Should I buy it - Jet 1224PS Lathe ?

rajhlinux · Jul 18, 2020

Saw a lathe on craigslist, the owner wants $1,500 for it. Seems like a good lathe. You think it will do the job?

JET Lathe - tools - by owner - sale

Application I will use it for is mainly for water fittings for threading.
I'll modify it to use an electronic lead screw.

Thanks.

L Vanice · Jul 18, 2020

I had the 12x36 version, bought new in 1982 or so. I had to rebuild it before I could actually use it. It was very badly made in some places, OK in others. I was happy to sell it when I got a used Clausing 5900 in 1984.

Note that it will not cut 27 TPI, so 1/8 pipe threads are not available. Where are the other chuck jaws?

Larry

crossthread · Jul 18, 2020

My son had that exact same lathe for a few years until I bought him his Monarch. It was a half way decent lathe. You ask if it will do the job. Well that is pretty relative. It will do a lot of things and is not a bad hobby lathe in my opinion for the price. It did some wonky stuff like the tail stock would always slip a bit unless you wailed the crap out of the cam lever and it was a little rough at first until things wore in. He made a lot of nice stuff with it so it may very well suit your purposes. Would I buy it? No. I am spoiled now.

Guest · Jul 18, 2020

Some of the older Jets made in Taiwan were decent. I have a 14 x 30 made in Taiwan in 1975, I bought used 25 years ago that has never had any issues. No idea who has actually made them over the years. Most Jet branded machines are now low grade Chinese junk and have been for some time.

rajhlinux · Jul 18, 2020

L Vanice said:
I had the 12x36 version, bought new in 1982 or so. I had to rebuild it before I could actually use it. It was very badly made in some places, OK in others. I was happy to sell it when I got a used Clausing 5900 in 1984.

Note that it will not cut 27 TPI, so 1/8 pipe threads are not available. Where are the other chuck jaws?

Larry

Thanks for the reply, I asked the owner if it came with tooling and he said is "what you see is what you get"... X_x

I will modify it so that it will have an Electronic Lead Screw.

rajhlinux · Jul 18, 2020

Dualkit said:
Some of the older Jets made in Taiwan were decent. I have a 14 x 30 made in Taiwan in 1975, I bought used 25 years ago that has never had any issues. No idea who has actually made them over the years. Most Jet branded machines are now low grade Chinese junk and have been for some time.

Interesting... So what would be a good lathe for my application in terms of the brand and model for a new or used lathe?
I will modify the lathe with an electronic leadscrew.

Thanks.

rajhlinux · Jul 18, 2020

Dualkit said:
Some of the older Jets made in Taiwan were decent. I have a 14 x 30 made in Taiwan in 1975, I bought used 25 years ago that has never had any issues. No idea who has actually made them over the years. Most Jet branded machines are now low grade Chinese junk and have been for some time.

Interesting, I read elsewhere on the internet the same what you have mentioned. Everyone says the older Taiwan made JET lathes are decent.

View attachment 294366
View attachment 294367

This particular JET lathe is made in Taiwan.

Thanks for your insight!

winger · Jul 18, 2020

Npt threads need a taper attachment unless you go 2 axis cnc.

Dave

moonlight machine · Jul 18, 2020

rajhlinux said:
Saw a lathe on craigslist, the owner wants $1,500 for it. Seems like a good lathe. You think it will do the job?

JET Lathe - tools - by owner - sale

Application I will use it for is mainly for water fittings for threading.

View attachment 294369
View attachment 294370

Thanks.

Water pipes and fittings are tapered thread, how ya going to do that without a taper attachment?

David_M · Jul 18, 2020

Electronic Lead Screw takes care of it not having 11.5 tpi (in addition to the 27 tpi mentioned by Larry) too.

We did a lot of tapered threads at the shipyard by using the compound to cut the taper, then using an upside-down tool bit cutting from back to front. We fed the tool in going by sight and sound to keep the flats between the threads as even as possible. A hack at best, but it worked.

