In message
,
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 a variant of this and it worked well till I upgraded to variable
speed
But, and there is always a BUT. Depending on which banjo/rest you are
supplied with, the lathe may be of no use for bowl turning. On the
variant I have when the tool rest is set to minimum height, it comes in
at 1/5in (5mm) under centre line, a basic scraper is 1/4in (7mm)
putting you above centreline when level. Use a bowl gouge, at an angle
and you can be 1/2in or more depending how close your tool rest. I think
you will see my point. I kept blaming myself for having issues turning
bowls, until I got my later lathe which had a far greater offset.. I did
what I thought and finally got what I expected
Another issue is minimum speed of 550, on mine it was 400 and for me
roughing a bowl as a beginner it was way too fast, and can be
off-putting if not frightening



I would say the price is way too high. Check out Amazon the machine can
be bout for $849.99 including free delivery

http://www.amazon.com/708352-JWL-123...ng-115-Volt/dp
/B00006ANS3
--
John