Any jet 1840 owners out there?

[Mack Gambrell]

Hello all
this is my first post.
I'm ready to upgrade from my 3 month old (new to me) 1946 shopsmith.
cant seem to find owner reviews for the 1840 Evs jet. Suppliers quoting specifications is not what I'm after. I'd like to hear from anyone with this machine, pros and cons
things you wish it had or you would wish it didn't have
budget 3000 and change
powermatic over budget
jet hits a all the right buttons.
laguna looks good also but stance is too low (47" from floor to my elbow)
at this point I'm not ruling out any of the three.
Respect
Mack G

[Josh Sargent]

spindle height can be fixed, blocks, or Laguna has a riser block set that raises the machine 3 inches I believe.

You could go Laguna 1836 ( during it's 10% off sale which I think is going on, at least at woodcraft I believes. ) for $2250, the riser blocks for $270, and the 20inch bed extension w/tailstock riser block for $450.

That puts you at, $2970 plus tax/shipping (which you may or not pay given your situation/location/etc. )

That gives you a 2hp machine that can be setup to do longer spindles, or larger flatwork, I think with the bed extension in the lower position it's 33 inch swing? around there I think.

You could save 270 and just put the lathe on blocks if you are comfortable with that option too. That leaves you some money to go buy some Thompson tools! ( or D-Way, or other brands, I just have been going with Thompson so far, and love every tool I've gotten from him. )


I personally managed to swing a bit bigger budget, and went with the 3520b, but I too was down to those 3 options as well before my budget situation changed and opened up the realistic option of the Powermatic. I also know what you mean about no real "in the wild" info on the Jet 1840, only whats on the spec pages, and I haven't seen them on any show floors either around me ( Northern Illinois ), hopefully you have some better luck with it than I did.

Hope this helps some, and hope you enjoy and have lots of fun making shavings on whichever machine you go with!

[Roger Chandler]

Have you considered the Grizzly G0800 for around $3500? 3 hp, and 24" swing? I have the G0766, 3 hp, for $1625 plus shipping. The G0800 is pretty much identical to the Laguna Revo 2436. The G0766 has 3 hp, 22" swing and 42" between centers, and has about a 47" height to center, with some adjustability to tinker with.

http://cdn0.grizzly.com/pics/jpeg500/g/g0766-837b217fc589131eaaa6e320f9014b42.jpghttp://cdn0.grizzly.com/pics/jpeg500/g/g0800-495a1e3dac82792b164080286be0c723.jpg