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Jet 1642 info please

W

woodwish

Joined
May 7, 2004
Messages
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Location
Lynn Haven, FL
My wife and I went to the Woodworker's Show in Atlanta this past weekend. Due to the weather it was almost deserted and closed early. As they were closing one of the dealers made me one heck of a deal on the demo Jet 1642 2hp model. Of course the deal was that I had to carry it home so they didn't have to mess with it. The ice in the parking lot was so thick they could not get the laborers to load it for me, so now one of the salesmen is delivering it himself next week when he comes to sunny Florida on vacation.

So my real question is that I am moving up from my Delta Midi which has 1" x 8tpi to 1 1/4" x 8tpi. I was about to order a new adapter for my chuck but I also realized that my modular tool rest from Best Tools probably will not fit, so I was going to also order a new post for my tool rests at the same time. Does anybody with a Jet 1642 know what diameter the tool rest post is? I have serached through all their litature and I can't find that dimension anywhere. I would like to go ahead and order ASAP before the lathe gets here next week.

Thanks-
Ray
 
The post on the tool rest is 1".

Have fun with the 1642 -- I have that model and have spent many pleasant hours generating shavings and sawdust.
 
I Like my Jet 1642 2 HP

Yes- 1" is correct

My experiance with the lathe was bad at first and now very nice mostly.
I bought my lathe from catalog and when I received it the variable speed motor broke within 1 week. Taiwan had to send another control panal out and after a few hour long trips to the service dealer and a month + of down time all things were repaired. Jet was very good through out. My tailstock live center broke soon after receiving (became a dead center) and jet mailed out an upgrade free (they ran out of the origional) SOOOO its been 3/4 of a year now since I have owned it and since the origional problems things have been smooth. The lathe still dances ( a couple of inches ) when large slightly uneven pieces are turned at above 800 RPM. I want to bolt it to the floor. Yes I use 300 pounds of added cement to stablize machine too. I just purchaced a Vicmarc outboard turning ensambo that attaches nicely to the Jet with minor redrilling and now my 16" over the bed swing can go up to 36"- as long as you don't need the tail end spindle to hold anything.

It is a nice machine but I wonder if I should of bought the Powermatic 2320A for a few hundred more. 20" swing, more heavy duty, shorter bed( not great), heavier frame- 700 lb compared to 300 lbs. I don't know... I turn mostly small things with the exception of large platters so may be I did just fine.

The Funny thing is that when I bought the lathe for approx $1800 I thought that I wouldn't need to much more accessories to turn out cool stuff and though that is true on paper, $2000 later I can't believe how much stuff I accumulated. Just added a threader - to many toys

My lesson that I learned- Get what you wan't and figure out how to pay for it later. within reason of course (my wife talking )
 
Thanks for the info about the 1642. I orginally thoguht about 3520A but this was such a deal I just couldn't justify the difference in cost. Most of my work so far has been rather small in dia. and I don't see that changing a lot. I haven't really looked into outboard turning but that does sound like an option if needed.

Thanks again, Ray
 
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