i'm looking at a small bench jet lathe, found a used one and a new one (close in price). anyone have any info good or bad about jet lathes, i've used other jet machines and they work great.....btw it's a 9"x20" lathe.
I have been looking too and I hear they are junk. I would spend the extra on good used southbend or something of the sort.There are a ton out there. I would ***ume the JET would do good work for a home shop but anything too heavy or ******** and it might not have all the features you want. Do a good for machine shop auctions, or search for lathe and mill sales in your area. I would look for local auctions etc. Will
it's for home and space it at a premium, i was looking for a craftsman/atlas but i was told they are junk. i did find a southbend and a clausing fairly reasonable but they are too big. i know i'm limited to small parts with the smaller machine.
Well having owned Atlas etc. they are not junk. But stay away from the 6 inch one as they are just to small for car work. Buy the new Jet if the price is that close . The Jet will have a quick change gearbox which if you ever plan on cutting threads you WANT. Jet is a divison [import] of Wilton. I have run various import and American lathes and a good quality American in GOOD shape is great. BUT for home use ,light comerical the better inports are fine. Right now I have a Accu-Turn 12X36 [think Jet] and a 20 year old Enco 18X40 . Both are capable of holding .001. Both are Chinese but the Accu-Turn is only 3 years old and of noticeably better quality than the older Enco. You can do good work on a older worn machine but it takes a lot more effort on your part.I vote for new espeicaly if you are a beginer.
First off any lathe is better than none. Most any lathe will hold to .001 and that is sufficient for hobbyist work. You have to understand the language when someone tells you something is junk. They dont mean that and often dont know but are expressing a preference for a particular type or brand by dismissing others as junk. Same way i might call a Chevy or Ford a piece of Junk because i am a hard headed Mopar man. I know they arent junk but they are not what I personally like. I have had a south bend . It was ancient but a great lathe. I sold it after closing one of my shops as i had no place to set it up. I had a Smithy Lathe Mill Drill. That was a machine that I could make anything on. It was excellant and yet I know many folks would turn their noses up at it. It was sold with my Machine shop equipment when I retired. It was as I said an excellant machine for me. I currently have a Central 7 X10 mini lathe. Not the best for sure but a whole lot better than no lathe. I bought it new on ebay as a warranty return that was new but would not run. I fixed it and have about $215 invested in it. It will do a lot but takes a long time since it does not have the oomf for heavy work. Still I just made a set of steering knuckles for my altered front end on it from solid 2 inch stock. I have made a deal for an old atlas that i repaired for a friend. It will be here in the coming weeks. I have two friends with JET lathes. I havent heard any complaints and both use them quite a bit. For me any workable lathe is still better than no lathe. Don
In answering your question........ the Jet equipment is not bad at all. It is an import but ....... what isn't these days. An ***oc. of mine is running a Jet mill & has been for at least the last 15 yrs. We've both cut & notched lots of metal on it.... Never really herd any negitive about the Atlas ......I was searching for one at one time. I personally have a southbend (13"-16" swing)........ why?? Cause the price was right. Best of luck. Paco
I have a jet 14x40 lathe, a bit bigger than the 9x20 you're looking at, but I don't think that's what your asking. As far as the quality, a well kept clausing it's not. but for the money they aren't bad. A lot of people will bag on the Jet machines, but they have improved a bit in quality in the recent years. They work well if you don't over load them and take care of them (like any tool). I did modify and replace/make a couple of the parts on mine that make life a little easier (knobs, handles and T bolts) A couple things I would recomend: buy it new if the price is close, preferably from a local dealer. This makes it nice if you have to buy any replacement parts. (I broke a gear on the carrige which was my wrong doing and the local store I bought it from was happy to help me out) not to mention you have no idea what the previous owner has done to the machine. Secondly, buy good tooling!!! and lastly BUY GOOD TOOLING!!! get good tool holders if you're going to use carbide inserts, the cheap ones dont hold the inserts tight and they will move in the middle of a cut that you a trying to keep a good tolerance on.
