Originally posted by Fangar
<br />Eagle has both. As I recall he likes them both for different reasons. Maybe he will chime in...
Fangar
I have two Rikons and a Jet.
I upgraded from the POS Jet pen lathe to the Mini the first week I had it.The difference in price was a no brainer.
When I had need of a second lathe I considered a variable speed JET mini but I can change speeds an awful lot of times for the difference in price.Since the Jet VS still needs to change pulleys for the entire range of speed changes the extra cost did not make sense to me.Changing speeds manually can be done one handed in just a few seconds without even looking.
At the same time I was looking at a second JET, Rikon came out with their mini lathe.
It is rated as a 12-16 which is larger than a JET.It has an indexing head which seemed to me to be a nice feature and has come in handy though I wish it were more than 12 positions, 16 would be nicer.
The early models had issues the second one I have works great.
Though Jet and the Rikon have their pluses and minuses if I were to get another lathe I would go with Rikon.
AS quick as I can change speeds on the JET the Rikon is even faster,Flip the cover over the pulleys and everything is right there It is a one handed operation and I am looking right at the belt and pulleys.
I am not crazy about the plastic cover but I understand the liability issues for a metal one.Not many things these days have metal covers where your hands may come close to edges.
Because of the way the cover flips the hand wheel is smaller than the one on the JET.it is a minor inconvenience and if I hadn't gotten used to the size on the JET I probably would have not noticed the difference between the two.
There are things to consider.
Both the JET and the Rikon have the same diameter tool posts for the banjo but since the Rikon is a 12" lathe the tool rest post needs to be longer than one for the JET.
The Rikon comes with a standard 8 " tool rest which is too long for pens in my estimation, a hacksaw could cure that easily.
The Rikon is longer so if space is a consideration check out the measurements.
In short, The Rikon is a lot of lathe for the money, so is the JET.
I have seen the Rikon as low as $219.00 at Woodcraft.
If they are both the same price I would get the Rikon,it is a no brainer.
If the Rikon were priced more I would consider the added benefits.The Rikon has a tray mounted below the ways to protect the motor.No build up of CA glue to prohibit moving the Banjo.That is a constant problem with the JET.
No tail stock creep,Also a constant problem withthe JET.There are "add on solutions" but I think that is someting that should have been caught in the design and not something I shouild have to pay for to correct.
The ABS "tool holder" mounted on the the headstock of teh Rikon at first seemed"cheap" but has come in handy for storing mandrels and knockout tool, drive centers etc.
Lastly the switch on the Rikon is positioned intelligently for a right hand user.It is on the left side.It comes in handy when applying finishes. I am right handed.
All in all look at them both.I believe they both have a two year warranty, The Tech department at Rikon is super, more specifically Rod Burroughs.The tech department For JET has also been great.
It would be great if Rikon came out with a true VS model in the same size but even if they don't,were I to look for another mini lathe at this point is would be a Rikon.
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