Went and finally pulled the trigger on the Jet variable speed midi lathe - with extension bed - which, naturally, "will be in in four or five days". Had a piece of 2x2 walnut to play with and some semi-mini Sorbey turning chisels (?). Marked the center of each end, put the spike in the spur on center and cranked the tail stock live center into the center of the other end of the walnut.
Plugged in the unit. It was shipped with the switch set to "ON". The thing's so quiet I didn't hear it. Looked at the wood to be turned and initially thought there'd been a miracle since it looked round already. A whiskers scratch and a forehead slap accompanied by - DUH! and it was rough out time. Set the tool rest and got things round with lots of tentative cuts.
Noticed that Jet has moved the access door to the pulleys and belt to the back - previous reviews complaned that the knock out bar stored in a hole in the front of the unit had to be removed to open the door in the previous model.
OK - lets try the low speed pulley combination. Raise the motor with the convenient locking lever and - hmmm. Getting the belt on the top pulley is easy through the door. Getting the belt onto the bottom pulley is another matter. The only access to the bottom pulleys is from the underside - meaning the lathe has to be on an open bottomed stand or a clamp to the bench piece of ply with a nice big hole under the pulleys.
Am I missing something? JET Midi owners - help!
charlie b