This is an excellent lathe. Mine did arrive with a damaged hinge plate on the motor contrll box but Jet gets an A+ for customer service by FedExing a new one right away without any fuss.
This is my third lathe and a second one to have on hand for doing smaller items. That way I don't have to fire up my 2HP Powermatic just for small stuff. I am very impressed with the general operation.
The new indexing feature is a nice addition to this lathe. It has 24 indexing positions which is plenty for a mini lathe. Indexing is done via a spring loaded threaded pin just in front of the handwheel. Pushing it in engages the lock, release and it springs back out. Push it in and turn it to engage the threads and you have hands free use of the locked spindle. Just remember to unlock it before starting the lathe up.
The variable speed is easy and accomplished by five speed settings on a dial, combined with three belt settings. A belt setting of LOW gets 500-1200 RPM; MED 1100-2600 RPM; HIGH 1700-3900 RPM. A plate on top of the motor controll box has all the speed settings posted there. Changing the belt positions takes all of 20 seconds. Probably less with smaller hands than mine!
As a test, I mounted a branch section 8"long x 3" diameter, and 1" off center. Starting the lathe at 500 RPM produced no significant vibration. This was with the lathe just sitting on a bench, not bolted down. I slowly turned the knob to speed three, 680 RPM, and vibration became too much. Speed one and two would have been more than enough to rough the piece down to round. JET JML 1014VSI 10-Inch-by-14-Inch Variable Speed Indexing Mini Lathe
After comparing alot of mini-lathes I decided the Jet would win out. It offers all the features I was looking for as a beginning wood turner. The centers line up absolutely dead-on. Very nice balance, nothing but a hum at high speeds. Wish the control box was metal but as long as the plastic does not become brittle and crack it wont matter. Only other design flaw I see is the power cord placement exiting the control box does not allow it to swing fully open thus restricting access to the belt and lower pulleys making the belt chang a little more difficult than it should be. Over-all I am very pleased with the lathe. Very Solid tool,
I would reccommend it to anyone.
After perhaps a month of reading and comparing mini lathes, I choose to buy the JET 1014VS. I am totally satisfied with this lathe and look forward to "turning" each new project.
The 1014VS is a stout machine that actually hums at higher speeds - No vibration, just smooth operation.
My lathe did arrive with a broken control box, perhaps the manufacturer will retrofit with a metal appliance someday. Replacing the control box was relatively easy and the Customer Support lady was very helpful.
I am a very happy customer.
I had been looking to start turning and decided to start with the Jet Mini lathe and the price on Amazon could not be beat. I am very happy with the variable speeds. The lathe is solid and works great especially paired with Oneways Chuck. The problem was that one of the rubber feet on the bottom of the lathe was broken from shipping. No big deal right. I called Amazon and the response was to send the entire lathe back to them for a replacement to be sent to me. I thought this to be a bit silly. The rubber feet are a few ounces this lathe is around 70 lbs. I abandoned Amazon's customer service and called Jet. They sent me the rubber feet with no problem and billed Amazon. Customer Service was great from Jet. so so from Amazon.
Am new to this great found hobby. Bought my first Jet NonVS and when I first found this hobby, wish i was was advised to buy the VS from the very first time. But havig this new machine it has given me untold hours of great service and what I feel are some very nice pens, still learnig but I like to think that this machine makes it all more interesting and easier. I am without a doubt very happy with my new VS and hope to maybe someday move up to another model in this fun hobby.
Friends that have been turning longer them myself have also shared theire love for this machine when they visit my shop.
R Helveston aka, Postalbob
Having read many reviews and waffling between saving a few dollars by not getting a Jet or not getting variable speed control, I decided I didn't want to upgrade a few years from now. I am so incredibly happy with this lathe! I had learned to turn on a Shopsmith, and the size and quietness of the Jet absolutely amazed me, the fit and finish is perfect, it has plenty of power, and the belt change takes maybe 5 seconds. I highly recommend this machine!!!!
This was my first lathe purchase, but not my first purchase of Jet product. After receiving and opening the box, it was clear the box had been dropped sometime during shipping. The live center tip was bent and the on/off switch was damaged. I went ahead and assembled the lathe to verify if anything else was damaged and fortunately it was in good shape - this lathe in heavy for its size.
The Jet service center I called sent me replacement parts via 2 day mail, free of charge. I would have balked if I had received any less service, so I'm glad they did this without me having to ask for it.
I finished assembling the lathe and started turning. I'm still learning about the things to do with the lathe, but so far things are going better than expected. I was not sure what the indexing feature was, but figured it out quickly and realized the additional value. I purchased a one-way scroll chuck at Woodcraft which was a very nice addition to this mini lathe. My favorite feature on the lathe is the variable speed. I'm not one to tolerate taking time to shift pulley belts around, so being able to adjust the speed with a dial has already made working with this power tool a pleasure. I give it 5 of 5. - Jet Lathe - Lathe - Jet - Mini Lathe'
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