Rikon lemons

[Ben Rafael]

I bought the Rikon mini lathe a few months ago and noticed that the handwheel didn't run true, or something made the handwheel not run true.
Whatever the problem was, it was enough to make it difficult,if not nearly impossible to turn things properly. I contacted rikon and they sent out new handwheels twice. Same problem. They then told me to return the lathe to the store I got it from and they would give me a new lathe. I had the new lathe taken out of the box and tested it to be certain it was OK. It had the same problem. I bought the Rikon because it had a bit larger swing than other minis. Wondering if any other Rikon owners had this problem.
I ordered a Jet vsmini to replace it.

[Dave C. Brown]

I don't own the rikon but I wanted to share this story. I was looking seriously at getting one, but the local woodcraft said they no longer stock them (though they can order them) because they'd had too many defective ones. I ended up going with the Jet Mini (well, I will get it when I take my class on Oct. 7-8).

The specs on the Rikon look good, but I guess it's caveat emptor (buyer beware). You may get a good one, or you may have problems. If you get a good one, it's quite a bit of lathe for the money.

--Dave

[Ben Rafael]

In defense of Rikon, their customer service on this was good, they gave me several options and were very responsive. When I'd call them I wasn't put on hold for more than about 5 seconds before I talked to someone.
I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Rikon product, but I am leery of the lathe.

[Don Baer]

I have the Rikon MINI and have been abusing it for some time now. I haven't encountered your problems. The only problem I had was a capacitor for the motor which I believe was my fault. Sorry you haven't had as good a luck.

[Richard Jones]

My Rikon's handwheel runs true, while the one I bought for my dad does not. It's never really bothered him, as the runout on the drive is minimal.

True, it should never have been allowed out of their QC, but, the bowls and pens he makes are sure enough round.............

Rich

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

As most of you know, I have had my Rikon Since Christmas, 2005.

The Hand wheel runs a little off, HOWEVER, the handwheel does NOT affect the spindle end of the tool. It is attached to the drive spindle, not part of it. (My indexer is a little offset, too).

To check out the lathe, put a drive center in the spindle and a live center in the tail stock. Bring them within 1/4" of one another. Turn the Lathe on and look for runout, where the drive spur rotates around the axis of the live center instead of staying in line. If it does, you have a problem, however, if the two points stay aligned, then the cosmetic misalignment isn't a problem.

Cosmetically, the Rikon "AIN"T as PURDY" as the Jet, but we have sold about
forty of them here in Peoria and haven't had one come back. Go figure!

I do demonstrations on one we have had set up at the store for a little over a year and other than a wire slipping off the switch, which took 5 minutes to reconnect, we haven't had a problem with it, either.

Bruce

[Ken Salisbury]

B Rafael

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"Your Friendly Moderator"

[Barbara Gill]

It is interesting that you should mention this. There was another thread just recently on Woodworking.com about Rikon
http://www.woodworking.com/dcforum/DCForumID13/4518.html

[Ben Rafael]

Bruce,
The result of whatever is wrong with the lathe is at the business end of it.
What is causing the problem I do not know. The tech at rikon seemed to believe that a bad handwheel could do it. All I know is that my lathe and a new one out of the box at the store I returned it to both didn't run right, the person at the store didn't even hesitate to offer me a refund after turning the new one on.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I just talked with Ron at the Denver woodcraft about a free turning demo they are having at the store. He said they were going to use the Rikon. He said I think the price was $219. He hasn't answered me back yet. He told me he has sold 60 Rikon units and has only had one come back. He said he didn't even argue just replaced it and the guy is extremely happy with the replacement. He said his buddy has a woodcraft store and he has sold 78 units and only had one come back. So go figure.