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.

jet mini lathe

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