Changing speeds on mini lathes

Re: Changing speeds on mini lathes

Jerry Whitaker

>Alan,

On the Delta Mini and the older jet mini, you have to release a lever to loosen the motor, open the side so you can get the the lower pulley, open the front on the Delta and the back on the Jet to get to the upper pulley and move the belts and then reverse the procedure. On the newer Jet mini with variable speed, you basically go through the same pocedure since it still has three pulley positions. One position goes from about 500 - 100 rmp....the next position from 1100 to 2600 rpm and the 3rd one from 2600 to 3900 rpm. I am not by my lathe so I am just guessing at these speeds. Anyway, I have found that the middle position does most of what I want to do and rarely change it. Sure like that Jet mini variable. Bought it from Woodcraft at the SWAT symposium in October for $299. Craft Supplies had a few at $259 but they were gone before I found about them. Probably be hard to find one at eitheer of these prices now. Hope this helps.

I have the Jet and...

BubbaBob

>...I find changing speeds quick and easy, though I don't do it often. I turn mostly small, well balanced blanks (pens, bottle stoppers, keychains, etc) on my 1014, and 95% of the time I have it running as fast as possible. When I do turn something that requires a slower speed, like a small bowl, it's no problem changing speeds...takes maybe 15-30 seconds.

As for how I like my Jet...I don't. I LOVE it.

BubbaBob

Re: Changing speeds on mini lathes

Fred in NC

>I have had the Jet Mini for over a year. I bought the one without the VS, so I had to change the speed manually, like in Jerry Whitaker's instructions.

The range of speeds in the VS is limited. Like Bubba said, most likely you will be able to set the belt to one range, and then adjust it with the knob.

Early this year I modified the Mini with a DC motor. My controller has a wider speed range, I can go from about 60 RPM to 4000. I can still change the belt since I am using the original pulleys, but I don't have to. All I would accomplish is to get a different top speed. My controller is PWM based, so I don't lose ANY torque even at the slowest speeds.

I am not sure why the Jet VS works this way. Maybe their setup is voltage based, and torque is lost at slower speeds.

My motor came from Vega, and is no longer available.

Thanks Jerry, BubbaBob, and Fred

Alan Tolchinsky

>I appreciate your help. Is there a reason you prefer the Jet over the Delta? I looked at them and the Delta looked bigger with a sturdier looking bed. I am partial to Jet though.

Stupid reason, but...

BubbaBob

>...I bought the Jet because the bigger lathe I had was a Jet 1442 and I 1) Liked it's quality, and 2) I wanted the paint job to match.

BubbaBob

I like the Jet better

Fred in NC

>I have heard and seen some problems with the Delta banjo not staying in place. I used a Delta last week at Woodcraft for the Freedom Pen project, and the banjo stayed in place for me! The Jet still feels more natural to me. I ordered some parts when I was modifying it with the DC motor, and my parts came in right away.

I think one of the reasons for the Jet Mini popularity is that it was on sale for $199. for quite a while, and a lot of people bought them. Like Bubba said, I also like the color!!!

If I did not have the Jet, I would probably be satisfied with a Delta. They are both good brands.

Thanks Bubba and Fred.

Alan Tolchinsky

>I'm a bit partial to Jet because I perceive a quality difference. And BubbaBob, your reasons are not dumb at all. You just equate white with quality. Thanks men. Alan

Re: Changing speeds on mini lathes

Dave Peebles

>Hello Alan,

One other reason I prefer the Jet over the Delta is the position of the on/off switch.

On the Jet it is placed on the right end of the lathe bed. On the Delta it is on the head stock. I prefer not to reach over the spinning blank to shut things down if something should go wrong.

Of course, that has never happened to me. :)

Best wishes,

Dave

Like anything else...

Peter Teubel

>...practice will speed things up. I can change the speed on the Jet in about 7 seconds. I just peel the belt from one grove to another without loosening the motor.

I've used the Jet VS mini lathe and I found it has LESS power than the regular one....not much, but noticable.

Re: Changing speeds on mini lathes

Jerry Whitaker

>I just bought the new variable speed mini Jet in October and I still have my old mini Jet which is the blue one about 4 years old. I have not had any problems with my old one while some friends that own the Delta mini have had some problems. The main reason they bought the Delta at the time was due to a special quantity price given to a nationally known woodturner who passed the savings on to them. While minor, they were problems that cause some downtime. The only thing I like better about the Delta is that the door for the upper pulley is on the front of the lathe but not a big deal. Also due to what I read on this site a couple days ago about Black & Decker buying out Delta, this would definitely have some bearing on my decision to buy.