Jet 1442 or the New Delta Midi????

[Jack Gaskins]

Found a Jet 1442 here in town for $625. Dont know which would suite me better, the Jet or the new Delta midi lathe??? I am totally new to turning and my previous lathe was a Jet 1014. Rick has a posting on his Delta midi and it looks like it can do everything I will need it to do. Any thoughts.........

[David Walser]

Found a Jet 1442 here in town for $625. Dont know which would suite me better, the Jet or the new Delta midi lathe??? I am totally new to turning and my previous lathe was a Jet 1014. Rick has a posting on his Delta midi and it looks like it can do everything I will need it to do. Any thoughts.........

The Delta is a much better lathe. There may be some applications where the Jet 1442 is better, but I cannot think of one off hand (unless you need the 42" between centers). The Jet has a Reeves drive. Once state-of-the-art, such drives are thought to be prone to breaking down.

HTH

[Scott Conners]

Like David said, the Jet is a reeves drive, which requires maintenance and is generally noisier than an electronic drive.
I've heard great things about the new Delta, if I were in the market for a midi it'd definitely top my list.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Jack I turned on the new Delta VS. It is quiet, smooth and has enough power to do 11 1/2" bowls with 1 hp. I definitely would buy that one over the Jet. I wish it had been out before I bought the 1220 because I would have bought it instead.

[Al Wasser]

It is interesting that 3 guys that don't have a 1442 beat it up. Well, I have one and for 3+ yrs its done everything I wanted it to do. The reeves drive has not been a problem at all but is hard to "shift" when the lathe is cold in the winter. At times I wish the low speed were a little lower but other than that I have no complaint at all.

[Scott Hubl]

I also Owned a Jet 1442 and never once had a problem with it or the reeves drive. Never had to do Any maintenance on it or the drive. It was a pretty quiet machine.

I bought my 1442 used and still had No issues with it whatsoever.

I have upgraded to a 3520B and love it, but I can't see anything wrong with the 1442 besides getting a slower speed. But there are always work arounds to compensate for that.

[David Walser]

It is interesting that 3 guys that don't have a 1442 beat it up. Well, I have one and for 3+ yrs its done everything I wanted it to do. The reeves drive has not been a problem at all but is hard to "shift" when the lathe is cold in the winter. At times I wish the low speed were a little lower but other than that I have no complaint at all.

Al,

No offense was intended. The Jet 1442 is a larger version of the venerable Jet 1236. When the 1236 first came out, it was a technological marvel. The swivel head gave turners the ability to easily turn larger items and the Reeves drive was much more convenient than stopping to switch belts. Just as the 1236 left behind older lathe designs, today's new lathes have passed by the 1236 and its progeny.

None of this means the 1442 is not a good lathe and that turners cannot do excellent work with it. It just means there are better options today. Kind of like the way we think of cars. I love vintage Mustangs and would dearly love to own a '65 289 convertible (red with white interior). While the Mustang was a great car* for its day, few would argue its a better car than what's available, new, at the local Ford dealer.

*Okay, the 65 Mustang was NOT a great car in the sense of it having state-of-the-art mechanicals.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

It is interesting that 3 guys that don't have a 1442 beat it up. Well, I have one and for 3+ yrs its done everything I wanted it to do. The reeves drive has not been a problem at all but is hard to "shift" when the lathe is cold in the winter. At times I wish the low speed were a little lower but other than that I have no complaint at all.


Same reason people who don't own a SawStop beat that up. I have a Shopsmith, (yeah go ahead and laugh) 30+ years and the Reeves is still working. Yeah, 700 RPM and 14" bowls are fun. Reeves are hardly prone to breakdown as far as I can tell.

[Scott Hubl]

Al,

No offense was intended. The Jet 1442 is a larger version of the venerable Jet 1236. When the 1236 first came out, it was a technological marvel. The swivel head gave turners the ability to easily turn larger items and the Reeves drive was much more convenient than stopping to switch belts. Just as the 1236 left behind older lathe designs, today's new lathes have passed by the 1236 and its progeny.

None of this means the 1442 is not a good lathe and that turners cannot do excellent work with it. It just means there are better options today. Kind of like the way we think of cars. I love vintage Mustangs and would dearly love to own a '65 289 convertible (red with white interior). While the Mustang was a great car* for its day, few would argue its a better car than what's available, new, at the local Ford dealer.

*Okay, the 65 Mustang was NOT a great car in the sense of it having state-of-the-art mechanicals.

There is a HUGE Difference between the Jet 1236 and the Jet 1442 !

I Owned BOTH machines at the same time and they are two very different class machines by far.

Have you ever owned and or turned on either one Dave to do a compare of the two machines ?

For $625.00 in good shape, that 1442 will do a heck of alot more than a mini lathe.

I have owned a Jet mini and have and still do own several Delta lathes as well. I will say that Delta reeves drives are not the best.

But the Jets reeves drives have never once needed any attention on my part besides a blast of compressed air now and then and I blow the dust off all of my woodworking machines as part of general maintenance.

I have a shop full of modern woodworking machines of many brands, and I Collect old Vintage Delta woodworking machines. 1939 four footed Unisaw, 1941 Unisaw, 1951 6 inch jointer on the art deco cast iron base, 2 Vintage Delta 1460 Lathes both with original jack shafts that produce 16 speeds and both with the X Y cross slide to do light duty metal turning on them. One of my 1460's has just about every single option that Delta offered for that lathe. (been collecting them for a long time). I also have a few other vintage delta machines.
I also own a Vintage Craftsman/Atlas small Metal Lathe.

