1" post on Rikon

[Louis Harvill]

Does the 1" post on the Rikon banjo make a difference as opposed to the 5/8" on the Jet Midi lathe. This question is for my neighbor down the street.

Louis

[david privett]

well how did you mean that? they will not interchange one way at all, and the other way would not be good either unless drilled bushing was used.

[John K Jordan]

Your question confused me too. Are you asking about comparing the relative properties of both?

The smaller post is fine for small things but when turning larger and heavier things the large post and generally larger tool rest help to stiffen the system and reduce vibration.

Or is this a friendly one-upmanship ("my post is bigger...") competition? :)

JKJ

[Louis Harvill]

Sorry for the confusion. Neighbor wants to know if the 1" banjo is a great enough advantage to buy the Rikon over the Jet. That's all. He liked the Jet better over the Rikon until he noticed that difference.

[John K Jordan]

Sorry for the confusion. Neighbor wants to know if the 1" banjo is a great enough advantage to buy the Rikon over the Jet. That's all. He liked the Jet better over the Rikon until he noticed that difference.

I haven't tried to figure out which Rikon model and which Jet model he is referring to so I can't address that.

One possibly useful thing to know is the 1" posts are widely used on a number of larger lathes - my Jet 1642 lathes and PM3520b both use this size. To me that means he might be able to find used tool rests with 1" posts for cheap from people who upgrade their rests. I have a box of them myself and I suspect others do as well. I replaced most of my tool rests with Robust, far superior to most others in my opinion.

A smaller lathe will need a shorter post length but it is easy enough to shorten a post as needed.

JKJ

[Bill Blasic]

When the Rikons first came out I was not a fan but they seem to have made a lot of improvement. The 70-220VSR is what I think the person is looking to compare the Jet to. I have had occasions to turn on the newest Jet midis and even though I have a Jet 1642 and a 3520b I was not impressed with the Jet Midi (1221VS) at all. The added improvement of the 1" tool post might just be the thing to push me towards that lathe (Rikon). That said it would have to go a long way to get me to give up my Delta 46-460s.