Has anybody in this group seen the Rikon 70-100 lathe? It's being
advertised in the most recent issue of Fine Woodworking. I'm planning to
upgrade from a Jet Mini-Lathe and this may be the path for me.

David Pugh

Hi Dave,
I looked at the Rikon on the web. It isn't much of a step up from the
Jet Mini. You'd be going from a 10 inch swing and 14 inches between centers
on the Jet to 12 inch swing and 16 inches between centers on the Rikon. The
Rikon also offers 12 position indexing which the Jet doesn't have. Both the
Jet and the Rikon take bed extensions. The Rikon has a 1/2 hp motor. I
don't remember if the Jet is 1/2 or 3/4 hp. What is the price on the Rikon?
Martin

"David Pugh" wrote in message
...
Has anybody in this group seen the Rikon 70-100 lathe? It's being
advertised in the most recent issue of Fine Woodworking. I'm planning to
upgrade from a Jet Mini-Lathe and this may be the path for me.

David Pugh

Just saw one at Woodcraft today. The good news is they thought of a
lot of things to make the lathe a little nicer.

Good news first:

- There are carrying handles that are built into the base
- I have two Jet minis- boy does this lathe look bigger! The larger
capacity is evident
- More horsepower
- Drilled and ready for a bed extension
- Comes with a 6" tool rest
- All the handles are chromed metal, no plastic! And they are large
enough to grip!
- Belts look easy to change for different speeds
- Two year warranty
- Comes with a 3" faceplate that may have been steel, not cheap cast
iron
- 1X8 spindle means no looking for accessories
- Tailstock looks nice and heavy and also has a ruler built onto it.
Really handy for someone like me that drills with his lathe on occasion
for different projects
- Best thing about it, WC sells it for $249

Not so good news:

- Seems odd... not really a mini, or a midi, but a really large looking
lathe. It is kinda like someone sawed the bed off one of the old Jet
1236 models.
- Not sure the motor is big enough to turn something chucked up at the
capacity of the lathe. And if a really out of round bowl blank of 12
actual inches were chucked up, you better have this thing bolted to a
really heavy cabinet. You are playing at the bottom of a full size
lathe capacitly on a midi sized frame
- But on the other hand, this thing is too heavy to be easily portable,
too heavy to wag around solo. My Jet minis go where I go with me
carrying them. I don't think you will carry this one far by yourself
(no meeting with the boys at a central location to turn ornaments or
taking this one to demos)
- Manufacturer's fit and fit was strictly Chinese. Some joints were
great, some were poor. The indexing built into the spindle was stamped
into a sleeve and looked like an afterthought - nothing to depend on
- Castings were rough, but the machined ways looked OK. At least as
good as the other Chaiwanese stuff we see all the time now. The tool
rest was so rough it would need to be filed smooth before using
- In person, the paint colors were kinda ugly. Looking at my lathes
with the bangs, stains, chips, and different finishes all over them, I
think in the long run this probably wouldn't be a problem. But right
now...
- No handwheel. There is a small chrome stub that sticks out, but it
is hard to find, hard to grab, and feels like your hand is too close to
the machine when you grab it. I use the ones on my minis all the time,
every single time I stop the lathe. This one made me nervous
- 12" capacity lathe needs a bigger motor. Since just about all the
1/2 hp Chaiwanese motors used on this type of machine are the same, you
probably won't have enough motor for a big chunk of wood (what's the
point of capacity if you can't use it?)
- No one knows EXACTLY who will handle warranty issues for Rikon. This
is really important to me since my experience with my Jet mini was it
took three to get it right. I would say buy it from WC and take it
back to them if it goofs up

According to WC management today, WC is hoping that this lathe will be
the new flagship of their small lathe line. They have had a lot of
problems with the Delta products, and they were looking forward to
having a lathe that would have higher capacity than the Jet.

Since most folks never put their lathe in the truck and demo or turn
with their buddies, this may make a nice shop lathe. In my opinion I
would still probably go with old tried and true Jet mini, but at $249
it might be a pretty good shop lathe for a lot of people.

BTW, this lathe has been around for awhile. Sharper eyes than mine on
this group ferreted out its origin:

http://www.right-tool.com/fisprecwoodt.html

Let us know how you like the machine if you get one.

Robert