Now I Need Banjo help!!!!

[Ricc Havens]

I was turning a large unbalanced piece of cherry for a natural edge bowl between centers with a spur drive and live center to on my Jet 1642. Was planning on roughing it round and making a tenon for my chuck. Forgot to shut the door tightly to my basement shop. Just as I was starting to dial up the speed from a stop to find the sweet spot RPM, the dog came in and jumped against my leg wanting to play. Startled me and by reflex jerking my hand spun the dial all the way up! BANG!! the unbalanced wood came off and slammed against my Best Woods Tools round bar tool rest. Tool rest survived but the Jet banjo casting did not. A couple of the screws that hold the steel plate for the locking cam mechanism on the back end of the banjo sheared off. And the banjo casting around the other two screws broke from the force.

So before I buy a replacement banjo from Jet are there any recommendations for banjos that other manufacturers make? and the reasons why you might recommend that particular banjo?

Thanks
Ricc Havens
Elkhart, IN

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Ricc....what model Jet lathe do you have?

Duh! I answered my own question.

I have a Jet VS Mini that's in parts. Unforturnately, I doubt the banjo is the same.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Thank your dog. Buy a Powermatic 20" banjo. With a couple slight mods that you can do, you will have a MUCH beefier banjo. You need to cut the banjo down to almost where the tool rest bolts are. At this stage the banjo is a bit high for the stock tool rest, but since you have an aftermarket, it should be okay. I can still core with the McNaughton, so all is good. The other mod is the disk on the underside. You can use the one you have, or take a 4" grinder and cut off the excess raised portion. Swapping out is easy, since your banjo is broke. I sill use my banjo, since I have it available. The 1642 banjo is the weak link for that machine. You will be glad you upgraded. When I bought mine it ran 350 or so. Not cheap.

White Rust-Oleum is a pretty good match for the Jet white, if you don't want that ugly PM yellow on your machine.

[Bob Bergstrom]

If it is still under warrenty, call them. We had a member bend the quill on his Powermatic, (don't ask how!). Replaced no questions asked. Same company, different paint. If not, Powermatic is a huge upgrade. The Jet banjo is the weak leak on a pretty good lathe.

[Ricc Havens]

Unfortunately it's out of warranty. Plus it was my fault so I can't claim warranty

Ricc

[Wally Dickerman]

Oneway......same color and you won't find a banjo that locks up better.

Oh and shoot the dog......:mad:

[Mike Golka]

What Wally said!!!

[Larry Matchett]

http://www.oneway.ca/lathes/non-oneway.htm

Not cheap but you will probably not find a better banjo. Call them and they will set it up for your lathe.

[Jeffrey J Smith]

If you're looking at the Oneway and Powermatic, take a look at the Robust banjo - the one for the Sweet Sixteen or the Liberty should match-up. They lock solidly and have the best tool rest post lock anywhere (based on the design of the original, US made Powermatic). About the same price as the Powermatic, but check your bed gap (a clamping block is pretty easy to modify, if needed) The Jet banjo, as has been stated, is the weak spot of the 1642.

[Dave Fritz]

I got the Robust Liberty banjo and it fit perfectly. Brent had to cut down the metal plate to fit the gap on the Jet, that's all.

Dave F.

[Joe Bradshaw]

Ricc, I have a Robust Liberty banjo that is excess to my needs. I put a Oneway banjo on my Liberty. PM me and maybe we can work something out.
Joe

[Ricc Havens]

PM sent to Joe!

[Ricc Havens]

Ricc, I have a Robust Liberty banjo that is excess to my needs. I put a Oneway banjo on my Liberty. PM me and maybe we can work something out.
Joe

Joe, sent you a PM. Let me know what you had in mind.

Thanks
Ricc Havens
rv.havens@gmail.com

[Bill Boehme]

Nobody has commented on safety, but seeing what can happen to a piece of cast iron ought to be enough for us to realize that we are fortunate that it is just a banjo and not a harp that we are getting.

one thing that I always do before turning on the lathe is statically balance the piece of wood. Next, I bore holes for the spur drive and live center. Both of those things will greatly reduce the chance of the wood coming off the lathe.

[Ricc Havens]

Bill, thanks for the post. I did have the blank as balanced as I could by adjusting it and turning by hand until it stopped to find the heavy side and readjusting, etc. I also had a hole for the spur drive, but never thought to do a hole for the live center. I will do that next time (after I make sure the door is shut and the dog can't come in :):))

Thanks
Ricc

[David C. Roseman]

Ricc, events may have overtaken this, but my view is a bit different here. Given what's just happened, my guess is you won't forget to leave the shop door open again, and you're now focused on safety as much or more than anyone on this board. :eek: Your Jet 1642 is a fine lathe. The banjo parts that broke are less than $70 to replace, if I'm understanding your description correctly. There are probably thousands of Jet banjos like yours in use without problems. I'd replace the parts with OEM. You could put the hundreds of $$ you'll save toward your next lathe, if so inclined.

[Duane Meadows]

Ricc, events may have overtaken this, but my view is a bit different here. Given what's just happened, my guess is you won't forget to leave the shop door open again, and you're now focused on safety as much or more than anyone on this board. :eek: Your Jet 1642 is a fine lathe. The banjo parts that broke are less than $70 to replace, if I'm understanding your description correctly. There are probably thousands of Jet banjos like yours in use without problems. I'd replace the parts with OEM. You could put the hundreds of $$ you'll save toward your next lathe, if so inclined.

+1. I agree. Also it's probably better to crack $70 worth of banjo parts, than to have the banjo hold up and crack the lathe bed! At least the weakest link was fairly inexpensive.

[Clint Merrill]

Several years ago I had the same misfortune of dropping a cast Delta banjo. I took it to a community college trade school machine shop and they fabricated a new one for me out of steel plate with a lock bolt for the height adjustment, my total cost was about $5.00 for the metal and $20.00 contribution to the school. It performs much better and is a great deal stronger, That was about 1985 or so, still working great.! Might be a thought for you ?