# It was the best of times, and the worst of times



## JohnnyB

I have a Jet 1442, but I can't tell you about their customer service because I haven't needed any service. I did buy the lathe from a local dealer in whom I have absolute confidence in case something had been wrong.


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## wooded

Sorry to hear of your bad experience us… I purchased the same lathe and have had no reason to contact Delta which pretty much eliminates any negatives for me. I would highly recomend it to anyone. I have used mine for many hours now and like it more as time goes by. I'm realizing more and more as I get older that the luck of the draw pertains to virtually everything. ;-J


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## jobott

Too bad about that Delta lathe. I thought they looked pretty nice. Currently I am using an old (60's!) Powermatic and a Steel City mini lathe I just converted to variable speed which works very well. I have heard that Grizzly CS is very good altho I haven't used their lathes, but they look similar to the Jet lathes. Woodcraft currently has the Rikon VS mini on sale as well for about $280.One or 2 reviews abut Rikon CS i have seen here seem ok. I just ordered a Rikon bandsaw and the Rikon machines I have seen look pretty good as well. Good luck with your next lathe.


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## JollyGreen67

What with all the problems, and the non-participation of all the Delta service, how were you able to give them 3 stars?


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## usnasis

Rosebudjim, the lathe worked wonderfully for the short period of time that it did function. If it hadn't worked so well for that 1 month-ish timeframe, I would have rated zero stars. I am given to understand I probably just got a dud machine, and if it had functioned or if the repair had been able to be completed, it would have continued to be a wonderful machine.
But frankly knowing that if I drop that much money on a lathe and it could be a dud, and knowing that I will get absolutely no assistance at all from Delta in getting it fixed, I would never recommend a Delta to someone else. The risk is way, way too high that you will be SOL. 
I wouldn't mind buying a lathe that I knew could have problems if I also knew that the customer support was golden. But I really got the impression that no one at Delta gave a toss for existing customers- and from what I heard from the guys at the service center my situation was not unique.

Sadly I am sorting my current quest for a new lathe based first on reviews of customer service, second on functionality of lathe.


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## foneman

I have a Jet 1220vs without problems, but have read about a problem another person had with his variable speed control. He reported that Jet was very diligent at trying to resolve the problem until it was repaired in a timely manner. 
I also have a Jet 1642 that has been a very good lathe as well without problems.

Good luck with your purchase.

john


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## dhazelton

Who owns Delta now -Stanley? What a shame that the Delta name is not what it used to be. I wanted an oscillating spindle sander and read tons of horror stories about the Delta BOSS, start capacitors that fail with regularity, stripped nylon gears…..I bought a used (once) JET OSS and my good experience with that led me to buy a JET mini variable speed lathe. No complaints so far.


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## JollyGreen67

usnasis; Was only thinking about you, and Delta customer service attitudes. Maybe I missed something? I was trying to explain how many stars I would have given them. If I have a problem with whomever, and they do not live up to my expectation as they have advertised themselves to be, then they are not going to receive any amount of stars from me. That's just the way it is. Now, if a manufacturer of whatever it is I purchased is willing to provide whatever customer support it takes to earn/keep my business, I will loudly laud them with accolades.
As in the case of Onieda and Teknatool, who bent over backwards to help me in my hour of need - 10 STARS - and happily sent them a warm thank you email. I will also send less than warm emails to those who deserve it.


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## Albert

Good review thanks, I had been considering the Delta lathe but will have to rethink it. Too bad that the merger is not going well and will tarnish both companies names.

Paul


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## WaltsWoodworks

I currently have a Jet 1642-2 EVS Lathe and an old Craftsman Lathe which I am about to upgrade to a mini lathe. Since I purchased my Jet, I have had two problems with it. The first one was: I lost the indexing pin. Jet had a replacement pin at my door the next day (at no charge I might add). The second issue was I wanted an additional locking handle to hold my tool rest in the banjo. Again, Jet sent one to me which arrived the next day.

I have looked at the Jet 1220 vs lathe and the Delta 46-460 lathe and feel the Delta is far the superior lathe! However, having said that, at some point in time every tool wears out. Bearings go, drive belts wear out, or things accidentally become lost or broken. Currently, 11/20/2012, standard emergency orders for Delta 46-460 parts is 30-33 days provided the part is available. Several parts are not available at this time and there is no projected date for when they will become available.

Apparently, as a result of the sale of Delta, several factors were impacted. Primarily, Delta had used Jobbers to manufacture many of its parts. With the advent of the sale, those jobbers went away and some have not currently been replaced. Therefore, those parts are not available.

Another issue is the wharehousing and parts transfers between the old and new company.

All in all, I just can not justify spending $699.99 on a lathe where I know in advance I will not be able to get any part for 30-33 days plus shipping time and that some parts are not now and may never be available.

Walt


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## awright42

I received a new Delta 46-460 Midi VS Lathe 2 weeks ago. After getting a bed extension, stand, and some tools I was ready to fire it up. Out of the box there were two problems.
1. The Forward / Reverse Switch operated backwards per the labeling.
2. The variable speed control only worked in a few spots above halfway.

After researching the miswired reverse switch was a big thing back in 2016. The serial number indicates 2020. also the Type is indicated as Type 1.Current designs are Type 2 or 3. (Is this an older unit with a new s/n?) There was a simple wire swap described for the solution.
The speed control is a simple 50K Ohm potentiometer. $1-$3 from an electronics supplier.

The Customer Service person said these were items under warranty. I would have to take the lathe to a repair facility to have it fixed. (Yes it's in the fine print)

Closest repair shop is 3 hours away / 150 miles.
Also since the problems are inside the control box, it is only available as a unit. And control box warranty repairs must be done at a repair center.

So for $60 fuel and possible overnight accommodations and meals, I can have 2 fast-on wires swapped and a $2 pot replaced. although I actually get a new control box worth about $280.

In the mean time, by hitting a good spot on the speed control and ignoring the direction indicator, the lathe works beautifully. Everything lines up, no vibrations or looseness, chucks and tapers fit perfectly.

My only concern on the lathe is the tool rest seems a bit soft. I've had to dress it up a couple times.
I'll address the warranty items when I take a break from using the lathe. It may be a long term warranty but a $2 part in an envelope would have been much easier to digest.


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