JET metal lathe

Slim pickings around here. My lack of knowledge keeps me from pulling the trigger.

Could anyone give a rundown of quality on this as compared to old south bends, smaller clausings, etc?

https://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/tls/d/maricopa-jet-24-lathe-delivery-available/6970987380.html

I used one at work for about 4 years. Good lttle machine for maintenance and repairs but I highly doubt it would compare in quality to a decent older US made lathe. The one I used had a twist in the ways. It also refused to part off properly, always dragging the blade under at the last instant and snapping it off. Had to replace the cross feed screw as it wore out. Easy enough to source and install a proper acme threaded replacement with the proper TPI from another machine. Having said that, it well more than paid for itself in the staggering amount of repair work we got out of it. I turned many new Babbitt bearings out on that little machine. I have used newer machines that felt worse to operate.

The one I used was certainly far from 100% yet it worked well enough to earn it's keep many times over. I'd buy one in good shape.

Jet is a decent brand for an import lathe. Personally I think the price is high for a 10" lathe.

You can get a brand new Precision Matthews 10x22 or 10x30 lathe with pretty much the same tooling for a couple hundred more, or a Grizzly 10x22 similarly equipped for a few hundred less.

Advantage to a new import lathe is they are new, if you have an issue the seller is available to fix the problem (assuming you buy from a reputable seller, not a fly by night online or ebay seller). A new lathe you can start using, there may be improvements to make, but you are not buying a project.
Precision Matthews has a good reputation, Grizzly is lower down the chain, but still a generally good reputation. Jet is marketed more towards industrial users, and the prices tend to be higher, but another well regarded brand.

The problem with old US made lathes is they are old. Even newish ones are mostly from the late 70s to mid 80s so still 35-45 years old. Parts are still fairly available for many, but not cheap.
If they are in really good shape they can command a premium, and even in major project shape, many sellers try to get a premium price. There are some bargains out there, but you need to be experienced enough to tell a bargain, from shiny junk.

The old American machines legitimately earn their reputations. I have a late model Powermatic Logan 10x24 and it weighs nearly 3x as much as a similar sized import lathe. Cast iron and steel vs aluminum and plastic. It also took me several months to get it into halfway decent operating condition, but it was bargain priced so I'm not complaining.

$1500 would be a very decent price on that lathe, especially considering it includes a 4 jaw chuck, face plate, and extras. $1800 isn't exactly terrible, but I am not familiar with the market in Phoenix...here in Georgia, it wouldn't take long to sell. That being said, the devil is in the details...you need to make sure the ways aren't completely worn out near the headstock, and you need to check for backlash with the dials.

As mentioned above, a lot of the older American lathes will have more mass, but really depends on the model. It would be reasonably comparable with an Atlas/Craftsman 10", or even an older South Bend 9, but not really comparable with a South Bend Heavy 10. One thing about those models, parts are easy to find...it can be somewhat difficult with some of the older imports.

Either way, it would be a great starter lathe. If you could manage to get it for $1500, I have little doubt you would have trouble getting your money back down the road.

Price is a bit high and seller is misinformed - lathe was not made in California, probably Taiwan. In fact, some of the wording is suspect - the seller may not be the user, could be an estate.

What happened with this one? https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/tls/d/apache-junction-lathe/6946653040.html

On your first lathe you want to make sure that every function works. That one seems in decent shape. With that "runner" then you can bring in project machines

That comes with a fair amount of tooling. If you are just starting out, it has most everything you would want with the possible exception of a QC tool post. I have never heard of that company but the hardened ways and what appears to be a power cross feed are a definite plus. Take cash and a trailer and check it out. If it is relatively tight I would buy it. I bet you will learn more on that lathe than with no lathe.

I always thought this was a pretty good write up of checking out a used lathe:

http://www.mermac.com/advicenew.html

That's an older model and you might have a hard time finding parts for it. For that price i'd hold out for a Logan. Also that machine might have a weird spindle thread. Some of the older machines had a thread that it could not cut, so making a backing plate was impossible.

If you really need a lathe now then any lathe is better than no lathe. I have a Jet 9x20 and it fills the niche of metric threading, but other than that I don't like it.

Those are pretty nice. I have one along with a Clausing 5310. Build quality is good. They'll cut metric and standard threads which is nice. The spindle thread is an oddball size, but don't let that stop you. You can make a backplate on the lathe if you need to. Check the helical gears in the headstock. They are prone to chipping from abuse.

Taiwanese Generic .I have a BusyBee version(Grizzly) and have been unable to track down the maker. Their bed is copy of the excellent English Colchester and the gear box is a Norton copy. The bed unlike most old American ones is hardened, so wear isn't an issue. It also wider than current offering in this class. These are good, easy to use lathes.

Looking at it, I notice it drives with the threading screw. All lathes with the single drive rod wear the critical engagement. It's belt drive ,back geared lathe. Nothing wrong with that, belt drives run smoother and l can leave a better finish than the gearheads. The problem with these lathes, is changing the belt. It's not easy, it is doable, I've done it.

A machinist looks on worn machine tools as royal PITA. To H*** with the name on the plate. Learning scraping is expensive, time consuming and the tools aren't cheap.

Downwindtracker 2 said:

Looking at it, I notice it drives with the threading screw.

Click to expand...

I didn't even notice that. Mine has a separate drive. I guess that was another way to keep the price down. Is the bed the exact same as the Colchester or just based on the same design.

Downwindtracker 2 said:

Looking at it, I notice it drives with the threading screw. All lathes with the single drive rod wear the critical engagement.

Click to expand...

This ^


It's a small lathe too. Consider it in the same league as an Atlas, but with a hardened bed.

Mine is a '91 DF1224g and does has the second drive rod. The Taiwanese Generic is better lathe than the Atlas /Craftsman and their pot metal gears. The bed is just a copy, but they picked one of the best.

I'll pass on the comment from a fellow I was PMing with on my lathe, he had the 12x37 version. He ended up working as a machinist. See where buying a metal lathe can lead you. He said he thought it was a better lathe than the South Bend Heavy 10, but he wouldn't dare mention that on a forum. He went on to move from the 1000# class onto a 2000# 14x40. I personly think the headstock casting is bit thin.

I've hit my size within a 1/2 a thou and it's certainly not the operator's skill ! All the credit goes to the machine. ! With a worn lathe, you are looking at 5 thou.