What's new
What's new

Jet 13x40 should I buy it?

Status
Not open for further replies.

#Dave

Plastic
Joined
Dec 10, 2017
Hey guys new member here but ive been on this forum alot as a nonmember.
Im a hobby machinist looking to buy a new lathe. Currently I have a grizzly G4000 9x19 and am looking to upgrade to bigger and better.
I found a local deal on a new Jet 13x40 belt drive scratch and dent model for what seems to be a good deal to me- $2,500.
Should I buy it? or is my money better spent on something older used non chineese?

Thanks in advance
 
Hey guys new member here but ive been on this forum alot as a nonmember.
Im a hobby machinist looking to buy a new lathe. Currently I have a grizzly G4000 9x19 and am looking to upgrade to bigger and better.
I found a local deal on a new Jet 13x40 belt drive scratch and dent model for what seems to be a good deal to me- $2,500.
Should I buy it? or is my money better spent on something older used non chineese?

Thanks in advance

If it's this one here BDB-134A, Belt, 13" Swing 4" Centers, 2HP, 1Ph, 23V Only , without a doubt go for it. Especially for hobby / educational a new machine beats the pants off an old dilapidated one no matter how good might've been when new decades ago. The old ones where often capable of taking a heavy cut and ran decades day in day out in production but that's irrelevant for an amateur. Unless you are an expert it's stupid to buy a used machine based on a picture - there can be many ( many ! ) things wrong with it which you will not be able to fix. Like, you can't get bearings. Or out of round bearing bores, gearbox shafts with worn splines, gears with damaged teeth, cracked beds, worn bearing holes in aprons, inconvenient spindle noses etc etc. Huge paper weight. It's all a bit like 2nd hand cars : if it's good, the "dealer" has plenty buddies who'll pick it up before it hits the lot.

Funny enough but today I went and inspected two Chinese lathes similar to the Jet a school here is looking to buy. Yes, they were a bit light duty and yes, those quills always look to thin to me but accuracy wise they were spot on, cut all the threads one could need and taken care off will last a lifetime in a hobby environment. And one can buy a 2nd one for parts for the price of a single gear for some famous names. I'm suspicious about Chines heat treatments, steel quality and bearings but the machines they use to make the lathes are top notch - of late, they're accurate.

I'm unfamiliar with Jet metal working machines. Their wood working machines disappointed myself ( and others ) many times. Some of them ( like their helical head planer ) are just utter rubbish.
 
It a country that needs more and more talented people in the machine and manufacturing field, I always am happy to hear from people who start machining as a hobby. I just cant help but think that many people who get a spark of interest quickly lose interest when they buy cheap and poorly made machines that are hard to hold tolerance on.... Benjamin Franklin: The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten. “
 
Jet's are POS's, as are Grizzly 14"x, King Industriel 14"x etc. $2500 is absurd. It's like the designers/manufacturers don't understand the concept of mass as it relates to a machine tool, nor do they know anything about material selection or choosing steel with a "spring" or memory. Ever use a Haas TL_ tailstock? Same ignorance on the designer's part, except Haas takes it a step worse and substitutes plastic for clamping surfaces.

All this has been said on this forum ad nauseam. The answer to your question is "No." Lock this up.
 
Not sure about new Jet lathes, but the older Taiwanese 13x40" lathes - both belt and gear driven -- were OK. I've seen in them in several prototyping shops and they seemed to get the job done.

Here's a belt version (cheaper and better for a novice) of the type folks have used: Amazon.com: Jet 321121 BDB-134A-2S 13-Inch Swing by 4-Inch 23-Volt 1 Phase Belt Drive Metalworking Lathe with Acu-Rite 2S Digital Readout: Power & Hand Tools

And this machine really should be OK per discussion guidelines; as it often ends up in money-making shops making things like bushings and one-offs.

I'd want to be sure it had the original chucks and at least the center rest.

If it's a cheaper Jet lathe, really can't recommend one way or another. But most anything will be better than those crappy 9" imports with no cross feed etc. etc.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.








 
Back
Top