Customer Reviews

JET 1220VS Mini Lathe

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased the 1220VS lathe in early Jan. 2009, and I've used it for several hundred hours since then.
I believe that this is the best lathe of its type on the market today!
I did lots of researching and testing before buying the Jet.
Pros: Solid construction - smooth vibration free operation - plenty of power for size of lathe - work light is helpful and well placed - extension bed and stand easy to assemble and heavy duty.
Cons: Poor craftsmanship on bed of lathe for a "Jet" named product (has many very sharp corners and pieces that should have been filed off at the factory) - poor quality "on / off variable speed control box" (plastic box that won't remain closed when lathe is operating). I've tried adjusting metal friction latch with no success, so I "duct taped" it in the closed position {:<(} - "On / Off switch" quit after a few hours of work. Phoned customer support (spoke with a good experienced tech) and they sent another that arrived within 48 hours, that I installed with little effort.
Summary: Highly recommend this lathe to any beginner or intermediate experienced turner. Just be careful of the sharp edges on the lathe bed. Maybe mine, just slipped by the "quality control check" at their lunch break. ! {:<|} ?

I have been using my 1220VS for nearly a year and have noticed several disappointing shortcomings. First the electronic speed control is marginal. I'm on my third on-off switch (when they fail you can't turn the lathe off which is dangerous), the latch will not hold the control box in place and the lathe speeds up uncontrollably at times under heavy load. Note that you still have to change belt positions for a wide range of speed. The belt change is fast and easy.

Secondly the lever tighting screw used to hold the tool rest in place has a short lever and will not hold the rest securely. The internal splines strip if you use something to increase your leverage. A proper adjustable tension lever like the KIPP is a major inprovement, but will set you back $21 (Grainger PN 3GKG5).

Finally the adjustable neck on the light is too short making the light useless for anything other than simple spindle work or the exterior of a bowl.

The knockout rod knob broke because it is cheap plastic and had bottomed out when screwed on the rod - the top just popped off. Is this a terrible product? No; it is very usable for a first lathe for the hobbiest. What this is - is a typical, cost compeditive, Chinese lathe. If you can buy a Chinese lathe with another label for a cheaper price, you might want to consider it. On the plus side Jet customer service is very helpful and supportive and will send you new switches, at no cost, as fast as you can burn them up.

June 2010 update: I have continued to enjoy wood turning and highly recommend this hobby. After the somewhat problematic shakedown period, I haven't had any additional problems and this little Jet has allowed me to turn large (~11 1/2 inch) natural edge bowls, platters and many dry wood bowls and neat little boxes. This lathe will let you have lots of fun for a reasonable price.

This is a great lathe with great features. The fit and finish on the lathe is very good. The 3/4 HP motor has enough power to turn anything you can fit on the lathe. The built in light is a nice addition. The variable speed is worth the extra money. It makes sanding and finishing projects much easier. The lathe includes both a 6" and 10" tool rests, storage tray, and a 3" face plate.

The packing box was pretty chewed up, on arrival, and I was nervous opening it, but the lathe was in great shape.

I set it up on the work bench, installed the head & tail stocks, brought them point-to-point and they were right on the money. The work bench is to high to use a lathe so I mounted it on a wheeled work stand, which brought the lathe to a perfect height for me to work without bending over.

I mounted a 2X2 block in the lathe, brought it up to about 1100 rpm and within five minutes I had the block smooth and round - only using my roughout gouge. Man this little thing is so smooth. I changed the belt and ran it up to top speed and had very little vibration. Once I moved it around a little on the not-very-smooth floor, even that went away.

I got the lathe during the latest Jet/Powermatic sale - and I had some point from my Amazon card so the price was terrific. But even at the full retail price, I would have bought this lathe.

These are first impressions - I'll check back in a few weeks/months to update this with any more pros or cons.

i purchased this VS lathe after many hours using a 10" non variable speed jet. this was the cheapest price i found after comparing to other places. unfortunately, the customer service has been the pits- which i expected the service to be bad, but did not think i would NEED customer service! the tail stock started EATING my live centers.... i had to pound 2 out (obviously destroying both) and finally BOUGHT a new tail stock shaft and replaced the one that came with it. the original shaft had several tiny tiny burrs that caused this problem. i still have issues with it sticking as i unwind to disengage the center, but i love turning and don't want to fork out big bucks for a power matic. oh well- live learn, right?

This is a great little lathe for the money! It is my first and after almost two years, I still love it. I've done pens up to 11" natural edge bowls. The variable speed is ssssoooo nice, and the belt changes take just almost no time at all, so I don't mind.

Does it have its limitations? Yes, but then this is a small lathe, so if you just keep your expectations reasonable, I think it is great. So what would I change?

1. The plastic knob on the back of the knock out bar will not take any real hit. I just got my own rod and use a mallet.

2. The plastic control box for the on-off switch and variable speed feels a bit cheap. Mine has stayed on and not given me any problem, but it just feels like it could have been done a little better. The variable speed is quick and easy to get to but the on/off toggle would be safer if replaced by a bigger button you can just slap to turn off.

