JET mini VS

[Ed Lang]

Are the little mini lathes, the Jet in this case, up to turing bowls or do they run out of power?

I understand that there is one on the horizon for me unless I stop it.

[Roger Fitzsimonds]

Hi Ed,

You can turn bowls on a mini-lathe. You are limited to about 8 inches in diameter. But they are fun to turn at that size. You can do every thing a large lathe can do within the limitations of the physical size of the lathe. I have a delta midi ( pretty much the same size ) and I have bowls chase me around the shop when they decide to become airborne.

Roger

[Andy London]

You can turn bowls and platters up to 10" on the mini, I even have a vacuum chuck set up on mine and have roughed out a few hundred bowls. No problems with power to speak of, it's one sweet little unit. Other than one drive belt it continues to work perfect.

Andy

[Ed Lang]

Unless I here otherwise, it is still on its way.

How about turning pens and other small items, I bet the smaller tools are nice, am I correct? This might be another item I'll add to the order.

Any other toys (tools) I should consider?

Vac chuck sounds interesting, what one do you have? I have a vac pump I use for template routing with jigs that is not mounted and could be brought over to the lathe real easy.

Any comments are welcomed.

[Andy London]

Unless I here otherwise, it is still on its way.

How about turning pens and other small items, I bet the smaller tools are nice, am I correct? This might be another item I'll add to the order.

Any other toys (tools) I should consider?

Vac chuck sounds interesting, what one do you have? I have a vac pump I use for template routing with jigs that is not mounted and could be brought over to the lathe real easy.

Any comments are welcomed.

My son, daughter and LOML have turned a pile of pens, I turned a lot of lided containers prior to the Christmas craft season last year, turned scoops and quite a few burls. Have also turned some 12" high Urn's, a little slower due to the h.p. of the unit but they went along fine for me. My personal favorite is turning platters.

A good chuck makes life a lot easier, not a must have but very helpful, we opted for the Talon. Personally I use the regular sized tools for pretty much everything. My son who turns a lot of bowls has this monster scraper that is really amazing for roughing to the final pass.

Most of my vacuum equipment is from Oneway, here is a link to my setup.

http://www.picframer.ca/vacuumchuckjet.htm

[Earl Reid]

Hi, Ed, I've had my Jet mini almost a year. I use a 3/8 fingernail gouge and a 3/4 skew for all my pens. i have a set of the Jet mini tools , I've only used the small gouge when making the small RWB rings. I've been to 3 TATs and didn't see anyone use the small tools, One guy was using a 1 1/2 gouge and was doing great.
Good luck with your lathe and happy turning.
Earl

[Steven Wilson]

Unless I here otherwise, it is still on its way.

How about turning pens and other small items, I bet the smaller tools are nice, am I correct? This might be another item I'll add to the order.

Any other toys (tools) I should consider?

I turn a lot of pens and use a 1 1/4" roughing gouge for most of the work and then finish with a 1/2" skew. I've bent a few "small" tools so I only use ones that I would use on a large lathe.

[Jim Ketron]

I have the Jet Mini, Great Little lathe!

I have turned bowls (Finished) up to 9" It has good power for the size of the lathe. Yes you can bog it down by taking too big a bite! but you can do that on most small and med size lathes. Im getting ready to order a bigger lathe PM 3520a as soon as the funds permit. But I will keep my Jet Mini for small work its just to nice not to have around.
Jim

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Evenin' Ed:

There are only two things you have to watch out for with the JET MINI.

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1. Make sure you keep a cloth handy. This is to catch the DROOOOOOOOOL dropping down from your chin as you turn.

2. Make sure that whoever was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO kind as to let this adictive machine enter your life gets a GREAT BIG THANK YOU.


Other than that turn away and have FUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!

Bruce

[Ed Lang]

Thanks everyone!


Bruce,

I think I can find a rag for the cleanup :-)

My wife is the one making this happen.

Since she is a lurker here, I should not say this but I think she wants to buy me something on Friday when we go the the woodworking show together. At the show in January, she bought herself a RBI Hawk G5 and a Power Crafter.... I got nothing on that trip except a wonderfull day with her. This show it is my turn to get toys.

Just two more days to wait!

Now lets see.......

Lathe
Turning tools, still have to decide which ones.
8" grinder
Wolverine system
Maybe I can even get a Talon chuck if everyone posts a note telling me that I do need one so bad.

[Carole Valentine]

You''ll love it! When you get the Wolverine, be sure to get the Vari-grind to go with it...makes fingernail grinds on gouges a snap. I was hopeless at doing that without the Vari-grind.

[Ed Lang]

I will get the Vari-grind too.


What angle to most folks grind the fingernail to?

[Richard Allen]

Hi Ed

I know it isn't as glamorious as a 3/8" bolw gouge ore a Talon chuck but safety equipment is a good thing to start off with. A face shield and dust protection.

One other thing I would consider is to take a class with hands on instruction. I teach such a class but I wouldn't want to promote that class here. I can recomend a class given by the county taught by Don Riggs. He is a terrific teacher and will make your adventure into turning safe and fun.

ALso consider joining us at the CAW Capitol Are Woodturners. CAW will have a booth at the show. Be sure to ask when and where they meet. The next meeting is our "symposium" which will give you many oportunities to see a lot of differnt aspects of woodturning done by some very acomplished woodturners.

So in addition to what is on your list:

Safety equipment
Hands on instruction
Join the club

Good luck

[Ed Lang]

Thank you Richard, please look for the PM.



I live just East of Charlottesville, VA which is about 65 miles West of Richmond, VA. Any other turners out there close to me? I would love to find a mentor or two close.

Thanks everyone.

[Roger Wilson]

Hi Ed,

I have a delta midi ( pretty much the same size ) and I have bowls chase me around the shop when they decide to become airborne.

Roger

I've just purchased a delta midi. Do you have any recommendations on equipment, keeping in mind that there is not a large budget available for accessories. Thanks.