Jet or Delta?

[randall844]

Amazon is running a $50 rebate on the Delta Midi lathe, making the after rebate price $220. I assume this would include free shipping.
Is there any reason I should hold out for the Jet Mini?

Keep in mind that I would go with the non-VS model either way because I feel the induction motor would be more likely to hold up over the long haul and the scr motor controller in the VS version is just something else to go bad.

In looking at both models, the Delta looks to be light years ahead in moving the belts to change speeds. Also, there is a Jet/Wilton warehouse a few miles down the road from me, giving Jet a physical Tennessee presence, so I'd probably pay sales tax on the Jet besides paying $60 more for the lathe.

On the other hand, the Jet appears to weigh more (better!) and has a slightly higher top speed. It also seems to be highly thought of on this forum. I guess my question is, does anyone believe the Jet is good enough to offset a $60 or $70 price difference and less convenient speed changes?

 

[woodwish]

I have a Delta Midi that I have turned a lot of stuff on, probably several hundred hours, and never had ANY trouble. It still looks and acts brand new. Belt is getting near time to replace, it has stretched some. At our turning club we have 6 Jet minis (only one is VS) and they have also been good. I have turned on those and they seem about the same. There are some minor differences, like where the power switch is located, but nothing really stands out. If I had to do it all over again I would go with the best deal. My new lathe is a Jet, they have better options in full-sized models and it was a good deal, but I am very happy with my Delta also.

 

[alamocdc]

Randall, I don't have either, but in a recent review in Workbench magazine they said that the Delta is a bit underpowered. In other words, it bogged down when trying to take more than a 3/8" cut out of a 7" bowl blank. The Jet kept ripping through at 1/2". Keep in mind you have to have EXTREMELY sharp tools to try this and I don't know too many turners that try to remove 1/2" of wood w/each pass. Although there are times it comes in handy.

 

[mrcook4570]

I have 2 Jets (mini non VS and 1442) and love them both. Delta has changed ownership fairly recently (I believe it is Black and Decker that now owns Delta, but I may be wrong about that).

 

[Doghouse]

Mrcook, you are correct. B&D / Dewalt's parent group did buy Delta. I purchased a couple of Delta items and now am purchasint Jet or Grizzly as the customer service was so poor!

With Jet I have had outstanding service. There is even a rep on one of the boards that you can talk to and get additional assistance if it is required. (Delta threatened to fire him if he continued to use the forum to assist customers. He then moved to jet.)

 

[ryannmphs]

Well, I have 2 Delta lathes (a midi and a 1440). My main problem with Delta is the extreamly slow customer service when ordering parts online, and sometime over the phone. I completely rebuild the HS of the 1440 when I got it. And many times when ordering the replacement parts the online system (my preferred way of ordering part) would list items as "in stock" only to change to "back ordered- unknown release date" 2 days after my order was placed. It usually took 2 to 3 days for an order to ship from the warehouse, then another week for the website to get updated with the correct order status.

Delta's phone support is better, but has gotten worse since being bought out by B&D/Porter Cable/DeWalt group.

Just my 2cents, but I would wait for the Jet.

Ryan

 

[wayneis]

Unless Delta just came out with a new way to change belt speed then there is little to no difference between the two. Jet for the many reasons that have been discussed is my favorite and if it were me I would pay the extra or wait for a sale on a Jet. All it would take to make up the difference in price is one breakdown or need for service.

Wayne

 

[Randy_]

Originally posted by wayneis<br />.....Unless Delta just came out with a new way to change belt speed then there is little to no difference between the two.....

Actually, Wayne, there is a significant difference in how Delta and Jet solve the problem. In the case of the Delta, the upper pulley is accessed from the front of the machine....a relatively convenient configuration. On the Jet the access door is in the back of the headstock and you have to lean over the lathe to change the belt.....sort of inconvenient for most folks, IMO!! Personally, I don't change speeds much turning pens so it is not a "BIG" deal for me; but, clearly, the Jet designers missed the ball on this one!!

 

[pete00]

howdy

i have delta couple months old, no problems, i asked the dealer which is beter jet or delta as well, he sold both. He said both about the same outside of changing speed. belt in front on delta. Looked at them side by side just like the way delta looked. Actually i've only changed speed twice when i first got it. Read a few books that reccommended keep tools sharp and take smaller cuts and you'll have no problems with speed taking it from square to round as such. Tried it seems to work ok for me. HOWEVER other books say slow down use different speeds for different tasks.

so as usual no clear answer. go with what YOU think is best.
pete

 

[Rifleman1776]

Woodwish said, "At our turning club we have 6 Jet minis ".
WW, that must be some turning club. Tell us more. Does it have a web site?

 

[rfreeouf]

This Months's issue has a section that has a review of most of the Midi Lathes out on the market. The ran the same test on all six lathes in the review and they list the pros and cons of each. The arcticle was a good read and you should be able to find it at any book store.

 

[randall844]

Richard,
If the test you refer to is the one in Workbench Mag, I don't know how much you can rely on it. They rated the Jet as the best and the PSI Turncrafter Pro as the best buy, but didn't say anything too complimentary about the rest.

Then in the next issue (Feb 2006) on page 14 they show the Rikon, which appears to be a Fisch with a different paint job, and lament the fact that it came out too late to be tested because it would have competed favorably with the Jet for "Editors Choice". So what didn't they like about the Fisch, the color?

 

[rfreeouf]

Randal,

I was just trying to be helpful. Your original question was about the Jet or Delta. I don't know if your leaning towards Fisch now or not? I thought the review was descent. The took all the lathes and turn the biggest bowl and etc... Based on thoses test they game up with the results.

 

[randall844]

Richard,

I appreciate your input as well as everyone else's who has responded and you are correct; I am mainly concerned with Jet and Delta. I only wanted to point out what I thought was a pretty interesting inconsistancy In Workbench Mag's view from one month to the next regarding two machines which appear to be identical. For this reason I probably wouldn't value their opinion nearly as much as I would the various opinions found on this forum.

 

[fritzmccorkle]

i have owned both models. i currently own the delta and the jetVS (although like i said i've owned tne non vs model). both are 1/2hp motors so i can't see one having more power (and i never noticed that one did). given the choice i'd buy the jet. i've use customer service by both and never had any troubles, but jet CS is know to be very good and fast. one thing about my delta was that it was much noisier than either of my jets. also.....i'll bet you'll never find a jet VS owner that wishes he'd saved the money and gotten the non VS.

 

[fritzmccorkle]

ps.....i sure hope this doesn't sound like i hated my delta. that wasn't the case by any means.

 

[woodwish]

Rifleman, actually our club is small and in a rural area so membership tends to drive a long way. We are lucky that we have a nice small ton that lets us use the community center at no cost. We have maybe 30 members on paper and about 15 average attendance. We saw a deal through AAW about a year ago that we could get the lathes for 1/2 price but they had to remain at the clubhouse (in other words, members couldn't just buy themselves a new lathe) if you qualified. We actually bought 5 Jet non-VS and one VS. Built a nice secure cabinet on wheels that doubles as a demo table. The rest we set on tables around the room. Demos, sharing, and turning seems to work better for us than just demos. A lot of us have donated some starter sets of tools. We have been successful on some Saturday's to bring in non-turners and let them try to lathes. Recruited several members that way, not all of them stay in the club but they still turn for the most part. I think AAW does this fairly often through the educational grants.

This also puts everyone on a fair playing field for turning and sharing, no one can say they could do something if they only had a better lathe since all are the same. Keeps us from having to drag our lathes there for demos. Website? Great idea but so far all of us would rather spend our time turning instead of web design.