Jet mini lathe operating temp

[Brian Fulkerson]

Hey folks,

I have a question about the mini lathes. I just received a new jet mini 1014 that I ordered off amazon and got the opportunity to turn my first spindle. After turning for a while, the lathe seemed to build up a good deal of heat. The heat was on the motor, headstock, and tailstock. Is this normal, or did I receive a defective lathe.

Thanks for your help,

Brian

[Glenda Marais]

My jet mini also built up heat but it was concetrated on the headstock.

After loosening the grub screw on the handwheel and just loosening the the shaft by less than a 1/4 turn it was perfect and even ran faster and better.

I hope this make sense and will solve your problem.

Regards from South Africa

[Derek Hansen]

I would guess that you cranked down too hard on the tailstock wheel to hold your wood between the headstock and tailstock. This will increase the friction and therefore temperature of both.

[Gordon Seto]

The belt tension may be too tight. According to the Jet service, that was also the main reason for pre-mature bearings failure. Don't put too much force pushing down on the motor bracket to tension the belt. It is easy to put your body weight to lean on the lever. The dead weight of the motor should be enough. As long as the belt doesn't slip, there is enough tension. The side benefit of not over-tension belt is it will lessen the effect of a major catch.

[Brian Fulkerson]

Good thoughts. I did tighten the tailstock down pretty good to make sure it was safe. Maybe I went to far. I will also try not to overtighten the belt.

Thanks guys,

Brian

[Steve Mawson]

I had one for a couple years and the motor always was hot to touch but not headstock.