Hi Bill,

"Bill Rubenstein" wrote in message
. com...
John:

I think that you need to do some reading. Much of the time metal is
turned at lower speeds than wood -- not the other way around. That is
especially true for those of us who turn metal with HHS cutters. Those
who use carbide cutters on metal run at higher speeds.

I did not know that metal was turned at slower speeds, I used to do
metalwork at a school, then a bit of woodturning at college and for some
reason always thought that the metal lathe turned a lot faster than the wood
lathe, so much for the education system
As you can tell my knowlege on lathes is non existant, what books do you
recommend?



You would need very little power so that is not an issue. You do need a
machine with a bed long enough to turn your longest cue for one piece
queues. Or if you want to make 2 piece cues, then the bed can be shorter.

Yes, ideally the lathe should be capable of handling at least 5' lengths,
60", 150 cm, 1500 mm for the metric fans, this is the reason that metal
lathes are used by cue makers, on the metal lathe you can feed the wood
through the head, I am thinking that maybe I should be a little less
ambitious and go for the 2 piece option to see how I get on but then again
the drawbacks I can see here are getting the grain to match when using ash
and lining the cue up straight with a joint in the middle, this may prove
very difficult so I am back to the metal lathe idea again, I think keeping
the cue in one piece will make the job much easier.


Some years ago there was an article in Fine Woodworking on making 2
piece cues. I'd say that is a good place to start and I suspect that
someone who has an index to FWW can come up with the issue number.

I would not mind seeing that if someone has the issue number.


Really, turning the stick itself is not much of a challenge. Doing the
fancy decorating is what separates the men from the boys.

True, I would be more than happy with a plain cue to get me started



Again, you need to do some research before you buy anything -- just my
opinion.


I have been to one woodturning tool supplies shop, not much help, I have
emailed a couple of larger suppliers and am waiting for replies

Thanks all for the help so far..