Im interested in learning how to work on cues. i guess a good place to start would be repair work, please correct me if i am wrong. So whats a good cheap machine to start on? someone please point me in the right direction
What a good machine to start with?
- Thread starter filluptieu
- Start date
filluptieu said:
I would buy a Porper repair Lathe, they are a great starter Machine. When you out grow it, you can still use it for many jobs. I use Both the repair lathe and I also have a Porper B-Lathe, I really like both machines. Now I know that they are other Machines that will cost less, but I would not trade my Machines for any other.
Before I got my B-Lathe, I was building conversion cues on my repair Lathe. I also never had a problem doing any repair work on the machine, and that would be from complete refinish work to wraps.
Hope this helps
repair 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 !
later,
sax
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 !
later,
sax
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I like mine and they like their's. Tools are like snow flakes.
Buy a "cue building" lathe and build cues. Then learn how to build a lathe.
Find a lathe that does everything!
If it doesn't do "EVERYTHING" you'll be back here asking what tool to buy next.
Tool to start building cues:
Lathe
Bandsaw
Sander
Tablesaw
Lots of little $30 tools.
Cue building is an art. Don't expect to build a collectors item in the first year.
Buy a "cue building" lathe and build cues. Then learn how to build a lathe.
Find a lathe that does everything!
If it doesn't do "EVERYTHING" you'll be back here asking what tool to buy next.
Tool to start building cues:
Lathe
Bandsaw
Sander
Tablesaw
Lots of little $30 tools.
Cue building is an art. Don't expect to build a collectors item in the first year.
manwon said:
Craig, could you give your opinion on why you would take the Porper MiniQ Lathe ($2295) over the Hightower Deluxe lathe ($1995)? And I'm talking strictly repairs since the Deluxe would be another $800 to outfit for building cues.
Thanks!
~Shakes
I started with the cuesmith lathe. Then after a short time I bought everything else to build cues. This is a great low cost way to start and then go from there. IMO
So im guessing if i want to start i would need at least 1500 bucks huh? and so buying a regualr lathe like form craigslist is no good?
If you know how to rebuild a metal lathe, get a metal lathe.filluptieu said:
you mean how make convert the lathe into a wood lathe? but in the long run does it cost more then buying a cuesmith deluxe
I have been in the same pair of shoes and have been considering a lot of different setups.
Building my own machine, all the 3 dedicated cue machines, old metal lathes and the likes.
I started doing repair on a metal lathe (750mm between centers) and then I bought a dead cheap wood lathe.
If you are considering tip changes, ferrule changes, shaft cleaning you are basically happy with a small hobby metal lathe for everything except from cleaning.
However if you would migrate to make cues at some stage you need a larger machine which could do more.
In that case decide if you would only do cues or potentially other stuff (making you're own metal screws,collars and the rest).
I decide to go for a metal lathe because I then can make larger metal parts for other machinery expansion and potentially help friends with other projects (not just Q's).
That said, if you have the inspiration to do mostly work with Q's, you could do most of the work on one machine.
I would recommend one of Chris H DVDs (or all of them) which shows you a lot of the basic needs for Q work and then potentially decide if you would like to make you're own, buy a metal lathe or order a dedicated Q machine.
At the end of the day, I think you would find that many of the Q makers have several different setups (stages) so it would most likely not be you're one and only machine if you decide to start building Q's. Setup time would be a factor I guess.
Selling a DeLux Cuesmith up here and selling a 700Kg Metal lathe is however two totally different markets. Most of the Q machines I have seen up here have been sold in a short time where I guess selling a metal lathe is something totally different. However, if the reason for selling the dedicated Q machines is migration to heavier metal lathes is unknown.
Anyway, hope it helped.
It's all up to you're own goals and ideas.
K
Building my own machine, all the 3 dedicated cue machines, old metal lathes and the likes.
I started doing repair on a metal lathe (750mm between centers) and then I bought a dead cheap wood lathe.
If you are considering tip changes, ferrule changes, shaft cleaning you are basically happy with a small hobby metal lathe for everything except from cleaning.
However if you would migrate to make cues at some stage you need a larger machine which could do more.
In that case decide if you would only do cues or potentially other stuff (making you're own metal screws,collars and the rest).
I decide to go for a metal lathe because I then can make larger metal parts for other machinery expansion and potentially help friends with other projects (not just Q's).
That said, if you have the inspiration to do mostly work with Q's, you could do most of the work on one machine.
I would recommend one of Chris H DVDs (or all of them) which shows you a lot of the basic needs for Q work and then potentially decide if you would like to make you're own, buy a metal lathe or order a dedicated Q machine.
At the end of the day, I think you would find that many of the Q makers have several different setups (stages) so it would most likely not be you're one and only machine if you decide to start building Q's. Setup time would be a factor I guess.
Selling a DeLux Cuesmith up here and selling a 700Kg Metal lathe is however two totally different markets. Most of the Q machines I have seen up here have been sold in a short time where I guess selling a metal lathe is something totally different. However, if the reason for selling the dedicated Q machines is migration to heavier metal lathes is unknown.
Anyway, hope it helped.
It's all up to you're own goals and ideas.
K
You can buy a metal lathe and put a rear chuck on it from Chris. Then you would have to buy or make some accessories for it.filluptieu said:
Good one to start with...
