Grizzly? and a first bowl

[Bernie Weishapl]

Paul congrats on the first bowl. They will get easier now.

[paul ashman]

I did not mention that the lathe I have is a new Jet 1220, it is the upsized mini, with a 12" swing and 20" between centers, 6 speeds with a 3/4 horse motor. I mainly got it for spindle work. I am a teacher at a Community College (culinary arts, I'm a pastry chef), and work part-time for a friend who has a company that specializes in hand-turned magic wands (think Harry Potter). I am turning some small wands for them, but tried a bowl the other day....falling, falling, .....into the vortex.

[Gordon Seto]

By wobbly I ment the lathe began to walk a bit....

Let the lathe walk; let it be your warning sign for over its safety limit. Don't ever bolt it down.

Normally, we can get a smoother cut when we raise the speed. But it is more demanding on the lathe. Sometimes we would like the 500 minimum RPM on a 10" swing mini lathe can go even slower.

Gordon

[Bill Lantry]

Guys, the conventional wisdom is wrong on this one. I got the GO462 a couple months ago. Yes, I've turned 14" bowls on it. Of course it has to be fairly balanced, but the lathe is not worthless. I personally love the thing. Of course, if I had 2000 bucks to spend, I would have gotten something else, but I didn't. If that lathe wasn't so cheap I simply would have never discovered the joys of turning. As it is, LOML is always yelling at me to stop "playing" on the lathe and get back to flat work for her kitchen!

Yes, the minimum speed is a problem. If grizzly could figure out how to reduce that to 300, they'd sell a ton of those lathes. As it is: I see the oneways and the robusts and all the others people have, and drool, but in my reality, those things are out of reach, and I'm really glad I could get this one...

Thanks,

Bill

[Ernie Nyvall]

Guys, the conventional wisdom is wrong on this one. I got the GO462 a couple months ago. Yes, I've turned 14" bowls on it. Of course it has to be fairly balanced, but the lathe is not worthless. I personally love the thing. Of course, if I had 2000 bucks to spend, I would have gotten something else, but I didn't. If that lathe wasn't so cheap I simply would have never discovered the joys of turning. As it is, LOML is always yelling at me to stop "playing" on the lathe and get back to flat work for her kitchen!

Yes, the minimum speed is a problem. If grizzly could figure out how to reduce that to 300, they'd sell a ton of those lathes. As it is: I see the oneways and the robusts and all the others people have, and drool, but in my reality, those things are out of reach, and I'm really glad I could get this one...

Thanks,

Bill

Bill, is the banjo on the Grizzlys still small... about 8-10 inches long? That's where I had most of my problems with a G1495 that I bought a couple of years ago. The tool rest could only be positioned 4.5" straight away from the center, and didn't seem all that sturdy. I broke four of their extensions before I gave up on ordering any more, and too the head and tail stock didn't match up well. I did turn a few big bowls on it, and after I put a belt on it from the auto parts store, it ran much smoother and stronger. By the way, it is very much worth taking your belt to an auto parts store and getting them to match up the size. I felt though that the banjo was unsafe for what I wanted to do, so I moved on. Bill, I'm not trashing it, just giving a different perspective. I have several Grizzly tools I like very much, just not the lathe.

So Paul, if you already have a lathe, and are looking to upgrade, I'd save my money and pass up the Grizzly. JMHO

[paul ashman]

Thanks for all of the information. I am very happy with my Jet, and hope to develop my skills more before getting a bigger machine. I guess it is just a guy thing, but I see the posts and pictures of these big, beautiful machines and a little stream of drool starts to come out of the left side of my mouth.
More than anything, I should be content and just keep turning. Thanks!