Metal Lathe cost to build cues?

[dakota]

I have been considering buying a lathe for repairs and to build cues. I have worked with a friend who used to own a Porper lathe and I think if I bought I cue lathe I would actually purchase the Hightower deluxe. However I have also been looking at the option of a true metal lathe like one of the Grizzly lathes. There are two or three models that range from around $2000 - $2700 that should work well for cue building purposes. I know these will be more solid and more accurate, but I am wondering how much it will really cost to outfit one of these to do everything that you can with a Hightower deluxe? How much will it cost to add taper bars, and do they need to be custom fabricated or can they be purchased and how much to add a router assembly to do turning and cut points? In general, on top of the $2500 initial cost, how much more will it cost a beginner to outfit one of these grizzly lathes to do everything needed to build cues? Thank you in advance for any information and any thoughts that you are willing to share.

dakota

 

[dave sutton]

I looked into it. Grizzly 13x40. That's what you need. With taper attachment. Only this I'd it weighs 1900. For the same price the hightower deluxe seems better. Then a small metal 7x10 for 350$

 

[rhncue]

I have been considering buying a lathe for repairs and to build cues. I have worked with a friend who used to own a Porper lathe and I think if I bought I cue lathe I would actually purchase the Hightower deluxe. However I have also been looking at the option of a true metal lathe like one of the Grizzly lathes. There are two or three models that range from around $2000 - $2700 that should work well for cue building purposes. I know these will be more solid and more accurate, but I am wondering how much it will really cost to outfit one of these to do everything that you can with a Hightower deluxe? How much will it cost to add taper bars, and do they need to be custom fabricated or can they be purchased and how much to add a router assembly to do turning and cut points? In general, on top of the $2500 initial cost, how much more will it cost a beginner to outfit one of these grizzly lathes to do everything needed to build cues? Thank you in advance for any information and any thoughts that you are willing to share.

dakota

It all boils down to what you want to fabricate yourself or what you want to pay someone else to do it for you. If you are mechanically inclined and are handy with your hands then very little expense is incurred. If you want someone else to do it you could spend many thousands.

I bought a new Enco lathe in 1991 and built a full length tapering attachment for it for less than 15.00 and made an adapter for the rear of the spindle so as to mount another chuck for less than 2.00. You can purchase a set of delrin collets or make them yourself for about 30 or 40 cents apiece. To make a full size lathe easy to use and productive it needs a quick change tool post and extra tool holders, some collets, an adjustable boring bar holder, a rear chuck, and if only one lathe a tapering bar setup. A router or laminate trimmer, cutting tools, drill bits and so forth are needed for any type of lathe.

Dick

 

[nbll01]

I have been considering buying a lathe for repairs and to build cues. I have worked with a friend who used to own a Porper lathe and I think if I bought I cue lathe I would actually purchase the Hightower deluxe. However I have also been looking at the option of a true metal lathe like one of the Grizzly lathes. There are two or three models that range from around $2000 - $2700 that should work well for cue building purposes. I know these will be more solid and more accurate, but I am wondering how much it will really cost to outfit one of these to do everything that you can with a Hightower deluxe? How much will it cost to add taper bars, and do they need to be custom fabricated or can they be purchased and how much to add a router assembly to do turning and cut points? In general, on top of the $2500 initial cost, how much more will it cost a beginner to outfit one of these grizzly lathes to do everything needed to build cues? Thank you in advance for any information and any thoughts that you are willing to share.

dakota

Several things to consider here. I have both a Hightower deluxe and a metal lathe. Both are great but if I had to only pick one it would be the Hightower. Another very important consideration is how much time do you have to build cues? If building cues is your job then by all means buy a metal lathe BUT if your gonna do the cues part time. How much of the time do you want to spend building jigs versus building cues? With the Hightower deluxe its a turn key setup. Plug it in and your on your way. A metal lathe alone isnt gonna do it, you'll need lots of other tooling.It goes with out saying machines alone wont build a cue, you have to also have knowledge. Just my 2 cents worth...........Dave

 

[olsonsview]

