Mike Goodell wrote:

Any comments good bad or indifferent on this machine as a first lathe?


I've got the JET Mini VS (variable speed) that has a smaller swing (10
vs 12), less distance between centers (14 vs 16) and no indexing. On
the other hand, it has variable speed, a feature that's handy when
roughing out of balance chunks of wood. If you think you'll be trying
multi-center and eccentric turning, variable speed rather than fixed
speeds that require pulley changes is let's you dial up the speed 'til
the shaking and wobbling begin - then dialing back 'til it doesn't.
Because it's so easy to dial in speeds, I do. If it's a hassle to
change speeds - your probably won't. I do wish my JET had the indexing
feature, but given a choice of having VS and no indexing, or indexing
and no VS - I'd go with VS again.

the tail stock design
Mini lathes aren't intended for turning big heavy pieces - to begin with
- or end with. To give you a bit more between centers space, they slope
back - away from the headstock. Not the strongest arrangement, as
Ecnerwal pointed out, but most of us, especially who use a Mini lathe,
don't need the extra strength in the tail stock. What we need is more
between centers distance and the Slants Back tail stock gives you a
couple more inches between centers than a more robust tail stock
arrangement.

I'm normally in the Buy Once, Cry Once school - get the best you can
afford - and stretch that a bit on the higher side. You'll get over the
Sticker Shock thing pretty quickly. With most woodworking power tools,
the difference in price between an Entry Level and Full Size, Full
Features is usually only a factor of three to five times - a $500
contractors table saw vs a $2000 cabinet saw. With lathes the price
difference is more dramatic $400 for a good entry level lathe, vs $6K
for a Stubby, OneWay, Robust, etc.

There have been a few times I wish I had a bigger, beefier lathe. But
I've been able to do all sorts of turnings I didn't know could be done
on a lathe when I first got into turning. Some took a little longer
than if I had a bigger lathe and BIG things aren't possible at all (36"
diameter plates, pool cues, table legs, etc.) But there are a hell of a
lot of piece you can turn - on a mini - that'll keep you having fun for
a long while.

See if Rikon has a variable speed Mini - and seriously consider that
one,