Jet 1 HP 12 in. x 21 in. Wood Lathe, Variable Speed, 115-Volt, JWL-1221VS

52 reviews for Jet 1 HP 12 in. x 21 in. Wood Lathe, Variable Speed, 115-Volt, JWL-1221VS

1. Rated 5 out of 5

   Ervin Lubowitz (verified owner) – October 25, 2022

   The lathe was packed in a snug box on a pallet. I went together quickly. I had to clean off a lot of shipping oil but it was all good. The lathe works great. I recommend purchasing the stand, it is very sturdy and stable. Overall. I love the performance and accuracy.

2. Rated 5 out of 5

   Samantha Hartmann (verified owner) – October 18, 2022

   Lathe works like a charm. Very happy with my purchase.

3. Rated 5 out of 5

   Charlotte Yundt (verified owner) – October 15, 2022

   This is my first lathe. After much research I selected this one. It does come by motor freight delivery. I ordered the stand and strongly recommend you do as well. This is a very solid set up and centers aligned perfectly. I purchased this for bowl turning and have spent nearly as much on tools and accessories as my initial investment on the lathe.I purchased Benjamin’s Best Tools. I have a general set and a bowl turners set. These came sharp enough to use but are considered to be ground only. I have since purchased a Grizzly wet sharpening system similar to the Tormek 7 for a third of the cost.I also invested in a four jaw scroll chuck for the lathe. HD carries the NOVA G3 that works well with this lathe. It came with the 50 mm jaws and the worm screw. I have added to this with the Cole Jaw attachment and the dovetail tool.This lathe will turn up to 3600 rpms. Most of the attachments I listed above have a max rpm of 600 rpm!! I have yet to take my lathe off the low speed setting. Always practice safety and common sense. Seek out an experienced woodturner as a mentor or at the very least search out the videos on YouTube.

4. Rated 5 out of 5

   Cayla Lindgren (verified owner) – October 5, 2022

   I have been turning out small projects on my mini metal lathe. I wanted to move to bigger projects and this machine, although a little pricey is great. It is very solid and rigid. It is easy to use and the speed control is good and I like that it will control the set RPM’s with varying cutting loads.I am going to put it to the test with Holiday presents this season.

5. Rated 5 out of 5

   Paris Littel (verified owner) – October 3, 2022

   Looks good.

6. Rated 4 out of 5

   Johan Padberg (verified owner) – August 29, 2022

   Everything works as it should. The variable speed knob is super loose, though. I looked this up and it seems like this has been an issue with this model since it was introduced. Otherwise it’s a nice compact machine with enough power for what I need.

7. Rated 3 out of 5

   Webster Dibbert (verified owner) – August 28, 2022

   The lathe, like others have said is extremely quiet to operate. Feels very solid. I do question how they came up with 21″ as the capacity for length. With both centers in place, I only get about 18 inches. The post for the rest is quite small in diameter. Probably not an issue on the smaller rest, but I question how long it will last on the larger rest.

8. Rated 5 out of 5

   Kelley Fisher (verified owner) – July 24, 2022

   This is one great lathe. By that I mean, it has the power, weight, fit and finish of a fine piece of machinery. It runs silky smooth and quiet. The tailstock slides nicely on the bed, and lines up with the headstock perfectly. A lot of care was put into producing this lathe.I previously had two Wen 3427 lathes (see my review here at Home Depot). They had their problems, but once I got them squared away, the worked “pretty good.” The main problem I had was with the power (lack of, that is)—they would bog down and stall when trying to drill the end of a cylinder with a Forstner bit. The Jet has no such problem, even on its High speed range I can easily drill a large hole. And if I’m drilling a very hard wood, it’s a quick speed change to the Low range where you have tons of torque. If you’re not familiar with this lathe, note that there are three speed ranges, and within each, you can vary the speed with the variable speed dial. One of the things that initially kept me from buying this lathe was not knowing how easy it is to change the speed range (the other was the price). It’s VERY easy to change speed range: move a lever, move the belt, push down the lever. Done. (Of course, somewhere in there you have to open the two access doors, but they are smartly held close with just magnets so they easily pull open—no tools needed.)But everything isn’t perfect. This is probably the most minor complaint one can make about this lathe, but here it is. On each end of the lathe there is an accessory holder where you can store the wrench (for the faceplate), knock-out bar, spur center, and live center. The problem is, if you change speeds a lot, you can’t use the one on the headstock (without emptying it every time) because the accessories block the bottom door, and if you turn a lot of bowls and like to remove the tailstock for better access, you can’t use the one on the other end (again, without emptying it every time) because the accessories block the slot for the tailstock. The way I work, I often change speed ranges and remove the tailstock so I can’t use either holder. I know this is really picky, but it is a real nuisance to empty the holders all the time. What I’ll probably do is mount one of the holders to my lathe stand, out of the way. Problem solved.How about this for being picky—it’s difficult to attach my magnetic lights because there are no flat surfaces on the top of the headstock and tailstock. Maybe it should have a built-in light?Here’s another little thing: the spindle lock is spring loaded, so it’s useful if you only need one hand free (your left hand holds in the lock). I guess this is a feature so you don’t accidently leave it locked and turn on the lathe (usually not a good thing). However, the solution is built into the lathe. If you need to work on your project with two hands and want the spindle locked, use the index pin—it pushes in and then screws in to hold the spindle. So this is a tip, not a complaint.Another tip: note in the pictures the wooden spacer on my tool rest. I use carbide tools, so I almost always want the tool centered on the spindle when held horizontal. The spacer keeps the tool rest adjusted at the right height for 99% of my work. Easy to remove when not needed.In conclusion, though this lathe is twice the price of the Wen, it is more than twice the lathe. It’s engineered really well and is a pleasure to use. And you can tell by how minor/picky my criticisms are that overall, I actually love this lathe. Highly recommended.

9. Rated 4 out of 5

   Melyssa Gulgowski (verified owner) – July 19, 2022

   Unit arrived undamaged, was easy to assemble, and has worked fine for the first two weeks. I have turned several items and it worked as I had hoped.

10. Rated 5 out of 5

    Abelardo Marquardt (verified owner) – July 2, 2022

    Great product only problem is the switch is not convenient to use because where it is placed you sometimes​ hit it accidentally when you are using it

11. Rated 3 out of 5

    Issac O’Reilly (verified owner) – June 25, 2022

    SO I ordered this lathe and it was shipped straight to my house. Once it came in I was really pumped to get it out of the box and going. UPS delivered it and the box was in perfect shape. I opened the box up and started unpacking everything. As I checked everything over the power switch fell off. I had to have been broken at the factory. It looks like as the factory was lowering the lathe into the box the power switch got hung up on the plywood protector and snapped. But I called Jet directly and talked to Linda. She was great and shipped out a new control module right away. Will add to the review once I get her up and running.

12. Rated 5 out of 5

    Earlene Orn (verified owner) – June 15, 2022

    Very easy set up; very nice price of such a nice piece