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=123938
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=123938
To me this is a no brainer. Unless you are already experienced with lathes and have the tools and know how to make specialized fixtures, you should get a cue specific lathe. No other way about it in my opinion.
I started with a metal lathe
It was a 9 inch South Bend. For tips, ferrules, and shaft collars/facing it was great. But not so good for any other work because of the small spindle hole, under one inch, and a bed too short to turn a shaft the full length. I then bought a large metal lathe, and a second large lathe. Each became easier to convert to cue work as I gained knowledge. The first one was no picnic making jigs and modifications.
Then I bought my first cue specific lathe: a Unique Cue companion model 3. It did all of the basic cue work like my modified metal lathes as well as wraps, and sanding tasks. And the Companion can be used at local tournaments without giving me a hernia carrying it about.
Wait! we can sand on a large metal lathe no? NO, unless you want to wear out the bed prematurely with pesky sanding grit. The metal lathes bed surfaces, or ways, are kept lightly oiled and they pick up spent sanding grit easily. SO that required me to buy a wood lathe to sand my shafts and butts.
The moral of the story: Is the cue specific lathe better than the metal lathes? no. BUt in the hands of a novice it can do remarkably well on cue tasks seen every day. MY metal lathes do a better job when it comes to super precision joints and building functions. But I could have been building cues right out of the crate with a cue specific lathe. It took me many months to adapt the first large metal lathe to a cue making marvel.
Lately I also bought a Hightower Deluxe, and like it a lot. It is better than the Unique repair lathe for all around cue building. But Unique makes a comparable cue-building lathe, called the "Cue Maker" to be fair here, the companion was meant for repairs. And the Porper I have not used but can see by looking at one that it is a good cue specific lathe too.
Reselling: I will get my money out of both cue specific lathes for sure. I bought them used and will get all of my money back and maybe a bit more when sold. I sold my little South Bend 2 months ago, it took 24 hours to sell on Craigs list. I doubled what I payed for it. But, I bought it right. The bigger metal lathes? I will have to hope for a rebounded economy before even trying to sell them, and I have no plans to sell them by the way.
I took the time to write all this to give the reader a good idea of how tedious my path was starting out with a metal lathe. Was it a good experience? Yes, I learned a lot. But I also could have had far fewer growing pains had I bought a cue specific lathe on day one, then learned and grew from there. Maybe I would still have all the equipment i have now over time. BUT, maybe I would have been satisfied with what the cue specific lathe can do and saved a whole lot of money and time. You decide.
It was a 9 inch South Bend. For tips, ferrules, and shaft collars/facing it was great. But not so good for any other work because of the small spindle hole, under one inch, and a bed too short to turn a shaft the full length. I then bought a large metal lathe, and a second large lathe. Each became easier to convert to cue work as I gained knowledge. The first one was no picnic making jigs and modifications.
Then I bought my first cue specific lathe: a Unique Cue companion model 3. It did all of the basic cue work like my modified metal lathes as well as wraps, and sanding tasks. And the Companion can be used at local tournaments without giving me a hernia carrying it about.
Wait! we can sand on a large metal lathe no? NO, unless you want to wear out the bed prematurely with pesky sanding grit. The metal lathes bed surfaces, or ways, are kept lightly oiled and they pick up spent sanding grit easily. SO that required me to buy a wood lathe to sand my shafts and butts.
The moral of the story: Is the cue specific lathe better than the metal lathes? no. BUt in the hands of a novice it can do remarkably well on cue tasks seen every day. MY metal lathes do a better job when it comes to super precision joints and building functions. But I could have been building cues right out of the crate with a cue specific lathe. It took me many months to adapt the first large metal lathe to a cue making marvel.
Lately I also bought a Hightower Deluxe, and like it a lot. It is better than the Unique repair lathe for all around cue building. But Unique makes a comparable cue-building lathe, called the "Cue Maker" to be fair here, the companion was meant for repairs. And the Porper I have not used but can see by looking at one that it is a good cue specific lathe too.
Reselling: I will get my money out of both cue specific lathes for sure. I bought them used and will get all of my money back and maybe a bit more when sold. I sold my little South Bend 2 months ago, it took 24 hours to sell on Craigs list. I doubled what I payed for it. But, I bought it right. The bigger metal lathes? I will have to hope for a rebounded economy before even trying to sell them, and I have no plans to sell them by the way.
I took the time to write all this to give the reader a good idea of how tedious my path was starting out with a metal lathe. Was it a good experience? Yes, I learned a lot. But I also could have had far fewer growing pains had I bought a cue specific lathe on day one, then learned and grew from there. Maybe I would still have all the equipment i have now over time. BUT, maybe I would have been satisfied with what the cue specific lathe can do and saved a whole lot of money and time. You decide.
Fillup, you were asking for a used Hightower book in the wanted/for sale section. I would suggest that you get the latest 3rd edition as there have been new additions to the book. Also purchase Chris's dvds to go along with that. I just finished watching the dvds and all I can say is Outstanding! Chris is a great teacher and after watching the dvds, it makes you feel confident that one can learn how to repair and build cues. They just make you want to get at her. Also you can see Chris's lathes get a good workout.