Maximum weight on Jet lathe

[Bill Bell]

Last year I moved up from a Jet midi lathe to the 1640 model, out of a desire to make bigger bowls. I finally acquired some nice wood (elm) big enough to turn into 16 inch bowls and cut it into turning blanks but now I’m worried about how mounting these heavy blanks is going to affect my lathe. The largest blank is just shy of 16 inches and about 5 inches deep; my guess is that it weighs somewhere between 30 and 40 pounds. Will mounting and turning this wood (planning to use a 5 inch faceplate and of course tail stock support) pose danger to my lathe?

[Kevin Jenness]

No. Just keep the rpms down to a reasonable level when roughing out. If the lathe is shaking, you should be too.

You may want to work your way up by turning some smaller blanks first.

[Jeffrey J Smith]

the 1642 will handle a 16" bowl, but you might want to add a little weight to it - the legs have sockets that will accept 2x4 cross pieces to add a shelf or a sand box. 5 or 6 bags of sand or cement helps keep it from walking around when those out-of-balance blanks are roughed.

[Reed Gray]

That is pretty much maxing out your lathe. I always slide the headstock down for turning bowls because it is far easier to stand upright. I would keep the tailstock engaged until it is pretty much roughed out and you are doing finish cuts. Keep your speed 'reasonable' as in comfortable for your skill level, and slow enough so that the lathe isn't walking across the floor.

robo hippy

[Tim Elett]

For what its worth,i recently turned a rough bowl that was 14in. On a 1524 Laguna, just balance as mutch as possable,i started at something like 225 rpm probably didn't get past 350. Keep your bowl gouge sharp.

[Edward Weingarden]

If the first thing you do is mounting it to the face plate, you will not be able to get it balanced well. That will contribute to vibration, and the lathe potentially walking around the shop. I would suggest mounting the blank between centers first, in order to get it balanced (if that's not your current methodology). As you are roughing it between centers, you can create the flat area (slightly concave) on the bottom where the face plate will go.