JoeP
Member
After using both lathes for almost 2 months each, I just wanted to state my experience. This is not necessarily indicative of every lathe from these manufacturers.
I originally bought the Rikon. After turning a pen on it I noticed it was out of round. The hand wheel was also excessively vibrating while turning. I contacted tech support, and was told that the hand wheel was cross threaded and that a new one would be sent out. As far as the out of round, I was told that Rikon's live center was not the right taper so I needed to get a new pen mandrel. I bought a new live center instead. The new hand wheel eliminated some of the vibration, but I still was turning pens out of round. I turned several items between centers for about a month and was relatively pleased, thinking I just needed to buy a new pen mandrel. Then the bearings started grinding. I had heard that when they go out they whine, but this was grinding. Metal dust was inside the belt cover and on the spindle. The other problem was that the spindle was very slightly turning at an angle to the lathe bed. Tech support was called and they said the bearing will go out over time. He didn't believe me when I told him it was only 2 months old. There are only two guys over there that support the mini, so I was told the other guy would call me back. Two days later I called again and was told they would get in touch with me right away. Three days after that I took it back to WC. It's been over 2 months and I am still waiting for that call back.
I picked up the Jet, and so far so good. It's been about 2 months and several pens with no problems. The belt on the Jet is too "stretchy", but it's a minor problem. I really did like the ease of changing the belt on the Rikon, but I prefer my pens to be round so I will put up with the inconvenience. And that's my $.02
I originally bought the Rikon. After turning a pen on it I noticed it was out of round. The hand wheel was also excessively vibrating while turning. I contacted tech support, and was told that the hand wheel was cross threaded and that a new one would be sent out. As far as the out of round, I was told that Rikon's live center was not the right taper so I needed to get a new pen mandrel. I bought a new live center instead. The new hand wheel eliminated some of the vibration, but I still was turning pens out of round. I turned several items between centers for about a month and was relatively pleased, thinking I just needed to buy a new pen mandrel. Then the bearings started grinding. I had heard that when they go out they whine, but this was grinding. Metal dust was inside the belt cover and on the spindle. The other problem was that the spindle was very slightly turning at an angle to the lathe bed. Tech support was called and they said the bearing will go out over time. He didn't believe me when I told him it was only 2 months old. There are only two guys over there that support the mini, so I was told the other guy would call me back. Two days later I called again and was told they would get in touch with me right away. Three days after that I took it back to WC. It's been over 2 months and I am still waiting for that call back.
I picked up the Jet, and so far so good. It's been about 2 months and several pens with no problems. The belt on the Jet is too "stretchy", but it's a minor problem. I really did like the ease of changing the belt on the Rikon, but I prefer my pens to be round so I will put up with the inconvenience. And that's my $.02
