Lathe opinions/comments

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Narrowed it down. The 1221 is definitely too large & heavy for me. Also the stands base(feet) take up more footprint than I want used up. I decided on a 10". Turncrafter or 1015VS. Either will work fine for me. If I sell my truck I'll have the garage space I need and possibly add the 1221 next year.
On a side note does anyone have a problem with humidity. My buddy has a set up in his garage and everything rusted during the summer.
Anybody interested in a 2006 SSR 6 sp. Help an old guy out. Buy the truck so I can set up shop.
 

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A truck is something you toss firewood into that looks like your toy. ;-)

You can put either of these lathes on a workbench. You don't need to buy the base.

The difference in shop footprint of the actual lathe is inches. Now moving it is another story.

Either way, it seems like the options you're pursuing will meet your needs nicely.
 
WriteON said:
You guys are killing me. I might have to get a 1221VS so I can bother you with questions. I hold you responsible if I do order one. Plus I never regretted buying a 1st class quality item. Is Amazon an ok place to buy from or what vendor would you recommend?
Currently $679.99 shipped.
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I WOULDN'T buy the 1221VSI. The Jet 1014VSI is a tighter lathe for far less money. I have a 1014VSI that has made WELL OVER 10,000 pens. Other than eating $2 toggle switches, it has been bullet proof. My 1014 has LESS than half the run out of the 1221, EVEN AFTER 5 years of use and abuse.
 
I can speak up to the 1014 VS -- I can carry it to store it, compact, and seems to be near bullet proof for operations -- It just cannot do everything my big lathe does. (one is in Alaska and the 1014 is in Arizona).

Price was nominal, and much of the tooling is interchangeable.
 
OK. I flipped a coin and it came up tails (TurnCrafter for $349 + 50s). I flipped it again and it came up heads (Jet 1015VS) for $492 shipped. I did find a place that sold it for a good price. For $100 difference I went the 1015. I will follow up as we go along. Thank you so much for helping me kick it around. The 1221 will always be in the future picture when I have space and the desire to expand. Thanks again. Frank
 
One thing to be aware of - mine would not deliver the full speed range 'out of the box'. It would spin up to the advertised maximum on both pulleys, but was limited at the low end. In my case, I could get down to about 500 r/min on the slow pulley, and about 800 r/min on the fast pulley. I spoke with Joe Roberts at PSI Tech Support who explained that there are three potentiometers on the circuit board that can be 'tweaked' to get the advertised lower speeds. He suggested that I remove and open the power converter box, and then call back with a 'jeweler's screwdriver' in hand so he could talk me through the process. I haven't had an actual need to get down to 'thread chasing territory' yet, so I haven't attempted the adjustments. But it doesn't sound like it's a big deal.
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Followup - I called Joe Roberts back to have him walk me through the process of tweaking the speed range. I had misunderstood that I needed to disconnect the power converter box altogether. My mistake - he had me reconnect it, and turn on the lathe so that the tachometer could be used to see the effect of the tweak. For safety reasons, I won't describe the process - if anyone needs to adjust a Turncrafter Commander, its best to call Joe for detailed help. But I will say that my followup phone call lasted about five minutes, four of which were devoted to pleasantries and reconnecting the power converter. The process is really simple and quick, and not something to be afraid of. So mine now runs down to a bit over 140 r/min.
 
The 1015 is set up but I miscalculated the height. Is there an ideal base height for comfortable safe turning. It's a bit too high. Should my forearms be almost parallel to the ground when holding the chisel? I realize we have to find our own comfort zone.
 
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