Runout on mid-size Cuesmith lathe

T

Tom1234

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi All,
I’ve had my mid-size Cuesmith lathe for almost 6 years. I checked the runout when I got it with my dial indicator and it was about .002. Just checked this morning and it was about .003. Is this acceptable for replacing tips, ferrules and tenons? If not, is there a way to adjust the chuck to reduce the runout? I know this is a minuscule amount of change, but I don’t want it to get worse. Thanks for any and all help.
 
Tom1234 said:
Hi All,
I’ve had my mid-size Cuesmith lathe for almost 6 years. I checked the runout when I got it with my dial indicator and it was about .002. Just checked this morning and it was about .003. Is this acceptable for replacing tips, ferrules and tenons? If not, is there a way to adjust the chuck to reduce the runout? I know this is a minuscule amount of change, but I don’t want it to get worse. Thanks for any and all help.
Click to expand...

When I had mine a few years ago I had to bore the jaws slightly to get it very close. I took an old bearing sleeve and put on the outside of the jaws, loosened the jaws which made the jaws tight inside the sleeve, then bored ever so slightly. I actually colored the inside of the jaws with a black sharpie so I could see when all of the jaw surface was bored. You don't want to bore the jaws without something holding them tight. Hope this helps.
 
doing just tips and ferrules, you don't need to bore them. What I do is insert the shaft, chuck up (using a sleeve of course) then I run a dial indicator on the shaft if doing a ferrule replacement, or ferrule if doing a tip, and shim the high spot with small thin pieces of paper as needed. Most shafts will wobble slightly no matter how accurate the jaws are so the above step is needed anyways.
Dave
 
Replace the 3-jaw chuck with a 4-jaw.
Cut up Home Depot receipts.
Indicate the 4 indexes , shim the high point with cut up thin receipt paper if needed.
 
Independent 4 jaw....

Get an independent 4 jaw and if it's round you can dial in most anything DNZ ;)

Learn how to dial it in...takes mere seconds.
Glue some pieces of leather on the jaws and you can toss the delrin divot makers in the trash.
 
Thanks for all the help. The paper used for receipts should do the trick for shimming. As always, the talented gentlemen on this site have helped. Thanks again!
 
3 jaw chucks

I fought these chucks for 2 years to get them to spin a dead center true..... swore a lot and tried a lot of different things , even called Chris Hightower...........,until I found out how to use them............

First of all...... The work piece does not need to run dead nuts true....... I know some people prefess how they work within a few tenths and how true their cues are........... The truth is if you can get a tip, a ferrule, or any part of a cue within about 1 or 2 thousands of an inch everything will be perfect.


Just a couple hints..... first one pin hole used to tighten the chuck will center better than the other 2. Put a ground pin in the chuck and indicate it, Loosen and tighten it a few times and spin it and watch the dial indicator each time to see how true it is. Do this with the other 2 holes and you will see that one hole is best. I put a ***** punch mark by this hole and usually use this one to tighten the jaws.

The other hint is that those little collets for shafts never worked for me. They never centered right. I wrap the shaft or the butt with a piece of .020 plastic shim stock. The piece of shim stock is about 1 inch by 3 inch. Just wrap it around the shaft with the ends sticking out between 2 jaws. Langley Custom Cues sells a set of these and are worth every penny... I have used mine for 2 years on every shaft and they still are in good shape. They never mark the shaft or the finish on the butt.

Put the shaft in the chuck with the shim stock wrapped around it and indicate it. Loosen and spin it 1/3 turn and try again......until you get it within 1 thou run out............... I do this and I never have to shim any shaft or butt........ there have been a few exceptions that were crooken as a pretzel or not round.

You could also try cleaning and lubing the chuck..... you might need that silly 1 inch spindle wrench from Taig to remove it from the spindle. I bought one about $6. Fully close the jaws and them remove the chuck. Put it face down and remove the snap ring.... remove the scroll back plate.... leave the jaws where they are...clean it and lube it with white lithium grease..... put it back together and put it back on......................... takes about 10 min. If you remove the jaws, remember they must go back in the chuck in the proper order.