Now, IF the OP was asking about buying a 1236 new or used, THEN I would say buy the new Delta mini lathe to start out with, a mini lathe and the 1236 is a much closer comparison, but he isn't.

Neal Addy Still is using a Jet 1442 and look at the work he produces on it.

I would still have mine (1442) and been happy with it, but I was able to upgrade to the 3520B and nabbed one when I was able and right before a price increase.

A nice feature on the 1442 is a same feature that the 3520B has and that is the sliding headstock. Just slide that head down and no leaning over the bed to do hollowing or other turning functions. And the 1442's head will swivel as well.

The 1442 has the Same bed and cast iron legs as the Jet 1642 lathe.

The new Delta Midi is around $500.00
Stand $150.00
Extension $150.00
Stand extension $80.00
= $880.00 Plus tax and or shipping depending on were bought.
(Prices from Woodcraft web site.) Additional $55 fee for excess weight will be applied at checkout
five speed controls (500; 950; 1,550; 2,700 and 4,000)

You will get down to 450 RPM on the 1442.

Will the 1442 you are looking at come with any other accessories with it, chucks, tools, blanks ?

The Delta Midi's shipping weight=117 lb.
No weight info available for the stand.

Jet 1236 shipping weight=209 lbs.

Jet 1442 shipping weight= 380 lbs.

And don't forget about the very Good customer service from Powermatic/Jet , in and out of warranty as well.

[Scott Hubl]

Jack I turned on the new Delta VS. It is quiet, smooth and has enough power to do 11 1/2" bowls with 1 hp. I definitely would buy that one over the Jet. I wish it had been out before I bought the 1220 because I would have bought it instead.

The Delta Midi has a 3/4 HP Max Motor, Not a 1HP.

http://www.deltaportercable.com/AboutUs/PressRelease.aspx?BlockID=074d6eae-0015-45ba-ab52-9f9d3dc8d1a0

"The 46-455, powered by a 3/4-peak horsepower motor, will be available for purchase in second quarter 2009 with a suggested retail value of $499."

Woodcraft also states 3/4 Peak hp. on the Delta Midi.


The Jet 1442 Has- Motor: 1HP, 1PH, 115/230V.

[Alan Trout]

Scott,

Bernie is right The 46-460 delta VS lathe has a 1hp motor and its slowest speed 250 RPM and it also has reverse. They are available now and they are nice little lathe.

Here is the Delta Press release. http://www.deltaportercable.com/AboutUs/PressRelease.aspx?BlockID=074d6eae-0015-45ba-ab52-9f9d3dc8d1a0

The 46-455 is a non VS lathe and has a 3/4 HP motor.

Good Luck

Alan

[Scott Hubl]

Ok I stand corrected on that, I only found the one Midi on woodcrafts site, but now found the other one.

So Delta does have a 1 HP MAX. unit and it goes down to 250 rpm @ $600.00.

Still sounds like a "Peak" of 1 hp, like the way the older Craftsman tablesaws HP ratings were.

Still costly for a Mini/Midi lathe, I know I outgrew a mini lathe pretty quickly but that will depend on what you want to turn although I started out thinking I only wanted to turn a few pens and bottlestoppers and other small items and that changed into wanting to turn anything at anytime I wanted.

Knowing what I know now I would have skipped a mini/midi lathe altogether.

$625.00 for that 1442 is a very good price and if it comes with any extras as alot of used machines do and or your able to talk the price down even better.
(I recently sold my 1442, for quite a bit more, without any extras and the buyer even paid to have it shipped to them across the Country)

I also still say there is no comparing the 1236 to the 1442 they are simply not on the same scale with each other.

[John Shuk]

I feel that Midi/minis give much more bang for the buck and are much more progressively built than (traditional) lathes in the 12 to 14 inch range. These models haven't been updated to reflect what turners are currently using their lathes for. Once you get into the 16 inch lathes they are more satisfying purchases. So many people opt to keep their minis after buying a larger lathe. It is difficult to do that with a floor standing 12 inch lathe. IMHO.

[Dick Strauss]

Scott is right about the Jet 1442 being a completely different class of machine than the 1236. It has a 1hp motor and has cast iron legs like the big boys (not stamped steel). It is very well built. However, given its capabilities, its current new price price is far from competitive. I would consider buying one used at that price if I wanted to be able to turn both spindles and bowls. There is a simple modification that can bring the minimum speed down to about 350 rpms.

I have not turned on the new Delta lathes so please keep that in mind when reading my comments...
I'd lean toward the Delta 46-460 VS lathe if I didn't initially intend to turn long spindles (Delta offers an bed extension if you decide you want to turn long spindles). In the past Delta has been conservative about the hp ratings of its motors so I would trust the 1hp rating. It should give a better low speed range and the continuously variable speed is an option you won't regret. The Delta has smaller footprint if space is at a premium.

[Brian Novotny]

One thing alot of people don't consider when buying a lathe is that with the 1442's 12" tool rest extenstion, you actually get a 14" inboard swing. This I just as much or more swing than most 16" lathes (1662 not counted), but with the delta not having swivel head, the swing is going to be like 10". If you're doing facework, 1442 all the way.