I have a Jet 9x20 and it works OK. You will need to update the tool holder to a 4 bolt. There is a ton of info online. Google 9x20 lathe. There is also a good Yohoo group. Jet has better gears and motor than the Grizzy, Harbor Fright..... There are about 6 different companies useing the same castings.
I'm not a fan of the Jet brand. They ask more money for the same tool as many other brands, just because they are a recognizable name. I bought my newest lathe from these guys: http://www.machinetoolonline.com Here's their listing of 12"-14" swing lathes: http://www.machinetoolonline.com/Newlathes12to14.html Bear in mind that most automotive work is still going to be too big for a lathe even that size. You may be able to swing a 14" dia part over the ways, but you can't get the carriage up to it, and the cutting tool is on the carriage (IE you'll never turn a 14" dia part on a 14" swing lathe). Figure at 14" machine can turn an 8"-9" dia part, no larger. The machine I bought is the 16"x60" model (go here to see it: http://www.machinetoolonline.com/PM1660.html ), from the PM brand (their house brand). It's a big ******* (nearly 5,000 lbs) and was well worth the money. It is the highest quality Chinese machine tool I've laid hands on. Absolutely on par with the Taiwanese machines I've seen. It's not a Monarch by any stretch, but it didn't cost $60k either. Have a look at their PM brand lathes in the swing you're looking for. Most of the time they are the exact same machine as a Jet, with better motors and electrics, for 15%-30% less than a Jet. I spent a lot of money with those guys, and I was very happy with what I got in return. The service is good, and the machine lived up to my expectations and then some. They also sell Jet brand machines too, if you've really got your heart set on one.
thanks guys, i'll do more research on different machines and maybe see if i can make more room for a slightly larger machine. also find more books and info on operating them, so far i've just watched at work and read a brown sharp machinist book from 1964 .
What makes the PM better than the Jet? All of the Chinese companies use ****py hardware and the same castings.
How about the Grizzly mill lathe combo. Here's the link for the specs and price. I've had mine for about four years now and it's great. It only eats up 6ft X 2.5ft and weights about 600lbs. http://www.grizzly.com/products/Combo-Lathe-Mill/G9729 I was able to completely restore my 31 with this little mule. I even machined custom pulleys, bushings, brackets, and even brake drums. It's perfect for the price, and size. Check out my picture album for more pictures. Dowie
We have had a 12 inch Jet lathe for about 25 years. We also have a 14 inch Enco. These are set up for dedicated jobs. No problems with the Jet. Many things had to be fixed on the Enco over the years. They sure don't compare to a Cinncinati Traytop or a Monarch though.
Have you used either one? I've used both, and I've owned both, and the PM is a clearly superior machine for less money. The customer support is better too. Hard to beat that. As for the hardware and castings being ****, I dunno. My machine has good hardware on it and Seimens made electrics and motors. I have not had to replace a single stripped or soft fastener in the near two years I've had it. The guy that imports them specifies the parts he wants, and he QC's every machine when it comes in. If it doesn't p***, it goes back. I am very happy with the quality of the machine. The spindle has less than 0.0001" of runout at the taper (IE, I cannot measure any runout with my finest resolution Starrett DTI). If a USA made machine were available for some sort of reasonable money, I'd have bought it, but the only manual lathe still made in the USA is the Monarch, and they wanted $65,000 for a machine this size. That was just a non-starter. Clausing Colchester is based in Ohio, but their machines are made in the same factory as these PM machines. They wanted $18,000 for a machine that was externally identical to the one I bought. I paid $9,500 for my machine, and I think I got one hell of a lathe for that money. You can talk about buying used American made machine tools until you are blue in the face, but the fact is, until you have owned a 50-70 yr old machine and tried to keep it running in a production environment, you know not of what you speak. I've had two used American lathes and they did poorer work and took more maintenance to keep moving than this new machine does. The cost of ownership is very low on the new machine, even though the initial cost was about 50% higher than what you'd give for a non-clapped out used machine. I'd love to have our American made machine tool builders back, but they are gone, replaced by importers who are selling the same Chinese or Taiwanese machines with their name plates at 500% of what that same machine costs elsewhere. If I was going to spend $65k on a lathe, I'd have a nice used CNC machine setting here instead of this manual machine, but there's no way I can tow that kind of note, so I have what I have, and I do what I do. Idealism is a rich man's game. The rest of us have to live in the real world, where the rules aren't so clear cut, and you do what you have to in order to survive.
to stir the pot more i also found an older smithy for sale.... i know you loose a lot room/functions with the combo units but this is going to be for small parts and learning on.
