There is a Jet 1442VS lathe for sale near me. I have never owned a lathe but would like to get into turning. Can anyone give me advice on a reasonable price to offer for the lathe in the pictures? I looks to be in good shape. The seller is the former owner's son and has no idea how to price it and since I have not been into lathes so far I do not either. Also, I assume that since it is a Jet that it is a good lathe. Is there anything about this model that is a concern?
I have that exact lathe. Good lathe for the price. Notice I did not say great lathe. Mine is 10 years old or so. Probably getting time for new bearings. With the reeves drive a lot of internet sites recommend not doing it yourself. Unless you are going to jump in with both feet right away I think it would be a good lathe for you. Very few people buy the final tool the first time. A GREAT final lathe could easily cost $4000. and up I have done a lot of different turnings with this lathe.for the cost a good value in my opinion. Used 5-6 hundred in northern Wisconsin. Prices in different areas can vary a lot.
01-09-2020, 01:52 AM (This post was last modified: 01-09-2020, 02:03 AM by Arlin Eastman.)
Like Turner said it is an OK lathe.
Reeves drive makes it OK and the 1hp motor makes it underpowered and would be best with 1.5hp
It will turn 8" to 10" bowls is best and the 14" swing means you can turn up to 14" but the motor will not handle larger wood and will bog down and stall a lot. Great for small items to the size bowls I said and spindle turning.
Thing with the Reeves drive is it goes to certain speeds and on the lowest speed of 400 is to fast for rough wood that is not either centered or mostly rounded off to eliminate it being out of center.
Talking about out of center if you want to turn bowls I would put 2x12 under the braces and stack it with sand bags to keep the lathe from walking all over the place when turning or bolt it to some 2x12 and sand bag them.
Overall great for spindle turning and OK for larger work and great for learning on!!!
Last Welcome here and it seems like I just started awhile ago but it is not almost 10 years since I started. Never be afraid to ask questions even dumb ones or if someone did not explain it good enough for you ask again.
Everyone here knows how bad I did it to them when I started and they had a ton of patience for me and others. Hope to see some of your work in the future also.
A little advise to you is to learn how to use your tools on junk 2x2's to learn on cheap wood and there are a lot of Youtube out there to watch also like Tim Yoder and Robo Hippy and several others. Ask for more recommendations on youtube for other things as well. I know I downloaded over 600 of them.
Do you have any tools to use?? Ask about what to get and how to use and well just ask everything.
As of this time I am not teaching vets to turn. Also please do not send any items to me without prior notification. Thank You Everyone.
It is always the right time, to do the right thing.
Do you have a list of requirements that you are basing your search on or do you have a vague notion of what you want?
What kind of turning you want to explore will lead to the questions whether the machine you are looking at will be adequate or not.
For years I worked on my grandad's 1970s rockwell lathe until I selected the Jet 1642 in 2003. Looking back that was a mistake. At the time the 1642 was $1200 and the PM 3520B was $2200. My logic was the extra 4" swing, power and weight wasn't worth the 45% increase in price, but I realize I would have made vessels that big if I had it. The 1642 will still do 90% of what I need it for.
It has been a good lathe, though. The variable speed has been great (slow speed sanding and finishing for example) and the size and power has been adequate.
I think the Jet 1442 and 1642 are completely different lathes and not really comparable. The Reeves drive on the 1442 can be a disadvantage if you intend on turning larger, out of balance pieces because it does not allow a slow enough speed. The Reeves drive will work OK when properly maintained but definitely not the first choice for most these days unless your doing lots of spindle work and don't need the slower speeds. The rest of the lathe is good. Might be a good starter lathe depending on price and what you want to turn with it.
I have not used that lathe specifically, but my first lathe was a Delta that was very similar, maybe even a little smaller.
I think this is a great lathe to start on, definitely better than a mini-lathe.
When you are just starting off with turning, you aren't going to be doing monster bowls anyhow.
IF you have a bandsaw, either make or buy a circle jig and round out your bowl blanks before you put them out on the lathe.. I think that's good practice no matter what lathe you have.. Even the lathes that are better than what I have will appreciate it.
And please don't be offended by me saying this.. but in case you don't know.. Obviously you can't put a 30 inch log that is 12 inches in diameter on a lathe like this. Stay within a reasonable weight. Don't be dumb like I was lol. I didn't put a piece quite that big on, but I put too big of a piece on.
I definitly agree with the comments about out of round pieces. Most of what I do is segmented. They are always balanced and i have turned 131/2" bowls and vases with no problem. A 10" out of round natural not as good. I have a small cabinet sitting on the bottom shelf you can install so that adds extra weight. I do wish I could slow it down more than is possible
(01-09-2020, 03:57 PM)SteveS Wrote: Do you have a list of requirements that you are basing your search on or do you have a vague notion of what you want?
What kind of turning you want to explore will lead to the questions whether the machine you are looking at will be adequate or not.
For years I worked on my grandad's 1970s rockwell lathe until I selected the Jet 1642 in 2003. Looking back that was a mistake. At the time the 1642 was $1200 and the PM 3520B was $2200. My logic was the extra 4" swing, power and weight wasn't worth the 45% increase in price, but I realize I would have made vessels that big if I had it. The 1642 will still do 90% of what I need it for.
It has been a good lathe, though. The variable speed has been great (slow speed sanding and finishing for example) and the size and power has been adequate.
Thanks to everyone for your advice and info. Steve S you bring up a very good point about considering what I would like to do with a lathe. In this case it is really just that I happened to find out that his young man was trying to sell his dad's lathe and thought it would be good for me and him. I don't know yet what type of turning I would like to do but instead thought I would get a lathe I could play with and see what I could do. I've been woodworking for about 25 years and have been setting goals over the past few years to expand what I can do. Two years ago I set a goal to learn how to cut dove tails by hand and I have since made made pieces with drawers that look fantastic. So much fun. Turning on a lathe would be a next step. I just want to make sure the lathe is good enough to learn on. It doesn't have to be perfect at this point. From the comments I get the sense that this is good but not great lathe. If $500 to $600 is the recommended range then I'll go back and talk to him. If it doesn't work out I'll keep my eye out for another opportunity. I do not want to buy new.
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