Small Lathe

Jimmy M.

Jimmy M.

Insomniac
Silver Member
I'm interested in purchasing a small lathe, mainly so I can put my own tips on. I was hoping that someone here could recommend one. I'd like to find one with minimal setup time, if such a thing is even variable from machine to machine.
 
Jimmy M. said:
I'm interested in purchasing a small lathe, mainly so I can put my own tips on. I was hoping that someone here could recommend one. I'd like to find one with minimal setup time, if such a thing is even variable from machine to machine.
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Hey Jimmy, how ya doing? I had Chris Tower make me a modified Q-Smith lathe just for repairs. Cost me $1,800. I can carry it with one hand. It is about 4 ft. long with a small motor. Not made for building cues. Dam thing has paid for itself 5 times in 3 years. Good luck.
Purdman :cool:
 
I 2nd that! I've got one as well and have had it since June and it's already paid for itself in tip, ferrule and shaft reconditioning alone!
www.cuesmith.com

Zim
 
What the hell is going on here? $1800? Don't they have a "damn,-I-don't-want to-spend-that-much" model or something? I could ask my friend Rude Dog to pitch in. I heard he snapped off a big tournament in Kingman last night for $25. :D












(I'm kidding, by the way. I realize that lathes can get pricey.)
 
Jimmy M. said:
What the hell is going on here? $1800? Don't they have a "damn,-I-don't-want to-spend-that-much" model or something? I could ask my friend Rude Dog to pitch in. I heard he snapped off a big tournament in Kingman last night for $25. :D











(I'm kidding, by the way. I realize that lathes can get pricey.)
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Chris has a smaller lathe for a little cheaper! You could also try www.taigtools.com, but you'll have to do some modifications most likely.

Zim
 
Jimmy M. said:
Looks like Taig Tools is in Chandler, AZ (where I live). Convenient!
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Jimmy,

At 0.343 that lathe doesn't have a large enough spindle bore for a shaft to go through. Well if you only work on very small shafts. LOL

You might find of interest the import lathes. Brian had one over at Pappys for tips, ferrules etc. That type of lathe you'd need to cut a bushing to support the shaft where you put it through the spindle bore.

Yahoo has intrest groups for the 7X12 and 9X20 import lathes. I recently sold a 9X20 that would do most work so you wasn't limited to just what a cue lathe will do. It had a lot of tooling as well. The 7X20 sells for under $400 as I recall. Harbor freight here in Phoenix has some deals once in a while. The Speedway Lathe, you can see them on Ebay, Is the best deal for the same type of lathe.

Truthfully, unless you like to tinker, your best off just paying for tips to be put on. Tooling gets expensive so, it just depends on what you want. Here is a link for more info if your interested. http://www.mini-lathe.com/

Rod
 
I have the harbor freight lathe

I have the harbor freight lathe, and I wish that I had purchased one of Chris' lathes in the first place (And I WILL be purchasing one relatively soon). You'll end up spending the rest of the money difference between the harbor freight lathe and Chris' low end lathe in tooling and other parts. Once you get going replacing your own tips you'll be surprised how many people will ask you to do theirs. It may take a little while but it will pay for itself, I promise. His micro cue smith II is right up your alley, and he includes an instructional video to help you get started (not to mention all of the tools you need.)

Page for cuesmith II:
http://www.cuesmith.com/main/lathes/micro_2/index.php

Good luck and happy hunting.
 
Mini Lathe

Rodd said:
Jimmy,

At 0.343 that lathe doesn't have a large enough spindle bore for a shaft to go through. Well if you only work on very small shafts. LOL

You might find of interest the import lathes. Brian had one over at Pappys for tips, ferrules etc. That type of lathe you'd need to cut a bushing to support the shaft where you put it through the spindle bore.

Yahoo has intrest groups for the 7X12 and 9X20 import lathes. I recently sold a 9X20 that would do most work so you wasn't limited to just what a cue lathe will do. It had a lot of tooling as well. The 7X20 sells for under $400 as I recall. Harbor freight here in Phoenix has some deals once in a while. The Speedway Lathe, you can see them on Ebay, Is the best deal for the same type of lathe.

Truthfully, unless you like to tinker, your best off just paying for tips to be put on. Tooling gets expensive so, it just depends on what you want. Here is a link for more info if your interested. http://www.mini-lathe.com/

Rod
Click to expand...

Rod

I was wondering if you have used this mini-lathe on the link you have provided. If so and you recommend it, where do I buy it and what is the bore through diameter. Thanks
 
I used to modify the Harbor Freight lathes in the late 80's and early 90's. The 7" lathe has a 3/4" bore in the back of the spindle but only has a 5/8" bore through the chuck. This made it hard to get a collet around a 13mm shaft. I used to drill the chucks out a bit to solve the problem. You still need some kind of steady rest out back, concave live center, lathe pins, collets and such to get it ready to tip and clean shafts.
Chris
www.cuesmith.com
 
Travel tipper

Hey Jimmy, have you ever looked at Unique Products lathes? In the next couple weeks I am going to be buying there Travel Tipper version. It sells for $700. I'll probably have 8 to $900 in it when I'm finished. After a minor modification I will be able to do tips, ferrules, clean shafts, and wraps. That's all I'm interested in doing. I haven't found one nicer for the price. Todd.
 
Go to Harbor Freight and look at theirs. HarborFreight.com

There is a Harbor Freight on 35 ave and Bethany, 50 ave and Bell, and there is/was one in Mesa. I don't know if the Mesa store is still there, its been a couple years since I've been there.

