shop, so I do have a small supply of walnut, birds eye, padauk, ph, but I guess it isn't the same as shaft wood, like dowels and turning blocks of coco huh.?

Getting closer.....
Click to expand...


Biggest problem is you will have to have a taper bar setup to do any type of pro taper with a metal lathe. That gets costly!!!! Dave
 
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Dang. I have been thinking more and more. I should probably just get the deluxe. There is some of those bench top lathes for in between 4 and 8 hundred bucks. (wttool.com) As far as I can see, the spindle is big enough where I could fit a shaft through it.

Could I just get one of those in the meantime (I can certainly afford that now) and practice on just shafts? Tips, ferrules would be doable on one of those small machines right? I could maybe keep that machine for later use and get the deluxe when the time is right?
 
I bought a grizzly 9 by 19 as my first lathe when I got started. I thought along the same lines as you. I knew I would expand down the road. I sold the 19 inch once I got the 36 metal lathe and the deluxe. Didnt take long you are limited to what you can do with the smaller machine. Seperate machines for different things is definately the way to go...But if you are serious and only gonna start off with one machine just go with the deluxe. Believe me you'll be kicking yourself later down the road when you want to try and build a cue. I built my first one on that 19 inch metal lathe it was a real pain in the ass believe me. Theres no substitute for the right machine.....My 2 cents worth.....Dave
 
deadgearplyr said:
Dang. I have been thinking more and more. I should probably just get the deluxe. There is some of those bench top lathes for in between 4 and 8 hundred bucks. (wttool.com) As far as I can see, the spindle is big enough where I could fit a shaft through it.

Could I just get one of those in the meantime (I can certainly afford that now) and practice on just shafts? Tips, ferrules would be doable on one of those small machines right? I could maybe keep that machine for later use and get the deluxe when the time is right?
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If you want to start small and work your way up, Chris Hightower is the way to go in my opinion. You can buy one of his smaller lathes to work on shafts, tips, ferrules, AND you can do wraps and you get a lot of the tooling that you need for about the same price you'll get one of the small bench top lathes.

With the bench top lathe, you'll still have to buy tooling, you'll have to buy or put something together to hold the joint end of the shaft while you're working on the tip/ferrule, and something out past the end of the bed to hold the tip end of the shaft when you're doing shaft cleanings. Or do what others have and buy a cheap wood lathe, either way, you're well above what Chris charges for his entry level lathes.

Now, here's the kicker. Everything that Chris sells works on all his lathes. Also, since the components are interchangeable, you can always buy them one piece at a time as you make money doing cue repairs on tips and ferrules. You can upgrade the cuesmith III to a deluxe if that's what you want to do. It's going to cost you more that way (trying buying a car one piece at a time and see how much you spend vs sticker price), but it isn't a one time expenditure. The only thing that is different, is that the deluxe machine is a little taller off the bed. But Chris sells a riser kit (pretty inexpensive) that will take everything up to the right height on the less expensive lathe.

Hope this helps.
Just an FYI.
 
There are several modifications that you'll have to make to a standard metal lathe to adapt it for making cues. Taper bars and custom holders for routers, for example. If you're not a machinist, and can't make these things yourself, these modifications are costly and take time. I think you'll really regret it if you get a lathe just big enough for shafts. You'll very quickly get the itch to do a full cue.

What Chris Hightower has done is make a lathe that is built right out of the box to build cues with no further modifications necessary. His unit is praised by many beginning builders, is reasonably priced, can be moved easily, and also holds it's resale value. Do yourself a favor and buy a Cuesmith Delux and you can get started making cues, rather than getting started working on your lathe. ;)

Once you decide if cuemaking is for you, you can buy bigger machines, and/or machines dedicated to certain operations. For a beginner though, I don't think you can do better than Chris' unit.

Good luck.
Mr H
 
One of the best things about getting a cue lathe is that there is a demand for them if down the road you decide to sell. If you get a metal lathe there is still demand but weight plays a factor. The deluxe is 100lbs and easy to ship compared to the metal lathe. I have a deluxe and love it. I have made sevrel cues that were dead striat on the deluxe accuracy is there. Dont get me wrong the next lathe I get will be a metal lathe but I am very happy I started with the deluxe.
 
Mr Hoppe said:
There are several modifications that you'll have to make to a standard metal lathe to adapt it for making cues. Taper bars and custom holders for routers, for example. If you're not a machinist, and can't make these things yourself, these modifications are costly and take time. I think you'll really regret it if you get a lathe just big enough for shafts. You'll very quickly get the itch to do a full cue.

What Chris Hightower has done is make a lathe that is built right out of the box to build cues with no further modifications necessary. His unit is praised by many beginning builders, is reasonably priced, can be moved easily, and also holds it's resale value. Do yourself a favor and buy a Cuesmith Delux and you can get started making cues, rather than getting started working on your lathe. ;)

Once you decide if cuemaking is for you, you can buy bigger machines, and/or machines dedicated to certain operations. For a beginner though, I don't think you can do better than Chris' unit.

Good luck.
Mr H
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Mr. Hoppe, I think your comments reflect the fact that it may be possible that you've been there before and can feel what I'm after. I certainly feel thankful to have this forum and people who've commented here. Without this help, I may've spent thousands upon thousands of unnecessary dollars and wasted countless hours.

Thank you, ALL. I am grateful. If I ever do become a cue maker, I will be sure to return the same courtesy as I have received here.

God Bless.
 
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