ManicMetalBasher · Jul 18, 2020

Entertaining.
So I search for rajhlinux.
74 results.
I have no way of knowing how many rajhlinuxes there are.
But at least one of them has been asking for advice elsewhere.

Scottl · Jul 18, 2020

No idea how slow it will turn in back gear but for smaller threads you could use pipe dies in a tail stock mounted holder.

The larger Taiwan made Jets are not bad for home or light engineering use but are definitely not professional grade. If all you want to do is threaded fittings for fluids that might be a bit pricey but as a general purpose hobbyist lathe a Taiwan 12x36 is not bad. Just remember to keep the ways cleaned and oiled because most are not hardened.

I don't know your skill level in fitting it with an electronic leadscrew but if you search online I'll bet other 12x36 owners have figured how to fit one with suitable gears and that might be easier.

rajhlinux · Jul 18, 2020

moonlight machine said:
Water pipes and fittings are tapered thread, how ya going to do that without a taper attachment?

Going to get a custom made taper attachment...

rajhlinux · Jul 18, 2020

David_M said:
Electronic Lead Screw takes care of it not having 11.5 tpi (in addition to the 27 tpi mentioned by Larry) too.

We did a lot of tapered threads at the shipyard by using the compound to cut the taper, then using an upside-down tool bit cutting from back to front. We fed the tool in going by sight and sound to keep the flats between the threads as even as possible. A hack at best, but it worked.

Really interesting so it seems like i would not need a taper attachment. I will have the motor running on a VFD and also with an electronic lead screw setup.

L Vanice · Jul 18, 2020

rajhlinux said:
Going to get a custom made taper attachment...
...I will modify the lathe with an electronic leadscrew...

Surely you plan to add a DRO too. The image that comes to mind is lipstick on a pig.

Larry

rajhlinux · Jul 18, 2020

Scottl said:
No idea how slow it will turn in back gear but for smaller threads you could use pipe dies in a tail stock mounted holder.

The larger Taiwan made Jets are not bad for home or light engineering use but are definitely not professional grade. If all you want to do is threaded fittings for fluids that might be a bit pricey but as a general purpose hobbyist lathe a Taiwan 12x36 is not bad. Just remember to keep the ways cleaned and oiled because most are not hardened.

I don't know your skill level in fitting it with an electronic leadscrew but if you search online I'll bet other 12x36 owners have figured how to fit one with suitable gears and that might be easier.

Yes pipe dies, I completely forgot about those. Will make my life so much easier in making fittings.

I know a thing or two about software, programming, hardware, microcontrollers and motors. Should be a piece of cake for the installing of an ELS system.

I thinking to do a bit more waiting and digging around to find a better deal such as this lathe.

rajhlinux · Jul 18, 2020

L Vanice said:
Surely you plan to add a DRO too. The image that comes to mind is lipstick on a pig.

Larry

Electronic Lead screw will obviously come with a DRO with buttons, possibly connected to my iphone with bluetooth or wifi or maybe voice controlled input, which is all easy for me to do.

"The image that comes to mind is lipstick on a pig." - better than doing a "5 min" gear change.

rajhlinux · Jul 18, 2020

ManicMetalBasher said:
Entertaining.
So I search for rajhlinux.
74 results.
I have no way of knowing how many rajhlinuxes there are.
But at least one of them has been asking for advice elsewhere.

Indeed kind sir.

L Vanice · Jul 18, 2020

rajhlinux said:
Yes pipe dies, I completely forgot about those. Will make my life so much easier in making fittings...

Now that your memory is refreshed, time to learn about Geometric die heads, which are far superior to solid threading dies. And learn about releasing tap holders and turret lathes. Cutting threads with turret tooling can compete with CNC for speed and costs a lot less for the machine.

Larry

jwearing · Jul 18, 2020

You’re going to spend $1500 on that!? And another $1000 at least getting it working. And another $1000 (??) on an electronic leadscrew upgrade? It’s resale value will be zero, you’re throwing your money away. You could buy a half decent lathe instead.

Yeah right, you’re just trolling us.

Should I buy it - Jet 1224PS Lathe ?

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