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+-- Thread: Looking at getting a benchtop Lathe (/showthread.php?tid=7359497)
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Looking at getting a benchtop Lathe - briman87 - 12-14-2020
I’m looking at getting a lathe. I’m wondering what is the best bench top lathe for under 1k. I’ve looked at the Jet 12-16 and the rikon 70-220. What do you guys recommend? I have never turned before but have always admired what can be done on a lathe.
RE: Looking at getting a benchtop Lathe - Lumber Yard® - 12-15-2020
These 2 have a strong following:
Jet 1221VS
Delta 46-460
Personally, I have owned the older Jet, model 1220VS and is has been a solid performer in my shop.
RE: Looking at getting a benchtop Lathe - briman87 - 12-15-2020
(12-15-2020, 09:06 AM)Lumber Yard® Wrote: These 2 have a strong following:
Jet 1221VS
Delta 46-460
Personally, I have owned the older Jet, model 1220VS and is has been a solid performer in my shop.
I thought that Delta as a whole did not have good quality now.
RE: Looking at getting a benchtop Lathe - Lumber Yard® - 12-15-2020
With the changes of ownership over the years, Delta does have way more issues with after-sale support, parts, etc. Even so, the 46-460 has a pretty strong following and the specs are really decent compared to the competition. In the midi size of lathe, it's probably one of the better units in your price range. HTH
RE: Looking at getting a benchtop Lathe - Mike L B - 12-15-2020
Check out the Laguna 12-16.
RE: Looking at getting a benchtop Lathe - iclark - 12-15-2020
(12-14-2020, 11:35 PM)briman87 Wrote: I’m looking at getting a lathe. I’m wondering what is the best bench top lathe for under 1k. I’ve looked at the Jet 12-16 and the rikon 70-220. What do you guys recommend? I have never turned before but have always admired what can be done on a lathe.
I cannot seem to find any info on a Jet 1216 lathe. The Jet 1221vs seems to have been well received as was its predecessor the 1220. I have the Jet 1018 and the Jet 1642. I have been happy with them both.
One thing to consider is how high the spindle will be when you put the lathe on your bench.
Also, do you already have a good grinder for tool sharpening or will you be using carbide tools?
RE: Looking at getting a benchtop Lathe - briman87 - 12-15-2020
I don’t have a grinder yet but I have looked at using carbide tools as they seem to last longer and it is just replacing the tips. It was the 1221. That I was looking at but had also seen the laguna 12-16
RE: Looking at getting a benchtop Lathe - R Clark - 12-15-2020
I bought my Jet 1014 about 2004 or so. I bought it to get started making pens and such. Added a bed extension a couple years later; the length capacity is now 42 inches. It does what I need; mostly spindle work for furniture, the occasional tool handle, perhaps a kitchen utensil. At the time, I think the Jet 1014 was the standard in that entry-class "midi" lathe category.
Can't talk to brands today, but if I was in the market right now for a new lathe, it would have electronic variable speed control and an indexing lock feature. There have been times that I wished my lathe had those two features.
RE: Looking at getting a benchtop Lathe - ®smpr_fi_mac® - 12-15-2020
"These 2 have a strong following:
Jet 1221VS
Delta 46-460
Personally, I have owned the older Jet, model 1220VS and is has been a solid performer in my shop"
I've owned both and currently own the Jet. I think it's a much better mini lathe.
RE: Looking at getting a benchtop Lathe - iclark - 12-15-2020
(12-15-2020, 04:20 PM)briman87 Wrote: I don’t have a grinder yet but I have looked at using carbide tools as they seem to last longer and it is just replacing the tips. It was the 1221. That I was looking at but had also seen the laguna 12-16
Which lathes you are looking at makes sense now.
On the carbide tools: how long a tip stays sharp between needing to rotate it depends on the quality of the carbide and on what you are turning. Wood varieties with a high silica content can dull carbide edges faster just as they dull HSS steel gouges faster. Cutting bark can also dull tools more quickly than sapwood since the bark may have dirt or sand embedded in it. I have had carbide tips last through several small projects but I also had one hunk of bark-on magnolia that used up all 4 sides of a carbide cutter before I could finish roughing it for a shallow bowl.