I did allot of research on mini lathes before I bought one. Did tonnes of reading this forum and others.
Talked with woodcraft and they pushed the Ricon in a big way, which made me scared of them. Also talked with other dealers, they seamed to push the Jet, of course they didn't sell the ricon either. Dealers kinda cancelled each other out. Woodcraft did sell both the Jet and Ricon, Had only the Jets in thier classrooms, which was strange since they where pushing the Ricons.
So a few weeks back Woodcraft had both on sale and the Ricon worked out to be a tad cheaper. That was the final factor for me. I figured I couldn't go wrong either way, so I could put the extra toward some tools.
Had about two hours on the Ricon and fell into a deal on a Slightly used Jet. Had about two hours on it, and that was from only polishing. The owner had bought a nice 6" metal chuck for holding the metal that he was polishing. The other parts where still in the original plastic.
So now what do I do? Have both lathes that I was flip-flopping over sitting in front of me, can only use one. So I really thought about keeping both of them, but I couldn't. So I put a couple hours on each one and started to really see what I liked best.
Personel Impressions.
Jet..... Little better fit and finish (not much)
Harder to replace Belt, changing speed the same on both.
This one not as smooth as the Ricon ( I was shocked)
No spindle lock, not a problem for a Newbi, but a limitation
Ricon... Little cheaper up front.
Has spindle lock
Good looking and heavy for it's size.
Very very smooth.
Had extras like a tool holder, motor cover, folding handle.
Now I am getting a Delta 1460 from the 40s or 50's so I will end up with two lathes afterall. Not selling the Ricon though.
Final thoughts...
Either would work well,
Preferred the Ricon,
I was pushed by price,
Real glad I had the chance to try both.
Hope it helps someone out there.
John