Review of the Jet Mini Lathe

The Jet Mini is my third wood lathe, the previous lathes being an older unknown brand and most recently the Craftsman 12 X 36 "pipe" style lathe. A recent move required me to downsize my shop so I looked for a lathe that was not a toy, but clearly have a smaller footprint. Furthermore, since my previous lathes did not have variable speed I was not especially looking for variable speed on the new lathe.

Doing research on Rikon, Delta, Mastercraft, Grizzly, Harbor Freight and a couple of others, it became clear the three to consider would be the Jet, Delta, and Rikon.

Locally (Dallas), I had a chance to look at the actual Rikon, Delta, and Jet mini size lathes. I can confidently say that either of these brands will likely provide satisfactory service for anyone. Now it became time for me to make a choice.

The Rikon was a little less expensive, but not by much. The Delta and Jet were right in line with each other. The deciding factor then became the ease of changing the belt for different spindle speeds. For this qualifier, the Jet clearly won. On the Jet, you can change speeds, with the belt, in less than 20 seconds.

I use the lathe mainly for turning small bowls, vases and making wooden pens. For these projects, the lathe performs flawlessly. Indeed, I have not found anything the lathe will back away from, including turning an eight-inch diaMeter bowl. Albeit this is the largest I've tried turning and the Jet Mini handled it well.

So, what about the choice I made not to get the VS (variable speed) model? So far no regrets. However to be completely fAir, there have been a couple of times, when finishing wood pens, that it may have been helpful. However, when I can change speeds in less than 20 seconds, it has not been a hindrance at all. To this day, I do not regret getting the standard model. Also, remember, that the VS model requires a belt change to go between low range and high range speeds. Bottom line is I am glad I still have my 0 that would have been the difference in the lathes.

In conclusion, I don't ever see selling this lathe. I think it will always have a place in my shop, regardless of how many tools I get or how much space I have. It is one handy tool. Consider it carefully, I recomMend it.

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The Automatic Lathe From Ancient Egypt to Today

In the manufacturing industry there are many machines that come in handy during the manufacturing process. Machines such as drills, grinders, conveyors and Air compressors all have their specific purpose. No matter the function of a specific machine, each piece of equipMent relies on each other to perform properly and get the Job done. If there is a specific piece of machinery not functioning properly it can cause the enTire process to come to a stand still until that one machine is repAired.

While most pieces of machinery have a specific purpose, there are machines out there that have multiple functions. A machine such as the automatic lathe serves multiple purposes and is one of the most diverse pieces of machinery.

Automatic lathes serve as spinning machine tools that rotate a piece of material to perform different functions. These functions include sanding, cutting, deformation and drilling. A tool is applied to the spinning equipMent to form a symmetrical object on a rotating axis by sanding, cutting or performing any of the other functions a lathe is capable of. Because of its multiple functions, lathes are capable of producing a diverse compilation of products. These products include baseball bats, dining room table and chAir legs, wooden bowls, pool table cue sticks and crankshafts. In addition, many lathes are able to be used to shape pottery as well.

Lathes were first reported as being used as early as 1300 BC in Egypt. The Egyptians created a two person lathe where one person would be in charge of turning the wood piece with a rope and the other person used a sharp tool to cut shapes into the wood. The lathe went through many different transformations and additions such as the addition of a pedal to replace the hand-operated turning. It wasn't until the industrial revolution that the automatic lathe was invented by adding a motor that increased the speed of the rotation and allowed the operator to fully concentrate on working with the tool as opposed to turning the wheel.

Now most lathes are automatic because they are hooked up to a Computer for ease of operation. Each Computer-aided lathe is programmed for a certain function. If the lathe is operated in a furniture manufacturing facility, it would be programmed to shape wood a certain way to fit with other pieces of equipMent. The automatic lathe allows for mass production of certain products because more products are able to be made during a shorter period of time. In addition, it also increases productivity and cuts down on the cost of employMent. Because it is computer-aided, the number of employees needed to operate it is decreased.

In addition to increased productivity and decreased costs, these instruments also provide safety to the employees that are operating them. Many computer-aided devices come equipped with safety features. For instance, if a lathe operator gets his shirt stuck in the spinning piece of equipment, the computer can detect this and automatically shut down the system. This can prevent operators from getting injuries that might have otherwise occurred if the piece of equipment was not hooked to a computer with these safety features.

Automatic lathes can also provide quality control on products. A computer allows for a product to be produced accurately and without any human-errors. It assures that every product will turn out the same. For many pieces of machinery, products have to go through a quality control test before they can be sent out of the manufacturing plant. These tests make sure that each product is up to the standards of the company and that there are no flaws. By being connected to a computer, the lathe is able to perform this operation effectively, therefore saving time and money.

The automatic lathe has gone through modifications over the years, from ancient Egypt to modern day. Though technology has advanced and made some machinery obsolete there is evidence that these will be around for centuries to come.

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