With the right attachments, any lathe will do... However, I don't use a lathe to put my tips on and I've been putting them on for years with no problems... I don't really know why eveybody thinks only a lathe will do /shrug

Have fun shopping! I love buying new tools :)
 
Jimmy M. said:
I'm interested in purchasing a small lathe, mainly so I can put my own tips on. I was hoping that someone here could recommend one. I'd like to find one with minimal setup time, if such a thing is even variable from machine to machine.
Click to expand...

I use a precision Mini-Lathe for about $350, but I've still had to make parts, fixtures, and jigs to do the things I want to.

Apart from those mentioned, you might also look at

http://shaftmaster.com

http://www.uniqueinc.com/price/travel_tipper.html

Fred
 
Kevin Lindstrom said:
Rod

I was wondering if you have used this mini-lathe on the link you have provided. If so and you recommend it, where do I buy it and what is the bore through diameter. Thanks
Click to expand...

Kevin I only used one once. Cueman gave the basic info you need. I bought a 9X20 because of projects needing more length. They all need some tweaking but that is what machinists do. The special interest groups seems to point towards the electronic boards getting fried in some cases. That was never a problem with a 9X20 plus they have more torque.

These lathes really need a Quick change tool post, but it's not necessary, you'll just spend more time changing/setting up tool bits. The bucks start adding up in tooling so be aware of that fact if you want to do more with a lathe.

Rod
 
Small lathe

Jimmy M. said:
I'm interested in purchasing a small lathe, mainly so I can put my own tips on.

Jimmy,
Jude will be selling a new version of his $800 Shaftmaster on March 1. The new version will sell for $399.00 and is fine for tips and shaft maintenance. It's the most affordable I've seen yet other than the home made device I put together.
tip and shaft gizmo

Regards,
Rip
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Rip said:
Jimmy M. said:
I'm interested in purchasing a small lathe, mainly so I can put my own tips on.

Jimmy,
Jude will be selling a new version of his $800 Shaftmaster on March 1. The new version will sell for $399.00 and is fine for tips and shaft maintenance. It's the most affordable I've seen yet other than the home made device I put together.
tip and shaft gizmo

Regards,
Rip
Click to expand...

I made one based on Rip's but mine is not near as nice. It does do the job however. Mine is a variable speed 1/2" drill with a trigger lock which is attached to a board, like Rips board, with a bunjee cord or two.

I got a crutch tip and drilled a hole through the center, put a bolt, with a washer on both ends and a nut on the outside, through the crutch tip, leaving enough bolt showing on the outside for it to go into the drill jaws.

I tried several types of rests for the tip end but prefer using my hand and/or a towel wrapped around a piece of 2x4. The small rubber wheels made marks on the shafts. If I need the shaft tied down I put a small towel around it and then but a big rubber band around the shaft and 2x4 and the board that serves as the base for the whole thing.

Very crude looking but it works just great. With a joint protecter on the butt you can also spin the butt end. I'll bet you could do a wrap! I sanded the finish off a butt that I have and then sprayed it with auto clear. I screwed up the clear job but the sanding with the Crude Crutch Lathe worked fine.

If you want a tool that will spin the shaft this works and even if you have to buy the drill you'll have less than a hundred invested.
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JimS said:
I made one based on Rip's but mine is not near as nice. It does do the job however. Mine is a variable speed 1/2" drill with a trigger lock which is attached to a board, like Rips board, with a bunjee cord or two.

I got a crutch tip and drilled a hole through the center, put a bolt, with a washer on both ends and a nut on the outside, through the crutch tip, leaving enough bolt showing on the outside for it to go into the drill jaws.

I tried several types of rests for the tip end but prefer using my hand and/or a towel wrapped around a piece of 2x4. The small rubber wheels made marks on the shafts. If I need the shaft tied down I put a small towel around it and then but a big rubber band around the shaft and 2x4 and the board that serves as the base for the whole thing.

Very crude looking but it works just great. With a joint protecter on the butt you can also spin the butt end. I'll bet you could do a wrap! I sanded the finish off a butt that I have and then sprayed it with auto clear. I screwed up the clear job but the sanding with the Crude Crutch Lathe worked fine.

If you want a tool that will spin the shaft this works and even if you have to buy the drill you'll have less than a hundred invested.
Click to expand...

I tried this same thing, but I get one heck of a lot of wobble when the shaft is turning. Any suggestions why?
 
catscradle said:
I tried this same thing, but I get one heck of a lot of wobble when the shaft is turning. Any suggestions why?
Click to expand...

If your talking about the crutch tool, you just pull the shaft one direction, while spinning, and it self centers. Did you get the hole thru the center fairly close? I made two long ago and they work perfect. I epoxied the nuts and washers so they wouldn't come loose.

Here is a couple of pics.

Rod
 

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Rodd said:
If your talking about the crutch tool, you just pull the shaft one direction, while spinning, and it self centers. Did you get the hole thru the center fairly close? I made two long ago and they work perfect. I epoxied the nuts and washers so they wouldn't come loose.

Here is a couple of pics.

Rod
Click to expand...

I got the think fairly well centered, the crutch tip I bought happened to have a metal insert at the bottom with a hole already in the center (probably a washer used to reinforce the rubber) so getting it centered was easy.

what you suggested with self-centering makes perfect sense, I'll try it. Should have thought of it myself.
 
Small Lathe solution!

Shaftmaster Deaux

Jude has made improvements on his $399 Shaftmaster! This might be a viable solution for a lot of us tip whores. It has a variable speed motor with foot switch.
Regards,
Rip
 
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