Flash Gordon writes:

I'm thinking of adding a lathe to my home/recreational wood shop. A
friend may have one for sale. It's a

JET JWL-1236 Wood Lathe

I saw them online for a little under $800. I don't know what the
used one will go for, but is anyone here familiar with this lathe?

Is this a good lathe? Opinions?

I have one. The main problem is large bowls. I wish the minimum speed
was slower. You may have to add bracing and extra weight to keep it
from vibrating when you turn 10 inch bowl blanks.

The banjo is fine, but some times I wish the banjo shaft was a little
longer.

As for the rotating head, you can handle a 10-12" faceplate/bowl
without it, and dealing with larger objects is a problem because the
speed can't be slower than 600rpm. So I never use this feature.