On Fri, 31 Aug 2007 17:20:10 -0400, Maxwell Lol wrote:

I think the Jet and Rikon are considered best of the mini-lathes.
I don't own either.

I work part-time at Woodcraft and we stock both the Jet and the Rikon. My
experience has been that the pen turners prefer the Jet with the
electronic variable speed because they like to change speeds a lot. The
bowl turners seem to prefer the Rikon because of its 12" swing.

I've got a perfectly good mini-lathe (an old Nova Comet with a gap bed)
but I'm really considering the new General mini with the swivel head. I
haven't seen a mini with a swivel head since the old Record ones. Of
course it costs about twice what the Rikon does :-).