3. The flexible lamp is nice to have, but the short neck makes it useless for large bowls. Still, it is helpful for a lot of things.

4. I have a hard time knocking out some MT2 drive centers. I guess it is good that they fit well and can drive something large, but in my case, I just fear waking up my wife and toddler when I am down there and need to wack the knock out rod very hard. I don't have experience with other lathes to know how much force is normal and if it is more than others or not...

5. The banjo would be nicer if it were a bit large. Sometimes the offset is just not enough to really get close to something. Still, I could buy a dog-leg for this.

6. The tool rest is ok for what you pay, but I replaced it with a mini from Robust.

7. The washers on the bottom of the banjo and tail stock have limited contact area with the bottom of the bed. For $35 I upgraded by getting the Monster T-Nuts for a mini lathe. They made these things near rock solid. Still, even without swapping them out, it wasn't bad, just no as solid as I wanted and would move under heavy pressure.

8. One time the set screw on the top part of the belt system (the stepped piece the belt goes over) started to come out. When I had the belt on that step, the lathe started to make noise and scared me. Once I realized what it was, i tighted it and all was well, so when you do periodic maintenance, look in there and see if things should be tightened or not.

9. It is not reversing, but I managed to make it two years without needing it, so not really something I feel needs to change, but still it would have been nice.


The motor is nice. I can stop it of course with enough pressue on a tool, but it is not underpowered for what it is. I just make sure to rough cut the really big stuff on my band saw first. I have done some 10" hollow forms in Maple on here with a Monster articulated hollowing system. So it has the power, you just can't expect to take off what you would with a Powermatic or Oneway...

The handles on the side are great attention to detail that made moving it around easy before I got a stand! The stand seems expensive, but has proved very handy since I didn't want to take the time to build one myself. I have the bed extension, but have never gotten around to doing anything I would need it for.

The live center that came with it seemed nice, but I upgraded to one from Oneway.

I use the Hold Fast vacuum chucking system on this with a vacuum generator. Works wonderful. I kept meaning to make my own vacuum heads, but the 3" and 6" ones cover the range of what I needed with this little lathe.

It is also very quite, so I can turn wood late at night after the family is in bed! I turn, sand and then use a Beall Buffing system on the lathe. I am hooked.

I cannot recommend variable speed enough!!!

So, anyway, I love it! It has lasted through me learning and hooking quite a bit up to it (vacuum chucking, hollowing rig, beall buffing, etc). I have come a long way from doing pens 2 years ago. So much, I hope to sell 1200vs and step up to a 1642 EVS!

I highly recommend it to anyone getting started who wants something that will have the capacity and quality to last a while.

-Ray

After a lot of research and looking at mini lathe's I finally broke down and bought this one, and with no regrets, It is a fine lathe in all respects. Set-up was a breeze and the lathe performed seamlessly. Only one problem ,one of the rubber feet was smashed in shipping and needs to be replaced, had to rermove the others to level it out, very minor, other wise great,.
B. Tomblin Wv

What a bargain! Not only was I able to purchase this lathe for almost $100 under the retail starting price, but Amazon also included free shipping! I placed my order on Friday morning and it was delivered to my front door step at 10:30am on that Monday! Talk about FAST!!!!! Thank you so much for excellent service!!

For anyone out there thinking about buying a lathe This Jet 1220VS mini lathe is an excellent choice. First things first, they call this a mini lathe but the fact of the matter is that it has as much power as most full size lathes, it can handle up to a 12" bowl or a 20" spindle right out of the box with nothing extra to purcahase. The unit has a heavy steel frame to keep it vibration free and it is whisper quite. The infinite speed range between 240rpm & 4200rpm will allow you to accomodate any project you have in mind. So whether it's miniture items, bowls, boxes or any thing in between this is the lathe for you. I have used this lathe for the last couple months quite a bit and it has handled everything with ease that I have tried. There maybe one small thing for some folks, there are belt adjustments for the varying speed ranges all though I found these pretty simple to do some folks might not be comfortable having to do the adjustments which only take a couple minutes. As Far as I'm concerned this lathe gets 5 stars and deserves them all.

Had this lathe 2 years now to take on the road when doing turning demos and for more refined work rather than using my big General 26020 VS.

Even though Delta and Penn State now have their own versions this lathe still stacks up nicely, however, it could use a reversing switch, the attached lamp neck needs to be longer, the control box relocated underneath, a bigger hand wheel,and a bigger drive belt.

Power and torque is great, spindle size at 20" is better than Delta, a good looking lathe on the axillary base, just the right size for mobility, and a 5 year warranty. For what ever reason the motor just stopped working after I let a local turning club use it at a summer fair but Walter Meier sent me a new motor within 3 days after I sent them the proof of purchase receipt.