Considering upgrading a lathe

Don,

The way I read the Grizzly specs, it is a ten speed lathe. That means you would still change belts in the pulleys.

============================== Harry, The Grizzly is a clone of ther Jet 1236. It is a variable speed (Reeves drive), with detents on the speed change lever. That's how they get the "10 speeds". Actually, it can be set between detents as well.

In my opinion, you'd be better with the extention for the Jet Mini. I think it's a better quality machine than the Griz, but you'd be slightly more limited on the maximum size you could turn. But don't be too swayed by the rotating head stock. It can be a real PITA to keep lined up and the toolrest swing arm has a history of breaking. Just my opinion, YMMY

Ken Moon Webberville, TX

I have the Jet 1236 and I don't use the rotating head stock. The minimum speed is 600 on the Jet, and using rough stock > 12" at that speed is scary.

I really wish I had a slower speed. That's my #1 complaint on the Jet.

I have the same lathe except from Canadian Tire. I hardly ever use the swing arm, to much flex in the rest. You can slow the lathe down even further by changing the belt length. As for the rotating headstock, I haven't tried turning anything that large yet but you would need to build a stand and fill it with sand or some other weight. Lines up well if you are doing spindle or shallow bowls, but for long hollow forms there is about a 1/32" out on the line up of the drive and tail.

You can see some of my turnings at

Hope this helps

James

D. J. Dorn wrote:

Your current lathe is great lathe any new lathe under $1500.00 would be a step down in quality. The grizzly only gives 2 more inch of swing if you need more length buy the bed ext. If you want to turn bowls the grizzly has to small a swing and its lowest speed is to fast also its to light a machine to do a good job on bowls I recommend you turn within the limits of this lathe until you can afford a Nova DVR or a Jet 1642.

I started with a lathe similiar to the Grizzly and did some good stuff with it from a beginners perspective. Having said that the problems are: Minimum speed is too high for unbalanced 12" blank or larger. Rotating headstock is nice for access to bowls but requires fiddling to line up with tailstock. I had a 1/2" bolt and nut I jammed between rotating headstock and bed to position headstock when tightened. I rarely used the extension for the toolrest since it was not rigid enough IMO. The lathe is not really sturdy enough for pieces larger than 12" which limits the usefulness of the rotating headstock. If you are doing light pieces like platters it is OK but these lathes aren't the smoothness so vibration can be a problem. I see this lathe as a beginner and you already have a better beginner lathe unless you really need the larger swing. Save your money and make a significant jump in quality when you do it - something with electronic variable speed and higher quality construction.

Billh

You do beautiful work - gives me some inspiration.

Don

Hi D.J. (the other DJ), The extension is such a bargain and so easy to attach and remove that, IMHO, most mini Jet owners should keep one around for the occasional long spindle, or leave attached as a parking space to get the tailstock out of the way. You probably haven't begun to out grow your mini Jet, lots of us never do, but you're smart in being sure that your next lathe is better, not just bigger.

I think it would be interesting to know the percentage of their turning time still spent on their mini-lathe by those who truly did upgrade, but kept their mini. Arch

Fortiter,

Thank you guys for the input - I'll take your advise and put the money into an extension for the Mini Lathe and start practicing.

Don

I must be a perfectionist, because I think of myself as a mere novice.

James

D. J. Dorn wrote:

I too have the jet 1236 and most of the time I don't move the head, but when I was doing a hollow form for school it allowed me to move it "off center" abit so I was not laying on the bed. When I was done I moved up the tail stock and lined up the drive point in the spindle with the point on the rotating tail stock. Onec the points were toutching I tightened the head down.

Another Bruce

When I bought a lathe, I debated between something like a Jet mini and a G5979. I went with the 5979 for the ability to work on larger pieces. While I've never tried a Jet Mini, I've never regretted going with the Grizzly. It's certainly not a perfect lathe, but for less than 1/10th the price of a lot of similarly-sized lathes, you can't expect it to be. It does, however, work pretty well for me. I've turned 10" diameter pieces without a problem. From the Jet Mini's specs, you could technically *try* to turn a 10" piece, but I'm not terribly convinced I'd want to try it.

Also, Harbor Freight has the same lathe with (I believe) a 3/4 HP motor on it for a lower price.

steve

What are you talking about? You can swivel the head on the Grizzly, and do as large of a bowl as the 1/2-horse motor can turn. Or, if you buy the Harbor Freight version (exactly the same lathe), as large as the 3/4-horse motor will turn. There's no way you'll ever turn as large of a piece on the Jet Mini as you will on the Grizzly.

I've only gone for relatively small bowls, 10" and under, and found the grizzly to handle it just fine. On the 10" stuff before rounding, the metal stand makes a bit of noise against the concrete floor (not bolted down), but just resting my foot on it is enough to keep it steady. With some plywood and sand to weight down the stand, I'd never think twice about it.

I'm sure the Jet Mini is a fine little lathe. It just won't handle as big of stuff as the Grizzly, and especially not as much as the Harbor Freight version. I'm sure that the Jet is a much, much nicer lathe than the Grizzly/HF. But it also costs $1500 more. For someone who doesn't make his living at woodturning, and whos needs are modest, blowing an extra $1500 can be tough.

steve