Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am fairly new to turning. I did the class thing at a Woodcraft in my neck of the woods and got hooked. They had Jet and Delta lathes set up so I got first-hand experience with both. I liked them. A lot. As you know though, they're expensive! Over the course of a few months and a lot of discussion with SWMBO I ended up getting a Harbor Freight lathe for less than $200. I was very unhappy with it, and so was the missus. It went back. We got this one instead. We are *VERY* happy we did. PSI has a reputation for making less expensive products similar to more major brands models, in this case the product to compare it to is the JET 1220VS Mini Lathe. The big differences are: 1) You don't get the Jet name with this lathe. Since I'm a novice turner I spent some time looking at the woodworking / turning forums to see what the real value added was between a Jet (or better yet, a Delta) compared to the PSI. What I found was that while most regard the Delta as an all-around superior product, PSI makes a very respectable tool and in fact has won some editor's picks recommending them for their incredible value. Basically there were no shortage of woodworkers who would say that while a Jet or a Delta is great, you do not need to spend that much to get a very solid product. 2) You have a 10x18 lathe instead of a 12x20, so a bit smaller. There's also a 10x14 Jet so the idea may have been to incorporate the features of the high-end larger Jet at the in-between size. 10x18 will suit me for most things, and there IS an extension bed available if I want to try and turn table legs on this thing down the road. For now though 18" should be plenty for pens, holders, toy parts, etc in my more foreseeable future. 3) You have 2 belt positions instead of 3. Wait, belt positions? I thought these were variable speed! Well they are, and don't get disappointed yet, but here's the rub: The variable speed control operates across a pretty wide range but in order to stay in the range of speeds that the motor can operate properly in AND give you the absolute maximum amount of RPM range possible they still set up a couple of ranges (almost like a car is variable speed but you still have to shift gears sometimes). For this PSI lathe that means you have one belt position that goes from 500-1800 RPM and another that goes from 1000-3800 RPM. You probably won't need to get down to 500 RPM except for pieces that are at the outside range of what this lathe can handle. In fact, even 1000 RPM is low enough to rough a piece that's about 6" across so unless you do large face work you can probably just leave the belt at the high-end and be fine. If you do a lot of large face work but not a lot of center work, then you can probably leave it at the low setting. So yes there are belts but no you don't have to screw with them all the time. Also note that the belts / pulleys are VERY easy access and the tensioner has a permanent handle so switching speeds is not a huge deal. Contrast this with Harbor Freight's lathe about this size. On that sucker you've got to unscrew a motor mount, remove a side panel and a panel on the BACK of the lathe, then instead of a tensioning handle there's just a hex nut so you've got to try and hold a wrench in there and do it. Yuck! Trust me - this PSI is WAY easier to switch ranges, and if you're like me you'll hardly ever touch it anyway. Just turn the thing on (at the lowest speed) and spin up to where you need it. As you get your piece roughed out you can easily up the RPM as you go and the digital read-out will tell you where you're at. I (briefly) had the Harbor Freight lathe and I about cried when I followed the manual through the process of changing speeds but this PSI is like a dream come true! Anyway - on Jet's VS lathe they split the operating range across 3 belt positions and PSI, in 2 positions, allows a range of 500 RPM to 3800 RPM (so basically any speed you could possibly use). 4) Okay, next difference between this and a comparably-featured Jet (or Delta): Around $300, maybe a little more. That's a couple of nice Sorby tools, or a Sorby and a Barracuda chuck. Other random points: - The indexing feature is way cool. Basically there's a pin on the top so you can easily lock the spindle into any one of 24 (numbered) positions. You use this for segmenting pieces so if you wanted, say, a pattern that went around in quarters you could mark it at 1, then spin it to 7, 13, 19, or for eighths you could mark it in position 1, 4, then 7, etc. Basically anything you can divide 24 (2, 3, 4, 6, 8, or 12) into you can really easily segment with this. - The light is a nice touch. I put a 13 watt CFL in mine so it would be bright but nice and cool. The lamp neck supports the weight just fine by the way. I've read about others who felt the lamp stem was too flexible. I don't know if this is a problem they fixed or I just got lucky but as of Oct 2011 I can report mine is great. - The variable speed is SOOO nice (beared repeating) - Handles on the sides are another REALLY nice touch. Let's face it: For a lathe to be stable it has to be really heavy, and moving a big heavy piece of cast iron with poor grips that want to bite into your hands (like the Harbor Freight cheapie) is rotten business. - Centers lined up perfectly out of the box. This thing was as plug & play as it gets. Just plug the motor into the speed control, plug the speed control into the wall, and you're off. - I was also pleased that 2 tool rests were included. I missed that in the description somehow. One is quite short that I expect will be good for getting into smaller spaces and detailing and one is HUGE that is extremely convenient to work along the length of a spindle to rough it. To bottom line this: You can turn something nice on any mini lathe whether it is a $185 Harbor Freight or a $700 Delta. The differences are the features (does it have handles? variable speed? how accessible are pulleys? how many tool rests? how big? etc) The PSI is a well-constructed, feature-rich lathe that is a joy to use. As cool as I think it'd be to have a $700 Jet or Delta, I'm pleased as punch with a lathe that does everything I need it to, lets me do what I want to do easily, and if I really wanted to spend the extra money I could get a nice chuck with enough left over for a carbide Sorby (maybe ; . Being a fairly new turner I've likely left out details some of you may be looking for. Please leave a question in the comments if I can give any more info (I check them regularly and answer promptly) otherwise feel free to click Yes if helpful!