JWL 1442, revisited

By all means, post us a review, once you've given it a shakedown. Lack of knowledge and-or experience has never deterred others from supplying us with endless reviews.

James Barley

Yes, I am most certainly interested as I have, on order that lathe's Delta competitor, 46-714. I too will report on it when they finally decide to send it around. It is currently sitting at a local shipping terminal waiting for a lift-gate truck. That is another story which I will relate to you all when it is finally resolved. I am ready to kill someone!!

I chose this lathe over the Jet for price and difference in weight. The Delta is over 100lbs heavier.

I searched through Google and read all the messages regarding these two lathes and found very little on the Jet and found no negative comments on the Delta. This was the deciding factor.

I will keep you all posted!

Leslie

She's got tools, and she knows how to use them.

Are you by any chance referring to our resident drive-by reviewer who swore he was "out of here for good"? chuckle....................

-- Email evades spam Direct contact through web site

M.J. Orr

Point taken, Mr. Barley.

Max

My local shop has both the Jet and the Delta (a 46-715, perhaps the same model updated?). The Jet was $767 while the Delta cost $650. I lifted the ends of both lathes and really couldn't discern much weight difference, which led me to wonder if one or the other company is mis-stating it's product's weight. I'd think both would need sandbagging to be stable.

My decision was ultimately made, however, on the basis of my experience with Jet. All but one of my larger power tools in my workshop are Jet, and I've had no significant problems with any of them. That said, I have no doubt that either lathe would perform adequately for my needs, which aren't particularly sophisticated at this stage.

Good luck in receiving yours. Mine, fortunately, was in cartons at the store. Neighbor kids are great for unloading those things from the pickup.

Max

Congratualtions! While I know nothing about it, your lathe does have a little slower and a little higher speed and 1/4 horsepower more than my Delta 46-701. The design is essentially the same so you should be very happy with it. Please do let us know what you think of it. I had a little vibration in my Delta and a friend stopped by who knows about everything there is to know about machinery suggested replacing the belt with a link-belt. I did that yesterday and the thing now hums along with no vibration. Those belts do help if you have any problems with the mechanical variable speed control.

Earl

I'm unfamiliar with the specifics of your lathe. Mine mediates speed control via a pair of pulleys, the sides of which translate inward or outward to vary the effective pulley diameter. Is yours similar? If not, will a link belt work in my application? I've used link belts on table saws with good results.

Max

Mine works the same way. If I stick with turning, maybe some day I can buy a lathe with electronic speed control as the variable pulley set-up seems to be more noisy and vibrate more. But that is the kind I have and the link belt works great to dampen the vibration from the motor pulley (that's the one that seem to vibrate a little on mine).

Earl

Did you try that after they were both setup? Or in the box? The 1442 legs weigh 80lbs each. Now if you mean the Jet 1236, I agree. I started out with a grizzly that was an almost exact copy of the 1236 and its a lightweight for sure.

I should have weighed the legs on my 1442 prior to installing them. Too late now. I estimated them at 50lbs each, but you may be right. What is your source?

If your weight is correct, the total weight of the 1442 plus legs is 350lbs. I've got an extra 200lbs in sand, which should bring it to roughly 550lbs.

Max