There are some that feel that you need to bore the jaws to true them up. Things do not run true because the jaws are not true, they run out because of the way the jaws clamp down on them. I have bored the jaws twice in 4 years and I don't think they needed it either time .......... I find that lightly sanding the jaws helps if there are chips, dirt, or burrs on them. Open the jaws but not all the way...... wrap your finger with 220 and sand each jaw in and out a few times to polish them..... it helps a little. if you feel that you must bore the jaws, clamp a large washer behind the jaws and just bore them to clean them up. Don't take off too much material. I haven't bored mine in 5 years and they work just fine.

One last thing I learned from a talented machinist, If you are trying to bring in the runout the last thou.... sometimes you can give the high jaw a tap from a small rubber hammer or a block of wood to get it to run true.... try it...it works....


Kim
 
I bored the jaws on my Deluxe once or twice back in the day, it seemed to help. Chris told me how to set up and do it using a bearing or something similar to clamp the back of the jaws on.

Also, cigarette rolling papers make good cheap shims when necessary. The tap the jaw trick that Kim suggested works good sometimes too.
 
BarenbruggeCues said:
Get an independent 4 jaw and if it's round you can dial in most anything DNZ ;)

Learn how to dial it in...takes mere seconds.
Glue some pieces of leather on the jaws and you can toss the delrin divot makers in the trash.
Click to expand...

Sure, get a Bison independent 4-jaw with a 32 tpi back.
Good luck in finding one .
This is a portable lathe, not Clausing.
Oh, welcome back.
 
The perfect job is obtained when you work with a rest, when I install ferrule or joint I put a sleeve on the shaft and put it between center, after that I take a little cut on the sleeve and install the rest, now the shaft is at 0.0000...
At the chuck you can turn a center or an adaptor from a piece direct in a 3 jaws chuck, this is more accurate dans any 4 jaws.
I know that is not necessary for some little job but for perfection this is the way to go.
The tolerance on a brand new 3 jaws chuck is that, .002 to .003.
 
I have the same lathe and used it for cue repair for a few years. Taig or Chris sell a 4 jaw independent chuck for it. It’s also steel instead of aluminum, like the 3 and 4 jaw scroll chuck is.

I also had made a set of collets all with the exact same OD, and incrementing the ID 10 thou each. This meant little jaw movement when swapping customer shafts.

I personally found this well worth the extra time. You can get a round shaft dead nuts. And a non round shaft you can split the difference for the best outcome.
 
Taig 4 jaw chuck

This is the Taig 4 jaw bored through at 1.375 inches with the 1- 9/16 X 32 TPI thread, with the spacer ring to go onto the Taig Type cue lathes.
It is a Taig independent 4 jaw chuck with a modified chuck body.

Neil
 

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Yes that’s the chuck. But for the midsize (at least the one I have that is 15 or more years old) the chuck fits without any modifications. The midsize headstock bore is small.

Did you do the mods yourself or someone sells it that way?
 
I bored out the chuck bodies on 4 of them,through at 1.375 inches. Then set up on the back side , bored it and thread cut the 1-9/16 X 32 TPI to suite a thread gauge I made. The thread depth from the back face is 0.414 inches deep (10.5 mm deep) with a thread run out undercut area for the threading tool to run into on each pass.
It would be good if they were done in the USA as it would save on return postage to the USA. For my own one, I am making and trying a set of soft jaws made from Acetyl , and making the total length longer for when working closer to the centre, and making a shorter set for larger diameter work. I will also just get a 1/2 unc set screw and cut it with a wider drive slot, with radius to reduce the shear that will happen if I use the standard screw.
All have been spoken for, I only did 4 of them.
 
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I have one chuck for sale $140 USD posted to USA or rest of world. Send me a PM if interested.
Neil

It is sold. Thanks for those who have bought the 4jaw chucks.
Neil
 
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