Tooling cost is almost equal to machine cost

And you may need to spend the next six months making all your jigs after you learn to use the lathe with some proficiency. You will buy more tooling than you need at first because you may not know exactly what works best, and it all looks great at the tool store. That wastes money and time. You also need indicators and other measuring instruments like a machinist level etc, to set up that metal lathe right. It is also helpful to have the use of a milling machine to make some of the tooling/Jigs. The good side is you really develop your machine skills along the way. And if you add another metal lathe later, the adapting time goes way down to almost nill. I went with a metal lathe and had three before i ever bought a cue lathe. I had made cues and really did not need a cue lathe but bought one to have a portable lathe to do tournaments. Honestly I love my Unique cue lathe for small repairs now, and the metal lathes are used mostly for doing pins /joints, doweling, and tapering nowadays. If you want to get started making cues, and you are not a machinist, then by all means buy that deluxe, Chris makes good products, as does Unique, and others. And their help when things go wrong is priceless! The metal lathe manufacturer leaves amateurs on their own to sink or swim. And take my word for it you can break those beefy parts on that 1000 lb lathe in a heartbeat, I have experience there.

 

[RocketQ]

Dakota you have to realize if and when you go down this road you are never done buying or building fixtures or parts or tools to build cues. It is an endless cycle.
As for you question you will have about 400 in a taper bar. 100 in a router nother 20 in a mount. you will have to tear down the lathe everytime you want to taper to disengage the crossfeed screw unless you make a floating carraige for the router. $$$ Price is ???? depends.
Option number 2 find a used lathe that has a 1.25 or larger spindle bore and buy a saw machine. You will probably have about the same money by the time it is all said and done and you don't lose the use of the lathe.


John

 

[qbilder]

If I had it all to do over again, with the knowledge & experience I have aquired, i'd start with cuesmith deluxe. I would eventually buy dedicated taper machines, dedicated threading lathe, dedicated joint work lathe, etc., but the deluxe is about as good a start as you can get for under $5000. With a deluxe lathe as my only machine, I could build cues as good as the ones I build now with a well equipped shop. It would take considerably longer, and would put lots of wear & tear on the deluxe, but I could do it until I were up & running enough to get my shop further equipped.

Starting with a big metal lathe will require a 220v hookup, lots of mods & extra tooling, and will be tremendously more dangerous if you are lacking in heavy machine experience. The deluxe will bruise your finger tips, a 13x40 will rip it off. I reccomend starting small, get experience & then step up if you think it's for you.

 

[rhncue]

If I had it all to do over again, with the knowledge & experience I have aquired, i'd start with cuesmith deluxe. I would eventually buy dedicated taper machines, dedicated threading lathe, dedicated joint work lathe, etc., but the deluxe is about as good a start as you can get for under $5000. With a deluxe lathe as my only machine, I could build cues as good as the ones I build now with a well equipped shop. It would take considerably longer, and would put lots of wear & tear on the deluxe, but I could do it until I were up & running enough to get my shop further equipped.

Starting with a big metal lathe will require a 220v hookup, lots of mods & extra tooling, and will be tremendously more dangerous if you are lacking in heavy machine experience. The deluxe will bruise your finger tips, a 13x40 will rip it off. I reccomend starting small, get experience & then step up if you think it's for you.

I have said this often but is usually misconstrued. These small cue lathes are light, don't take up much room, have a lot of what's needed to start building cues or repair, are fairly cheap and most importantly - come with a number to call if you get into trouble, which, of coarse, will happen often when first starting. With as little as 5 or 6 grand you can get one of these, a saw, drills, taps and other basic equipment to start out and in the matter of days be building a cue.

With a full size lathe, that can be bought for as little as 200.00 and a cheap drill press, a person using some ingenuity can build nearly everything a person needs for building cues for next to nothing. However there are drawbacks. It's going to take time to build what you need. You need much more room. You must be creative and have some experience and the greatest drawback is there is no phone number to call when you are stumped. In essence, I believe anyone who is not already experienced in cue repair and doesn't already have some lathe equipment to start off with the lightweight cue lathes as they can get their feet wet and see if this is really for you without breaking the piggy bank.

Like I said earlier, I made a full length taper attachment in less than a day for around 15.00. I built my first, self contained saw shaft machine in 1996 for around 700.00. Since then I have found better places to acquire the needed materials and I could build one for less than 400.00 and it has the saw built in with it's own motor, a 100.00 saw blade and a gear reduction motor that feeds it. Many people have different ways of turning their shafts but I've never seen one that will cut as smoothly and precisely as a saw blade machine.

Dick