Mini-Metal Lathe...

Zims Rack

Zims Rack

Promoting the Cueing Arts
Silver Member
What's a good mini metal lathe to buy for a cue shop?
I've seen Grizzley's, Cummings Tools has one, and a couple others, but am curious what some of you use or have positive remarks about.

Thanks,
Zim
 
Hi I use a Harbor Fr. In fact I have 4 of them. They keep breaking down--little stuff like the switch, half nuts, variable speed control, but i bought the extra warente and the just keep giving me another one every 3-4 months. Grizleys and several others are the same except for color and small changes. The Little Lathe shop in Pasadena Ca. has lots of stuff for it and the Mini Mill. Jim:) :) :)
 
I have a 9 X 20 harbor frt metal lathe,, works fine,,,did have to work on it a little to true it up,,,had a cummings, broke gears ,,,let it go at a farm auction,,,somebody else's problem now (yeah, I'm that kinda guy...LOL)
 
Zims Rack said:
What's a good mini metal lathe to buy for a cue shop?
I've seen Grizzley's, Cummings Tools has one, and a couple others, but am curious what some of you use or have positive remarks about.

Thanks,
Zim
Click to expand...

I have a Central Machinery 10" metal lathe that I use for putting on ferrules at tournaments. The one I have is 25 yrs. old and runs very true. Central machinery is the brand that H/F carries but I doubt if their new stuff will last like this lathe has. The lathe I have doesn't have the high and low variable speed but has a variable from 200 to 3600 rpm. mine has no power feed either, just manual.

The newer 7X10" lathes seem to have a lot of trouble with their electronic speed controlers. There is a guy who rebuilds these cards so as to eliminate this problem. I believe he charges around 30.00 for this service.

Dick
 
rhncue said:
The newer 7X10" lathes seem to have a lot of trouble with their electronic speed controlers. There is a guy who rebuilds these cards so as to eliminate this problem. I believe he charges around 30.00 for this service.
Click to expand...
I have a Homier Speedway 7x12. I have not had any trouble, with the electronics, knock on wood. From what I heard, all these little machines come from the same factory. There are some models now, with metal gears. I always thought, the Jet 9x20 would be nice to have, if I could afford it. I used mine to make my own live center. Here is a great source of information.

Tracy
 
!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a cummins. cummins, grizzly, and speedway are basically all the same lathe just painted different colors. They all have the bigger 3/4 Hp.
motor. I would go with speedway they are cheaper. You can get any acc.
you need for them from little machineshop.com. You will need to fabricate you a bearing steady rest with collets to do tip work an of course collets to keep jaws from maring shafts. A friend of mine has one set up to take to tour. it works great. It is a good place to start gaining some basic machine techniques. I"m sure that more expensive lathes are out there but just for mostly wood & ferrules they should give enough power an
accuracy.

Pinocchio
 
I believe that Zim has a cuesmith lathe, which is why I was asking what he was looking to use the mini-lathe for. I believe that the cue smith would be better suited to doing tip work and would be a little lighter for taking to tournaments. The mini-lathe however has built in threading capability. Zim, if you do go with a mini-lathe, I do suggest adding a 4 jaw chuck to get whatever you are working on dialed in all the way without having to worry about shim work.
 
> The one I have is an Enco,model 110-0803,bought from our own Ribdoner 7-8 years ago. The only problem I've ever had with it is the on/off switch,replacing them about once a year,until I bought an actual toggle switch. It was originally used for cue repairs,and did it's job very well,and continues to do just that. Mine is very tight,and accurate. For small jobs like tips,ferrules,and making small parts,nothing beats them. Tommy D.
 
shakes said:
I believe that Zim has a cuesmith lathe, which is why I was asking what he was looking to use the mini-lathe for. I believe that the cue smith would be better suited to doing tip work and would be a little lighter for taking to tournaments. The mini-lathe however has built in threading capability. Zim, if you do go with a mini-lathe, I do suggest adding a 4 jaw chuck to get whatever you are working on dialed in all the way without having to worry about shim work.
Click to expand...
Yes, I do have a Cuesmith lathe, the midsize and soon the Deluxe lathe. I'm thinking I might want to add a mini metal lathe to work on joint pins, inserts, and other small jobs. I probably don't need one, but it seems that a lot of cuemakers have a small metal lathe for some jobs.

Zim
 
For the price of a new mini lathe and some fixin, I'd rather spend it on a use collet closer lathe like Feeler or some Harding. :)
Big spindle hole like 1.125 or 1.250 so I can use it for facing and pinning.
 
I have a 12" speedway also, and have had no real problems except during shipping. It did take some cleaning & tuning, but is a decent little lathe for the price I suppose. I've done alittle pin and insert work with it, made centers, and that sort of thing. I would say it's better suited for that stuff then the cuelathe.


I have a cummings minimill also. I imagine there may be gear issues with those from the sound of mine, altough I have put some loads on it, and they still work. I do have an extra set though. Seems like they can be converted to belt drive.

The place Tracy mentioned Little Machine Shop has parts & info for both these type lathes and millls, and I have had good dealings with them in the past.

Greg
 
Zims Rack said:
What's a good mini metal lathe to buy for a cue shop?
I've seen Grizzley's, Cummings Tools has one, and a couple others, but am curious what some of you use or have positive remarks about.

Thanks,
Zim
Click to expand...

I have a 9x20 Enco. I added a quick change tool holder and a rear chuck. Works great for shafts.

2chuck1.jpg

2chuck2.jpg
 
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