# Problem with Jet JWL 1220 Turning Eccentricly



## jcrate (Feb 9, 2013)

Hello- this one really has me stumped and to this point I have used only homemade lathes for turning and this is my first experience with a factory-made lathe of this brand.

Okay; when I turn on this lathe, the Jet JWL 1220 with bed extension, it turns out of round in spindle turning no matter what size the spindle. Making the centers meet, I see that they are out of center by about a millimeter or less, which has never been a huge problem with any of my other lathes. The only difference I can see in the configuration of the lathes is that the tailstock center is not a dead center but some kind of live one.

What could possibly be causing this problem? I make sure that the ends of my stock are square and center the turning piece in the lathe, so just what could be causing it to turn out of round?

Thanks in advance for any ideas.


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

This doesn't have anything to do with the stock being off center.

If the centers of the headstock and tailstock aren't dead even, you will have the problem you describe.

The tailstock should have a live (e.g. bearing with spur) center so it freely revolves.


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## jcrate (Feb 9, 2013)

OK- Think I solved this on my own. After checking out the live center and re-checking the alignment of the centers, (I found the alignment to be off just fractionally), I concluded that it was none of the above. (Just not used to woodworking using 21st century tools-still clutching my old spring pole lathe and ancient Craftsman jerry rigged models.) It appears that I was tightening the live center too liberally in the tailstock and somehow making the spindle turn out of round. (Ends of spindle possibly out of square.) Since I backed off a bit, the pieces turn true each time. 
Hope this helps anyone who has been having anything similar happening with this model.


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## jcrate (Feb 9, 2013)

Thank you very much Dane. Think I have isolated the problem.


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## Wildwood (Jul 22, 2012)

Gee, that stinks look at all these possible solutions:

Over tightening your tailstock can cause spindles to bow out of round.
Back off on tightening. Look into a steady rest either homemade or commercial product. Plenty examples of homemade steadies on line.

They make an MT-2 alignment tool for lathes with rotating headstock. Can also use that tool as a mandrel for duck calls. Unless you make duck calls not sure worth it for a Jet 1220.

Checking head/tail stock alignment easy when centers almost touch, but hard to check as tailstock is move reward. Jet does not make the best live centers for their lathes.

Sometimes just cleaning head/tailstock MT-2 tapers helps alignment problems. I clean & oil my tailstock assembly couple times a year.

If lathe & bed extension bolted down check to see if, bolts unevenly tighten. Also, check alignment of your bed extension.


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