# Would Jet 1221VS be good for small bowl turning?



## VotTak (Oct 10, 2017)

Hi,
Just want to hear your opinion on question in subject.
If not what would you suggest. Budget is barely enough for that Jet.
Thanks


----------



## Charlie_W (Oct 10, 2017)

Small bowls yes.
 Large bowls would be probably be slow going. My Jet Mini lathe is okay for Mini bowls but not the tool for 10" bowls.
Good luck!


----------



## KenV (Oct 10, 2017)

A "Rule of thumb"  is max lathe capacity less about 4 inches for max bowl for learning level skills.

Smaller is easier to make mistakes and not have as many bad things happen.

Small lathes do not handle out of balance bowl blanks unless very small.


----------



## log2lumber (Oct 10, 2017)

Consider the Oneway 1018.  There are a number of used ones on craigslist.  If you need to learn how to search all of cl, pm me.


----------



## TattooedTurner (Oct 10, 2017)

I have a Rikon 12" which is similar to the Jet in terms of size and power and it handles bowls smaller than 6" pretty well. It struggles at 8" and the only 10" I've turned worked it way too hard imo. If you plan on 6" and smaller it should fit your needs.


----------



## duncsuss (Oct 11, 2017)

I spent the last two weekends demonstrating turning on a Jet 1221vs.

8" bowls are no problem at all using blanks that are nicely round and in balance.

For green (fresh cut, wet) wood blanks, or if you are making natural-edge (bark-edge, live-edge) bowls, 8" is about the limit, and use the Low speed setting for the drive belt so you get decent torque at low revs.


----------

