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Plenty of power and variable speed works great (a must have feature you won't regret paying a little more for). For the price difference with the Jet, this slight quality issue is tolerable. Suggest getting the extention bed as well; very convenient for sliding the tail stock back further to install and remove your workpiece. Bought this a couple years ago and this lathe is still going strong. I did have to change belts after a while because the first belt started to roll over regularly, but the unit came with a spare belt.
Great for pen and small bowl and vessel turning. BTW, I considered the Jet model but found the Turncrafter had comparable features and quality. One difference is the TC has plastic quick-release levers connected to the metal bolts to tighten the rest and the tail screw. One of the plastic pieces has stripped a little so I have to sometimes use some pliers.
I bought this item with the actual lathe itself. I am quite agitated at the whole ordeal. The lathe showed up, the cutters showed up, but the extension still hasn't.
I ordered this lathe for my husband. A friend that has a expensive lathe wants one of these as it is more compact and easier to bring out to use and set up for quick jobs. He was so impressed with it.
Although not mentioned in the stats, you CAN turn the head around for oversized turning off the end of the lathe. DO spend the extra up front and purchase the chuck along with the lathe. But for the price of the package, which includes the extension bed and a set of turning tools, you almost get the bed for free. The unit is very well made. You are however restricted to only the lowest belt setting, but if you purchased the variable speed model you do have a somewhat higher speed available. You will need it eventually. Adding the extension bed makes the unit far more versitle unless you plan on only turning small items.
There is a lot of play in the fit when you mate the extension to the lathe bed. This last is the really annoying part. Likewise for the tool rest. For this I give them credit. Apparently I didn't learn from my experience when I bought the lathe.
The screw holes lined up, and that's about the only thing that fit properly. PSI made good when the first lathe they sent me died immediately with a puff of smoke. That is just a little annoying. After much fiddling around, I have a functioning, if underpowered, lathe. In order for the tailstock to slide off the bed and on to the extension, I had to dress the channel from end to end.
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