couple of mini lathe questions

[gsieracki]

still working on the decision to go to a bigger lathe.

Just wondering a couple things.

1. What is the biggest piece of wood, weight and dimensional, that the JET 1014 can handle? What is the largest size anyone here has done.

2. Since I mainly do boxes, goblets and some segmented work, what are the advantages of going to a leger lathe? I am assuming the ability to hollow out a vessel faster, handle larger dimensions and weights of wood.

3. Does the quality of the end product really improve alot, or is that more of a matter of technique?

Thanks! again

Gerry

 

[john lucas]

Good questions. I've turned 8 and 9 inch bowls about 5 to 6" deep. Mark Kauder has turned some beautiful segmented vessels (I'm guessing they were around 8" in diameter and maybe 10 or 11" tall)
I've turned several vases that approach 11" deep and 4 or 5" wide.
I've turned I don't know how many hand mirrors on the Jet and on my Nova comet which is the same size.
If you go to the national symposium you will see a huge amount of work that could all be turned on that lathe even though most of it was turned on lathes many time as large.
You nailed the disadvantages. When turning larger work you just can't take big cuts. You also can't turn very large square pieces. Sometimes on larger work the tool rest banjo gets in the way.
Larger lathes let you do a little larger work much faster. Larger lathes take up more space. I do production small work on my small lathes because moving the tool rest and tailstock is to much quicker and easier.
larger lathes or at least the bed extension on the jet will let you use the captued boring bar systems. I did rig up a floor standing secondary tool rest so I could use the captured bar system on the Jet mini when doing demos so it can be done.
Larger lathes have larger tool rest shanks and therefore larger and longer tool rests. This is good for turning larger work but is cumbersome for smaller work. One of the things I like about my mini lathe tool rests is being able to wrap my fingers around them when supporting small spindle work. It's hard to do that with larger tool rests.
Hope that answers some of your questions.

 

[dkulze]

Hey Gerry,

As to your question of how the final work looks, there's no difference at all. Your lathe will not affect how your final piece looks unless there's something seriously wrong with it that causes huge chatter that can't be sanded out, or it's design prevents you from using certain techniques (i.e. hollowing, dismounting and remounting accurately, etc).

Where size really matters is in A)the size of the piece you can turn, B) the power of the lathe, and C) the stability of the lathe. I think the general statement is that you can't turn a big piece on a small lathe but you can turn a small piece on a big one.

All that being said, I use my Jet Mini as often as I do my large lathe. It's just more convenient sometimes and it lets me do two projects at once without having to change stock.

Dietrich

 

[Brian Hahn]

I've been doing a fair amount of between-centers work on my Jet mini, and it works fine for normal things. The real problem is stability with an out of balance piece. I've been doing a fair amount of off-axis turning and the stability is a real issue, even though I've added extra mass to the mini to increase its stability. My current large lathe is set up for bowl (face-plate) work and has some issues with spindle work, so I've been using the mini. But when my new BIG lathe arrives, hopefully later this month, I'll be switching to the big lathe.

I don't turn bowls on the mini because I like to stand at the end of the bed and I can't do that with the mini. Besides, my current big lathe is set up for bowls.

I'll probably continue to use the mini for simple spindle work like ornaments and long tool handles - my mini has a bed extension. But my big lathe with be my primary tool because a) it is much more stable, b) it has a lot more power, and c) it has much better speed control.

 

[gsieracki]

Thanks! for the replies. It does help in the decision making process.

One thing I forgot to mention is that mobility is also a factor for me. We park our vehicles inside and I need everything mobile. My current mini has a cabinet base on an HTC mobile base. It's pretty steady but not as steady as if it would be on a dedicated stand or workbench. I think the additional weight of a bigger lathe would help, but it's also more weight to move around. Always a good delima. I often lift my tablesaw to move it and have to work the legs a little to get it stable before cutting. Wondering if that would be an optio with the bigger lathe, or if there's a really good mobile base design for it. Was even thinking of a couple mobile platforms I could slide under the lathe legs, move it and slide them out. I believe any mobility comes at a cost of stability. I can not bolt anything to the floor as it is a post tension slab.

Thanks!

Gerry

 

[john lucas]

Gerry The mobile bases sold by Vega Woodworking are very stable and easy to move. I don't have one on my lathe but do have one on my bandsaw and it's very solid when of the feet.

 

[Jerry Hall]

New Jet 1220?

I understand that Jet has a 12" variation of the 10" mini out, with 3/4 hp instead of 1/2 and beefier bed.

See review: http://www.newwoodworker.com/reviews/jet1220rvu.html

Here is the Jet site page: http://www.wmhtoolgroup.com/Shop/index.cfm?navPage=4&iid=6061996&vid=0

But it looks pretty new, and I can't find anybody who stocks them. Might be worth waiting and digging. For well under $500 it might a good choice.