Well I went to Woodcraft and looked at the Jet and the price. Then today I was over at Harbor Freight buying me some of those magnetic flex lights for less than 8 bucks each and there was the jet clone. Get this 179.99! Yep. 180 buckeroos. And the best is that for another 20 bucks I bought a lifetime new for old if anything goes wrong with the lathe.
My other Harbor Freight Jet clone cost me 199 bucks 3 years ago and is still ticking along.
This new lathe is going to be limited to doing the heavy lifting for segmented turning exclusively.
Now my PM does the big stuff, my Sears does the spindle stuff, and the two HF's do the grunt work.
Since I'm on a very stingy budget any bucks saved in equipment means more for the other important things like chisels, wood, and finishing.
>Do you know, does the manufacturer that builds these lathes for HF use the same motor, bearings and switch as Jet?
I ask because I do know that the Vicmarc that Craft Supply sells has a different motor and cabinet than those sold by other dealers. So, I'm wondering if this is how HF is able to offer a "clone" at so low a price.
>or even do a side by side comparison of pics.You may be surprised to find that the only thing separating alot of low/mid range machinery these days,outside of color, is things like switches and handles.The machine you get from Sears is exactly the same base machine offered by 3-4 importers yet the cost is all over the map.FWW is real good at pointing this out during thier evaluation articles.If you MUST buy imports,it pays to shop around.
Intelligent buying of imported goods requires an understanding of how Taiwan,etc do business.FWIU asian manufacturing companies think quality control is the buyer`s responsibility.The mindset is one of,"We built what you asked for.If you give us the money,then you`re saying the quality is up to your standards."Unless you invest the time and personel to inspect before shipping(basicly supply your own"in house" QC department)the goods that land on the dock are yours,good or bad.It`s my understanding that Jet/Powermatic is one of a select few who do thier QC at the manufacturing facilities.The rest are relying on cheap parts and you to do the QC,after the fact.
You can readily see how there is a progression of quality even using this non-system.The HF tool is far more likely to have serious problems than say a Shop Fox or Jet machine.If your dollars are more dear to you than your time,and you don`t mind sorting things out then it`s your choice.
An alternative to this "disposable machinery" thinking is to spend some of that time you have to invest in imports and use it to chase the older,and time tested,US made machinery that is available for less that even imports today.These old gents are of FAR better construction,have no green castings that are waiting to move out of tolerance and the last 3-4 generations of workers have already worked them enough to get them running smoothly.Look in the want adds and auctions,for the a few hundred and the price of a set of bearings(how many bearings have we seen go out on new imports in 2 years or less)and alittle research you too can score a lathe or other machine that can be servicable to your grandkids with just regular oiling and a tweak of the gibs(something you won`t find on the imports).
Look in FWW,Woodwork and the other top WWing mags.Now look at the machinery in the background shots of the pro shops.Compare the number of vintage machines to the number of imports.I think you get my point.
BTW-After you get done rehabbing your old iron you get to complain about how there are no good new machinery manufacturers in the US anymore.It`s awful hard to carry that conversation with a shop full of imports.
I`ll stepdown off the soapbox now.
Mainely,Bob
P.S.-My primary lathe is a Conover,made in USA,as are most of my other machine tools.The exception is my Record Coronet lathe that I can`t seem to part with(a friend gave it to me when he bought his Oneway).
>Hi Bob, No disagreement here. Trouble is bargain 'old iron' nowdays is hard to find. Those fine old machines were never spit out by the hundreds like the Far East imports of today. The market for woodturning lathes wasn't as large then, and economics dried up most of that small output. Swing was mostly designed for spindle work. Most older domestic lathes have been snapped up and refurbished to keep or resell, and not for giveaway prices . At least in my area, woodturning want-ads are mostly for getting rid of imports that turned out to be bad gambles. School shop auctions hereabouts are history. excepting maybe for the 'in crowd'. The same inside traders win the bankrupty auctions too. Maybe somewhere the sun is shining and 'Made in U.S.A.' bargains are still available, but here those days are gone or maybe they never were. Keep your prizes, Bob. Regards, Arch
I still have my first lathe. It is a 12x42 Boice-Crane. Every time I think about selling it, I realize that I would not be able get the full worth out of it. So, it just sits in the corner looking sad that its been replaced by the Oneway.:) Maybe I'll put the AC to it tomorrow and give it a spin, just to let it know that it has been replaced, but not forgotten.
There is also the chance that my boys may become interested at some point, but they would probably insist on using the new lathe. :)
>I have no knowledge about what is under the hood. From the outside both are identical except the Jet has a different on/off switch. This is my second one. The first is 3 years old. There are some differences between my older one and this one.
1. The finish is nicer.
2. I just got it together and it did not require any "tuneup" stuff like the old one did.
3. The quality of the castings are much better than my old one.
4. The motor is the same as well as the motor on the Jet appears to be the same.
>I guess I'm not that much of a purist. My PM does the big stuff, the Sears does mostly spindle work and the the two HF's are for mission specific tasks.
All of your points are sound except I just don't have the bucks to ensure that I stay loyal to the in-country manufacturers.
I guess if you have not tried one then the rest is moot.