Customer Reviews

JET 321373 BD-920N 9-Inch Swing-by-20-Inch between Centers 3/4-Horsepower Benchtop Lathe, 115-Volt 1-Phase

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was looking for a benchtop lathe with a little more grunt and capability than the smaller, hobby-type machines, and without spending a ton of money. The lathe arrived well crated and covered with preservative. Plan on using up a roll of paper towels getting this stuff off. Once mounted on my workbench, I checked the spindle for runout with a coax indicator and also checked the tailstock alignment. Both were on the money. I obtained a live center, drill chuck, and a set of tool holders locally, and was off and running. First project was a steering tube for an outboard motor, that required a 12" length of aluminum stock to be turned to 7/8" OD and a 14-TPI thread cut. Both operations went extrememly well. Vibration is very low and this machine is solid.

Some gripes: When cutting threads coarser than 14 TPI, the end gearing arrangement prevents the access cover from being closed. This I see as a potential safety issue. I would like to see a power cross feed added, even if it added to the cost of the machine. Finally, I would like to see the inside of the tailstock taper keyed for the drill-chuck arbor.

All said, this is a lot of lathe for the money. I see from other reviews that some people aren't happy, but my experience has been positive so far. I've done this stuff for a living on a $20,000 toolroom lathe and this little JET does many things just as well. It is a small machine with limited power, but should serve most home machinists very well when used within its limitations.

I got mine really fast from Amazon at a great price. I found the lathe to be in pretty good shape. I would advise that after you get one that you disassemble the headstock and clean all the dirt and grime that you cannot see, and clean a replace the grease with good clean grease. Found the tool post mount needed to be upgraded to an 4 bolt available at mini lathe distributors. Be sure to check the alignment. I had to remove the headstock and clean it, then metal shim it .003 of an inch all around to get center to center alignment. Face alignment was great. I found that threading was useless and a DC motor needed to slow it down so you can use the threading capabilities. Mine said it had a clutch, but I have yet to find anything but a useless timing idler pulley that I think the belts could or should be run from so it would be useful. With a little upgrades, I think this will make a fine machine for the money. I think the assemblers of this machine should be fired. If I would have ran it like it was, it would have eaten the bearing fast in headstock. Chinese assemblers! Wash Your Hands! clean up your products before assembling them! Take more pride in you work!!

Once again, very happy with this product though Amazon needs to correct the title on this item. It is a metal working lathe, not woodworking. I had to call to confirm that what I was ordering was what I wanted. Customer service was very helpful and thorough. Shipping and whole transaction rates right up there.

I have for about 6 months now and used it many times and found it to be well built and easy to use. No problems with it so far and very happy with it! What a great machine! I got mine on sale here at Amazon for 992.68 shipped the door. Just watch for their tool sales!

I have considered for sometime a small lathe to do some of my lathe work, as I had two much smaller lathes and they will only do the very small work,The 9x20 will handle the larger work that I need to do,it is well made and I can still do the smaller jobs that I have.Wish that I had made the move up before now.

Never order from this supplier the change the shipping date as they want maybe this store is fake and they just try to steal the money... be sure they will take you money and never delivery