The larger import lathes are built pretty good for home lathes however
the 9X20 seems to have been left behind.
All of the imports need to be disasembeled upon arrival and cleaned and set
back up right. They have heavy cosmoline in all areas plus often there is
sand from the castings in there also. It does no good to just clean what you
see as the bearings, inside the carriage, the head, quick change and all
other mechanisms need to be taken apart , cleaned, relubed and reassembeled.
If this is not performed you'll have no end of problems, bearings trying to
seize up wearing gears out very quickly. Trust me, I know first hand.
Since this is a second hand machine you just have to hope the previous
owner did this. The 9X20's, although looking good are not built very good
compared to the larger imports. they are noisy and sloppy and wear pretty
quickly. They are O.K. for occasional, light duty use and if you have no
other lathe it sure beats nothing, especially at that price.
Dick

--
Richard H. Neighbors
Building and repairing fine billiard cues for real pool players at
affordable prices.
Over 35 years exp. Located in Cincinnati OH
ph.# 513 233-7499
e-mail
web site http://www.dickiecues.com
"John" wrote in message
...
Can anyone tell me if Jet lathes are any good for the home workshop? I can
get a 9x20 with the stand and all the tooling locally for $500.00 . It's 4
yrs old and in great shape. Thx....John