What should I buy?

[Stephen Dixon]

My wife tells me that I need to get a lathe. I have a little less than 2K to spend, and am leaning towards a Jet 1642-2VS. What say you? I'm not a turner so I need something that will take me thru the basics, but won't leave me wanting more in a couple of years.
Thanks for the input, Steve

[Glenn Hodges]

Stephen, tell us what you are wanting to turn, and this will help us to provide you with info.

[Stephen Dixon]

Glen I'm probably a spindles guy, but I haven't turned anything in 40 years. I really don't know what I'll do with a lathe, but when Momma says buy, I say how much.

[John Shuk]

That Jet 1642 looks pretty nice and is around that price. Delta has a pretty nice machine for 1bout $1800 as well.

[Ken Salisbury]

See This Thread (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=17078&highlight=1642VS)

[Jim Robinson]

No matter what lathe you purchase, you would be very wise to purchase the best beginner set of tools you can afford. Experience has taught me that the tools are as important (perhaps more) as the lathe.

[Fred Floyd]

No doubt about it. The 1642-2hp is one sweet machine. I got mine last week. Funny, my wife had been asking me when I'm going to get a lathe. Then last Sunday she suggested we go to Woodcraft for their 10% off sale.

They had an amazing array of lathes from minis up to the Powermatic on display. The size, weight and price of the Powermatic took it out of the mix. After that, only the Jet 1642-2 and the Nova 3000 were in the running. Both units were really smooth. The Jet had better speed control and ran on 220. finally, the Jet had a 42-inch bed as opposed to a 20 for the Nova. The Jet outweighed the Nova by about 200 lb.

Price didn't enter into it, because both were the same price.

[Dick Parr]

If you are looking at a Jet then you might want to take a look at this place in Nashville. Real helpful even when not buying.

http://www.generalindustrialsupp.com/