Question: Jet 1642EVS for under $900 a good deal?

[bthere]

Well, I've been tired of the old Craftsman tube type lathe that is more frustrating than useful. I've been looking for a good lathe that could be a lifetime one. I have found a Jet 1642EVS 1.5 hp lathe that is less than a year old. The lowest price I've seen on one of these new in the past year or so was still up around $1400.

The stuff that I do (or try to do) includes some spindle and bowl work. I've been pretty limited with the current lathe doing bowls and platters and would like to get a little bit more range. I have also been itching to do some pens, especially with the examples you guys post that look so awesome.

So, what do you folks think? Any reasons not to take the money I have been stashing aside in the lathe fund and get this one?

[eezlock]

question on Jet 1642EVS

If that lathe is local....go and take a good hard look at, and if you can...try it out. If you decide to buy it....you won't regret buying it, 'cause Jet makes some good, sturdy, reliable machines. I have the 1014I mini Jet lathe and the more I use it the better I like it! I looked at several others, some on line and in person, the Jet with it's 5 year warranty and good customer service reputation makes a winner, hands down everytime to me. eezlock

[bthere]

Well, I went to look at this lathe and ended up bringing it home without actually running it. The reason I didn't run it was that it was still in the crate on the pallet! Brand new, never opened or cleaned. It is unregistered an I got the original receipt so I can get the warranty.

I am about halfway through assembling it now, having cleaned the rust preventive goo off and just waiting for the Boeshield on the bed to dry.

[foneman]

You just saved yourself about 700 with this deal!!! Glad it worked out for you!!

[foneman]

Talk on one of the other forums is that this lathe is going up another $250 on Sept 1.

[bthere]

I had been looking for the right deal for a while on a medium size continuous variable speed lathe. I missed an ok Delta lathe a month ago by about 30 minutes, but kind of lucked into this. Glad it came around now with the prices of all the heavy metal going up.

I just a bit ago got it up and running and it is smooth as silk. Not a bit of vibration on the bed.

The only hitch that I bumped into so far is that the VFD on the lathe kicks my GFCI protected circuit, so I ended up dropping in a new circuit dedicated to the Lathe.