Knowledge You Can Build On — Est. 1998
I thought of you yesterday, Carole from VA
Gary Evans, Tallassee, TN
>I helped a friend put the bed extension on her Jet Mini. I had to file the bolt holes almost 1/8" over and down in order for the rails to line up. But, happily, I didn't find any difference in the thickness of the rails between the lathe bed and the extension as you did.
Looks like a common problem to me.
Gary
Re: I thought of you yesterday, Carole from VA
Carole in VA
>Still haven't received my "custom fit" bed extension yet. Did you check to see that you could lock the toolrest down tight on both the main bed and the extension without adjusting the nut? Wonder why in the world they are still shipping those darn mismatched things? Probably because customers keep "fixing" them themselves rather than getting on Jet about it.
Re: I thought of you yesterday, Carole from VA
Jerry Whitaker
>If any of you Mini Jet owners out there are sick and tired of hitting the locking lever on the tailstock with a mallet to lock and unlock, I have a solution for you. Fred Groves from Greenville, TX, machines (mills) a steel locking plate (clamp block) for the bottom of the tailstock which will replace that cheezy, round aluminum piece of garbage. It is slightly rectangular and provides at least double the locking surface of the Jet original. Its milled surface has slight circular milling marks which provide and excellent grip. It will also replace the one that is used on the tool rest. If interested, email him at: fred22@aol.com or call: 903-454-1599. The cost is $10.00 and you will not regret the expenditure. If anyone has the older Jet that the plate screws on rather than being held on with a nut, he will need to know and will thread their plate. The rod is too short to use a nut on that model.
I have never met the man and there is no financial interest involved but I have one and highly recommend it.
Re: I thought of you yesterday, Carole from VA
Gary Evans, Tallassee, TN
>Hi Carole,
The tailstock seemed to work fine on the bed extension, but I didn't put any real pressure on it to see if it slipped. I'll check that out next time I go see my friend.
It will be interesting to see what kind of modifications, if any, that the Jet folks have to do to give you a "custom fit" bed extension.
By the way, if they let you keep the first lathe, I'd be interested in buying it from you.
Gary
Re: I thought of you yesterday, Carole from VA
Barry Turner
>Maybe this is a Q A issue and has something to do with manufacturing being moved from Taiwan to mainland China?
Re: I thought of you yesterday, Carole from VA
Carole in VA
>Gary, they have not sent me a new lathe, but I will have 3 bed extensions! Would gladly give the extras away locally to someone who has an un-tapped lathe, but to pack them up and ship them somewhere would cost more than they are worth.
Jet Lathe Problems *LINK*
Bill Kay
>Jet has known about the quality control problems, poor machining, and bed mis-matches for well over a year. The bed extensions just don't work.
http://webs.lanset.com/woodturner/images/lathe%20bed.pdf
