Jet mini or HF 34706

[joe smith]

I have beeen reading your forum for a while trying to take it all in. I have seen this addressed some what but maybe not these two together. My question is which one of these would be best for me. Im new to turning this will be a christmas present for me and as such will be from a limited budget. I do believe you get what you pay for. I will be starting out doing small things but the HF gives me a little more size before I would need to upgrade. The jet comes with great reviews and a good company behind it. I know I will need additional tolls and other items thats why i'm limiting the amount to be spent on the lathe itself. Thanks for all your help

[Jim Becker]

Jet Mini...VS version preferred. Yes, a little less swing, but it's also a machine you'll likely want to keep when you do buy a larger lathe. For that reason, it's a better value. I started on the HF 34706 and outgrew it's capablity in just a few months. It's pretty light weight and underpowered for bowls that are bigger than 6-7 inches. IMHO, of course.

[joe smith]

thanks for the reply.

[Kent Cori]

Joe,

I bought a HF 34706 lathe about a year and a half ago for $199. I’ve been very happy with it. I’ve turned spindles, 12” platters, 8” bowls, pens and a pile of projects in between. It has done a good job on all of these. I’ve gone through two banjos (warranty replacement) and one belt (cheap belt replaced with a better $7 unit from auto parts store) in that time but otherwise everything has performed quite well. I still use it for all my turning but would really like to replace it with a Jet 1642-2 or Powermatic 3520A,

At the time I bought the HF lathe, the VS version of the Jet mini was not yet available. While I have been quite pleased with the HF, if I were to do it again today knowing what I know now, I’d go with the Jet mini. I’d do so for two reasons. The first is that the VS control is much easier to use than moving a belt as on the original version. The second is that it can continue to be useful and provide value even if you later add a much larger lathe capable of larger bowls and other bigger projects. The only drawback is the less powerful motor which could make it a little more difficult to use on a bowl size near its capacity.

The good news is that either one is a great lathe to start out turning. :)