THAT JET 1024 is EXACTLY what I had back in the early 70's. Not my FIRST lathe,but my first DECENT lathe! Actually,I was machining in 1959,but I did not have my own lathe till I graduated and had money. I made guitars and other stringed instruments for years before I got my first lathe,and set up a small machine shop of my own.
I was making the patterns (30 of them!) for an 18th. C. fire engine we made in the museum. The 1024 was the only lathe I had. I EEKED through some of the castings that would BARELY swing in the lathe.
I had to MAKE a new steady rest for mine,to turn threads on the hose couplings. They had dogs sticking out on each side. The original steady rest was too small to fit over the dogs. So,I made a pattern for a steady rest that would swing them 5"-6" ? hole in it. We cast it out of BRONZE!. A thing of beauty all finished all over. I still have it,but I hate to sell it,even though it won't fit my 16" lathe! Or not any other lathe save the 1024. It does have many hours of work in it. And,I'm looking to get another 1024,as my Hardinge HLVH only cuts 27 threads. The Jet had a full range of cutting plus metric gears.
I used it for 2 or 3 years,and a LOT. I barely rubbed the grinding marks off the bed. Still perfectly accurate,and GREAT finishes. Some steel turnings looked nickel plated right off the lathe,from the smoother-than-gear head BELT drive. The V ways looked as if they had been ground with a fine cup wheel. Perfectly accurate!
Wholesale tool sells a 12" version of that lathe. But MINE was Taiwan. The WT is CHINESE. You pay more for a new Taiwan lathe these days. They are WORTH MORE!