You loose nothing with the smithy. Works great. Will flycut pistons , cut ring grooves . trim valves , recut keeper grooves for shorter lengths , open up converters once ring gear is removed. Make king pin knuckles. cut keyways . cut threads if it is an auto feed. That and the grizzly shown above will do more than you will ever imagine. I have often said when i had one what you cant make on that isnt worth making. Even made a grooved table and was able to use it for cutting valve seat pockets and reboring valve guides. Before i got mine I asked a lot of machinists if they were any good. All without exception said no. They wouldnt do this and wouldnt do that then one day I asked a couple of these ""EXPERTS"" have you ever seen one or used one. Without exception everyone answered well actually NO. I ordered mine the next day. $995 back then. NEVER not once, not ever did i regret owning it. In fact it paid for itself the first year in work i was asked to do for others, some of whom were the very ones who told me it was no good. You will enjoy it. Don
I have a Jet bandsaw, I was under the impression they were made by "Delta" at least that is what I was told???
I've had or used just about every brand out there of any concequence and the Jet is probably in the middle of the bunch. I ran a jet at a friends shop last week, to help out in a time crunch deal to meet a deadline. Quality tooling, keep up on the maintenance, Quality tooling, keep it clean, and did I mention Quality tooling, make all the difference in the world to your final product. Find a old timer to show you how to grind and finish your tooling will make life so much easier, so after a crash (and you will crash) you can put a fresh edge on your tool and get back after it. You have no idea how many young guys come into the shop and say they can run a lathe or mill. I hand them a piece of tool steel and ask them to put a edge on it. Most look at me like iI just kicked their dog. They were never taught how
One thing you might want to take a look at is the spindle hole in the head stock. If you intend to work on anything long like an axle make sure the head stock will hold it If the hole is to small your screwed. The bigger the hole, the better off you'll be
I have a 10x36 Atlas and I can tell you that this lathe is too small for auto work. Great if you are making clock parts but it will stall or shake itself to death if you try and take a cut bigger than .030. I rebuilt mine and spent about a thousand bucks on new parts but It's still a disapointment. Stay away from these lathes. You'd be better off with a small Jet any day.
It certainly makes for a good looking piece of table top art. Now, as far as using a machine, I think any newer machine with actual bearings in the headstock would be vastly superior.
we have a larger jet at work, can't remember the exact size, but it's been in daily use for years and works just fine. this is it right here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP1Jyrx4Z0k this one is an amura, I usually don't like chinese stuff, but this one is actually decent. I really like the joystick control for feed,instead of three seperate controlsfor the same thing. I can cut to .0001 on it still and it was made in the eighties. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEwPL0ogjLw
Well thats a helpful reply. Not all of us can afford a good used American lathe or have good 70 year old lathes. Try offering some good advance to help the guy.
well I was trying to make a point that our old jet lathe is still going and still works fine,as well as the amura brand seeming to be a well made lathe. been using both for years and the only problems i know of are in the jet,one of the speed levers hung up,it turned out to be a burr where the detent ball went, was fixed in 45 minutes. one of the other levers is doing the same thing,but i suspect the same problem,could happen to any old hard worked lathe. I have an antique clausing I use,it's wore flat out,but it's been worked to death. I've offered to buy it to make it a rebuild project,but no takers yet.
I gave $700 for a Chinese mill-drill and the lathe. I gave the mill drill away and still felt like it was a good deal. I have seen used Southbends go for under $500. Lots of parts out there for them.
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