Jet 1221 VS Review?

[Dan Masshardt]

Has anyone here done a full review of the newish Jet 1221 VS lathe? My search didn't yield anything

Anyone here done a review or any owners offer comments? Any concerns?

I'm seriously thinking about it. Thanks.

[Dale Gillaspy]

I played with it at the AAW Symposium. I really liked it. It is rock solid, heavy, the ways are wider than the old model, and the controls are on the right. If I was in the market for a 12" lathe, it would be on the short list.

[Roger Chandler]

It is new to the market........likely not many reviews available yet. I looked at one at the Woodcraft store in Roanoke, and it is very similar to my Delta 46-460 on the pulleys, etc. My opinion is that Jet had this one built on the same basic platform, only with some minor upgrades.........a bit heavier, etc.

[Dan Masshardt]

I played with it at the AAW Symposium. I really liked it. It is rock solid, heavy, the ways are wider than the old model, and the controls are on the right. If I was in the market for a 12" lathe, it would be on the short list.

What else on the short list? The delta?

[Thom Sturgill]

i saw it at the symposium too. Looks like they addressed most, if not all, design issues with the 1220. Personally think they should have stuck with the Powermatic scheme and called it a 1220B. Added digital readout and moved the controls, made belt adjustment and use of the indexing much easier, looks like the machining of the ways was improved, but these were show machines, not production line models.

Delta needs to get their support act together before they would be back on my list. The 1015 (shoulda been 1014B :)) due out this fall looks to be quite an improvement over the 1014, but these were prototypes so we will have to wait for production models to see the quality of machining.

Can't wait to see what they have done to the 1642, but will probably not upgrade my machines any time soon.

[JoAnn Duggan]

I have had the 1221vs for a month now and love it. It is rock solid and very quiet. There is no vibration and I love the vs. I really think you will be very happy with it if you decide to go with this one. Also, the 5year warranty from Jet is a plus.

JoAnn

[Dan Masshardt]

I have had the 1221vs for a month now and love it. It is rock solid and very quiet. There is no vibration and I love the vs. I really think you will be very happy with it if you decide to go with this one. Also, the 5year warranty from Jet is a plus.

JoAnn

Thanks JoAnn!

And everyone else who shared thoughts.

[Dan Case LR]

I received my 1221vs earlier this week. I've unpacked it but haven't been able to use it yet--working on a stand for it now. However, being an impatient 12-year-old trapped in a 58-year old body, I had to plug it in and play with it a little. The VS controls are impressive. I was a little skeptical about being able to reverse direction without stopping, but it does it beautifully (though it may behave differently with a heavy load). I've worked with some low-end motor speed controls that could make the motor go very slow--and you could stop it with your bare hand, I tried that at the lowest speed setting on the 1221vs, and I don't recommend that test. At the lowest speed, that little motor has enough torque to twist your arm off if you'll let it. Very quiet and smooth as well.

The build quality is excellent, better than I expected. It's no lightweight (137 pounds shipping weight), again better than I expected. I can hardly wait to put it to work!

D.

[JoAnn Duggan]

Congradulations, on your new Jet1221vs.

JoAnn

[Russell Eaton]

I ran a 1221 for 2 days at a symposium in North Georgia. My only complaint is the time it takes for it to "spool up". I liked everything else. That is a minor gripe, and will upgrade my delta to a Jet in the future. The tailstock was rock solid and had no play.

[Ron Kanter]

Any updates now that folks have had it for a while or new folks have one?
Jet sale starts in a few days:)

[Steve Mellott]

I've used one during a workshop at Woodcraft. If you are looking for a lathe to use in your shop, I think it is a good choice. If you are looking for something to take with you to craft shows, it is very heavy - a lot heavier than the Delta. I also would not buy the Delta at this time, but Jet does make a new mini-lathe (which is a lot lighter) if you want something to take to shows.

[James Cheever]

Not a formal review, but I have had the 1221VS for two months now. I got the stand too. It runs very quietly and is rock steady, even with an out-of-balance bowl blank mounted. I love not having to change belts except in a few very special circumstances. Very easy to move the speed up on a bowl blank as it comes more into balance. I really like the reverse too during sanding operations. It should be plenty of lathe until my skills and associated projectsdevelop enough to allow me to need (versus just want) a full size lathe.

[Tim Rinehart]

Dan, my opinion is that it's a solid lathe based on test driving during a couple hours at our local Woodcraft last year. I have the Delta 46-460, and though I've had zero issues with it in 4 years, on design features alone I'd swap out with the Jet 1221 VS. Both of them are at the top of the food chain for midi sized lathes, and may be a bit bulky to lug around to shows, but not terrible for a couple shows a year. I like the wider bed on the 1221, and suspect it will result in less opportunity for the banjo to move around when clamped.
Given the goofy issues around Delta's inability to provide parts, like on-off switches that can go bad, I'd be steering away from the Delta if shopping new.
I really like the position of the switch and controls on the Jet, the far end of the lathe is, to me, a better design and safer as well.
Comments regarding the slow start up of the Jet...yea, it is slower, but the flip side is that this isn't always a bad thing, and unless you're a production turner where every second counts, this is a non-issue. If this is partly the reason associated with it's ability to have such great low speed torque, then it's definitely a plus!

[Jeff Belany]

I've had mine for about three months and hate to admit I haven't used it much. But, it is very smooth and quiet and the controls work very well. I look forward to using it more. The one thing I will mention is that the measurements in the manual (or the holes in my lathe) for the mounting holes were off. I used the manual when I drilled holes in my stand I built and things didn't line up. More frustrating that anything else. I know I should have measured right off the lathe -- haste makes waste!!

Jeff in northern Wisconsin

[Stan Smith]

Mine arrived via UPS last night. It's still in the box and I'm going to check out the condition today. I have a 1014 and 1014vs so I'm okay with the quality of Jet. Thanks, Jeff, for your comments on the hole pattern. I'm going to build my own stand with a formica top. I was already planning on marking the mounting holes directly from the lathe. I was happy with my 1014vs until I struggled a little with the length of some tool handles I made. I also want to make some items that are a little bigger. Using a drill chuck in the 1014 tail stock really cuts down on the available stock length, too.

Even though I've done some turning over the years (mostly pens and small vases), I still consider myself somewhat of a rookie. So, I'm not much help in providing info to Dan. I was considering a Nova Comet II, but went with the 1221vs because of the larger size and hp. I really like the vs feature a lot better than moving belts all the time. Due to my small shop space, I can't fit a full size lathe in it. Now, I have to sell my 2 1014's.

Update: Got it out of the box and styrofoam. Didn't see any damage. Amazon sent it via UPS and I was a little worried after reading some customer reviews. I was very careful unpacking it. All parts seem to be there. I plugged it in and motor works fine. It wasn't quiet though, but maybe that's because it's still sitting on the plastic on the garage floor. Man, the vs is really nice! The outside bottom measurements are L= 30 1'/4" x W= 9". There was an added sheet for the hole pattern, p.8 of the manual. It shows the length between holes as 29 3/4" and the width of 8 3/16". Note that this is different from the manual. I'm going to do my own measuring though. I had a little trouble finding the mounting holes. They are tapped directly into the frame. I have to say I'm really happy with my purchase so far and am thankful that it arrived okay. As soon as I saw the UPS truck, I ran out there to make sure it was unloaded safely. The driver knew how to unload it gently though and hand-trucked into the garage for me. Okay, time to get busy to design and build the stand. Oh yeah, another Dan, suggested to set the lathe back a little from the from edge of the stand to avoid accidentally hitting the flip switch.