Jet 1236 questions...

[Doug W Swanson]

Hey all,

I bought an older Jet 1236 lathe a few months ago to replace my Jet 1014.

One of the main differences that I noticed was no wheel to the left of the head stock. When I was turning a pen tonight I noticed that it was a pain to rotate the lathe (when off) to check on progress.
With a bowl or something bigger than a pen, I can just grab the item being turned but it's hard with just a pen mandrel and small piece of wood.

Has anyone ever added a wheel to the 1236? Or is there something I am missing on a simple way to check on my progress?

Thanks!
Doug

[Tom Hintz]

I turned a wooden handwheel for my 1236 and mounted it with a bolt. The biggest problem was finding the bolt because it is (still is I believe) an odd left-hand thread. (I still do not know the actual thread size though I do remember that it ws metric) Then I accidentally came across a left hand threaded bolt in my junk box that fit. I drilled the center of my wooden handwheel to fit the shank of the bolt, slid it in and traced the head so I could chisel out a recess for the hex head. Then I epoxied the bolt in place.

[Lance Norris]

My newer 1236 (white) has a handwheel. Does the older blue 1236 have a place for one? Maybe you didnt get it with your used lathe. If there is a place for it to be screwed in, you could get a replacement from Jet parts. If the older blue 1236 wasnt made for a handwheel, then I dont have an answer.

Oh... I assumed your 1236 was blue... doesnt matter. The newer 1236's have a handwheel.

[Doug W Swanson]

Thanks for the answers. My lathe is the older blue one. There is a spot for the hand wheel (or at least there is an opening in the left side). I'll have to see if I can find one now.

Thanks again!
Doug

[Tom Steyer]

On this lathe, if you want to use the knock-out bar you have to remove the hand wheel - and no, there is not room to drill it out. I think a lot of people remove the hand wheel and then misplace it or forget it - you might ask the previous owner if you can. If you want to use a hand wheel, you are stuck with removing it when you want to use a knock-out bar. Pick your poison. Also, that lathe does not have a spindle lock, so you need an index pin to hold the spindle if you need to. If you are ordering a hand wheel, you might consider ordering an index pin, too.

[Lance Norris]

Doug... read this thread...

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=67940&highlight=1236