9X20 Jet Lathe after 3 years

Rickabilly said:
Yes Bill,
Just a slight difference in chuck size there:eek:

I have a bit of a "Thing" for nice gauges, I don't even care what it measures, distance, pressure, flowrate, whatever, they are all things of beauty to me, I have a test indicator, that must be of ancient origins, I thought I might post a thread here to see if anyone has seen one before View attachment 31469View attachment 31470View attachment 31471 It has some text on it, I tried to research it about three years ago and everything came up blank, might be time to try again, It's not exactly "nice" more utilitarian and different.

Any how thanks for the details I will keep an eye out, but as far as I know Lufkin only did tape measures over here and even they aren't common.

Best regards
Rick
Click to expand...


Bill looking good there, looking for the finish.

Rick I have to of those one is a Lufkin and the other is a Brown & Sharpe.

Paul
 
Bill. thats just wrong.
Rubbing my poor nose in a BP. I assume he has tooling to beat the band too!!!! Well another day with my jealousy turned up near max. You guys are killing me, my wife is gonna have a fit if she ever figures out what and how much I spend money on. Last time I bought a tool I had to go during the day and get it unboxed and the box gone before she got home from work. It wasn't too heavy, but being in a wheelchair makes for some interesting situations. Needless to say I got it all done and was laying down and taking a nap when she got home....... But, the credit card company had called her to report a large out of the ordinary purchase and I was flat busted anyway. She waited to see if I was gonna mention it, then about bedtime she sprung it on me. Never had a chance, caught, killed and cooked in my own juices. When will I ever learn, that sneaking always gets me caught. Oh well it is easier to ask for forgiveness than to beg for permission.

Bob
 
Hi all. I'm a newby to this forum and of course, would like some advice from you experts. Is this Jet 9x20 machine adequate for gunsmithing and like work?
Would one be better off to buy an older used machine such as a coilchester for about the same price? Would I be buying a extensive long project with the older machine to get it working well?
Appreciate any advice.

Thanks,
Aub
 
Thanks for the reply Rick.
What type of large projects were you able to do accurately on your DB9x20? Don't want to seem nosy but I don't have a feel of what it is capable of. Could you make a new cylinder for an old chainsaw motor that has been damaged beyond repair?
Could you take reasonably large coarse cuts, say 0.010", to get to the fine work in a reasonable time?

Thanks, and Merry Christmas,
Aub
 
As a 9x20 owner I think they are great, I bought mine new about 18 months ago and it's been a great machine to learn on. Mine looks almost identical to yours Bill. (It's even white :D, and no Dave I'm not going to paint mine pink either :biggrin:)

I don't have any issues with slipping belts on mine, it must have been a Friday afternoon special because the belt is a little tight to get on and on all but the heaviest cuts I don't even need to use the tensioner. I have to say I find it quite amazing how much those little belts can cope with, I bought a spare for mine thinking it was only a matter of time before it broke and haven't yet needed to use it.

I haven't seen much negative stuff from those that own these machines, I think it's more the anti-import brigade that make a lot of these type of comments. I'm a member of the Yahoo 9x20 group and there is quite a cult following of them there, it's also a great source of information on 9x20's.
 
Great info David and Rick.
After a bit more research I think I will take the plunge on some of the great deals for a Jet 9x20 out there.

Thanks again and have a good Christmas.
 
Hi All,
Been doing some research on this lathe. On the jetlathe.org website, this is the one poster review:

"I purchased this machine from a local industrial outlet after skimming through amazon and looking at others.
I wish I hadn't.

The Jet with stand is a piece of junk.

The milling that was done to hold the stage and your bits is milled so poorly in only 2 days of using the machine these became wobbled out and now our workpiece is looking like a checkered board instead of a smooth cut unit. On top of that the threader turned on for about 3 seconds and just a test moved over about 1 inch and some shear key that in unreplacebale sheared off from the 4" drive gear to the 3.5" reduction gear that turns the threader gear. The controls for 0.001 movements of your carbide cutter turn so easy that you have to either tape them in place or hold them the whole time your cutting or they jump back and forth not allowing for precise cuts.

The motor had plenty of power and the 3 finger chuck isn't bad I wish it was 4 as it's difficult to get it to tighten enough on your work piece so it doesn't burn where it's holding it.
When I picked this unit up there was no play in the stage or the cutter bracket. After 2 hours of use your are lucky if you can keep anything cutting at a precise measurement the carbide holder moves for no reason there is only 1 pin that locks it in place and the hole it goes into was drilled too big and allows the cutter to move back even though you have it as tight as you can without snapping off the handle.
The handles that come to screw into the adjustment knobs even with loctite just loosen themselves up as you use the machine and fall out they where threaded so poorly they won't stay in so they are constantly falling on the floor.

The only reason i'm giving this 1 star at all is because I liked the motor it was quiet had tons of power and the belt drive from the motor up was small but seemed to work well to drive the chuck. The unit came with a descent chuck and tools larger lathe wheels to chuck pipe and etc.

I am taking it back today as I just can't deal with the 18,000th of play in the stage that holds my carbide I can't keep it cutting anything smoothly."

It would seem to me that the Jet lathes a little older were made in Taiwan and were of comparatively high quality. The recent ones come from mainland China. The reviews of this unfortunate chap seem to keep repeating themselves on other sales websites. Predominant are reports of bad motors and slipping belts.
Other reviews suggest one may end up with a good one.

I am thinking that there has been a change of origin of these lathes. Could I be right? I have sent an e-mail to jetlathes asking for the country of origin of their BD920 lathe. I will post the reply.

Thanks,
Aub
 
DaveH:
Never mind the name calling, tell me why I should ignore the experiences of a new user?
Some new users seem to be happy with their purchase but others list various failures that shouldn't happen. I think any reasonable observer would conclude that quality control just isn't there. Often the result of making parts and farming them out to small assemblers to build. Have you ever bought a Japanese camera or TV that didn't work? I never have.
Posters on this forum seem to have older machines that work well.
If I'm wrong in this conclusion, tell me where.

Best of the New Year to all.
Aub
 
In general I find it very hard to purchase an item by reading the reviews of it. No matter how many positives there are it seems that there is always a certain percentage that say it's complete junk, not worth the money, etc. At times it is difficult to tell who is just blowing smoke, knows what they are talking about, or never even really had the product in their hands. That's why I prefer to find forums like this where the actual users are discussing the products and their strengths and weaknesses.

-Ron
 
Somehow Bill's 9 x 20 thread has turned into a review of a review drawn from another website. Not really appropriate. A new thread should have been started. Also, despite the obviously questionable nature of the imported review, it's improper to denigrate another individual or his opinion. It may well be that he had a very poor experience with his 9 x 20. He may not be familiar with machinery at all. And Dave,.......Moron? Please, no more of that. Part of the problem with his post may well be in language. I have a little trouble understanding what he was trying to say also. Perhaps English is not his primary language. Give the benefit of the doubt. Either way, Aub came in looking for an experienced evaluation to possible counter what he read on the other site. Let's do our best to accommodate him.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top