JET 12" x 21" Variable-Speed Woodworking Lathe (JWL-1221VS)

Jet made a great quality lathe. Was a little nervous ordering this through Amazon, and though it did arrive with what looked like a kicked in hole in the box, the lathe itself was unharmed. This thing is surprisingly quite. Variable speed on the fly is very convenient. The stock spur, plate and live end work great, lined up perfect. Very strong tool guide, and came with two sizes, but could use a larger one. Also a smoother edge on the tool guide would of been great too. My experience with this machine so far has been simple and smooth. Took it out of the box. Put it on a folding table I happen to have in the garage, changed the belt speed. Dropped a piece of fire wood into it, and started turning. It was simple to figure out. If anything changes, I will update. As of right now. Very happy with this buy and very excited to continue turning.

Hello! My new favorite hobby would not be possible without this amazing tool. I love this Lathe, but it is the only one Ive ever owned, so take that lightly. It is wonderful for beginners because it has enough power to do almost anything I want/am capable of doing yet not enough to completely destroy me if I make an error. I don't know if I'd call it a beginner lathe or not, but I don't care. I love this tool. The centering was right on point. Everything fired up without any problem. It is also very heavy, so it doesn't get thrown around much. The speed changeover for belting up and down is a GOD SEND. I wish more of my older tools used this ratcheting system because it is soooo nice. Simply press, lift, change, and press again. Click, click, click and you are ready to roll. Amazing. The rests are pretty nice and everything on the tool can be tightened down nicely. The only issue I had was that the slide would occasionally catch when I was backing it off but it was an easy fix. Overall finish is very nice. My only complaint is that it occasionally reads the wrong RPMs on the digital readout. Its documented that this is caused by low voltage, but it changes on the ON/OFF cycle, sometimes within a few seconds. It's never random-for example, it will either read 1900 or 3600 at max, never anything else. My power where I am is pretty dicey as far as voltage is concerned, so I am assuming that is the problem, but it's pretty annoying to not have a believable readout on RPMs. It also fails slow, not fast, which can be dangerous at low speeds with Cole Jaws. Luckily, I'm aware of the issue so I plan for it. This issue and that the speed knob is a little lower quality than I would like are my only issues. The whole machine is so awesome that it makes me a little sad that they cheaped out on the controls. Again, the RPM issue may be my fault. I have checked my voltage before though, and it reads fine. Given all that, I absolutely love this tool and am planning on having it for a long time.

Nice quality wood turning lathe. Recommended by my wood turning instructor. Easy to change belts and lathe speed.

Like most new turners I believe this is a good starter wood lathe. So far I have turned 5 bowls with success. Along with the lathe I bought a PSI barracuda chuck and a drill chuck. I purchased this last August and I did have an issue with the head stock mounting bolts coming loose. I called Tech support for advise and they were excellent. With the help of a buddy I removed the bolts and added blue lock tight to prevent this from happening in the future. If you buy this lathe check the head stock bolts and make sure they are tight. Also verify the tail stock alignment is aligned to the head stock. I set my belt to the middle position. The belt speeds overlap enough to where I think the middle position will work for 99% of turning. Read the manual. The variable speed is awesome and the LED indicator seems to be accurate. What else can I say, don't be afraid to by this lathe. It is an excellent product. If it was made in the states I'm sure I would have not had the issue with the head stock. It is money well spent for a beginner turner.

I just received this lathe yesterday and this is my initial review. I will update it after I have some real turning experience with it. My previous lathe was a mini with 1/2 hp motor that I have had for about 20 years. Now I want to turn some bowls and so decided to upgrade to this Jet 1221VS. I have a lot of woodworking experience, but not much with lathes. Shipping took 4 days - I ordered it Monday, using Prime shipping and selected the scheduled delivery for Wednesday between 12:00 and 3:00. The lathe didn't arrive until Friday around 5:30 PM. This didn't bother me, as I was more concerned that it arrive without damage, which it did. Packaging was fine and I was able to load it onto my dolly and transport it down the bulkhead stairs to my workshop. No real problem there. It weighs about 130 lbs and I used a hoist to lift it onto my lathe stand. I plugged it in and turned it on. It seems to work fine. Here's where I get into the nit-picking: 1) This lathe did not come with a few small but essential tools: a knock-out bar for the MT2 fittings and the 3mm Allen wrench necessary to loosen the set screws locking the faceplate to the spindle. 2) I removed the faceplate and screwed my Barracuda chuck onto the 1x8 spindle. I was dismayed to watch it wobble when I powered up the lathe. I tried my Nova chuck with the same result. After delving into it further, I noticed that the faceplate screwed right up tight to the spindle shoulder, but the two chucks would not screw on past the smaller (1" shoulder). I fashioned a shim out of 1/4" Baltic birch plywood and found that both chucks ran true. I will mill a spacer from 1/8" brass stock, and this should take care of the problem. Still, disappointing, as the chucks I used were not out of the ordinary. I think I'm going to like this lathe. It is heavy, solid, and smooth running. After I have had some experience with it I will update this review. For now, I think 4-stars is about right.

Sturdy and vibration free. Variable speed is a great plus. Very enjoyable part-time during self isolation.