HomePower Tool Reviews \ JET 708359 JWL-1642EVS 16-Inch Swing 42-Inch between Centers 1-1/2 Horsepower Electronic Variable Speed Woodworking Lathe, 115-Volt 1 Phase
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JET 708359 JWL-1642EVS 16-Inch Swing 42-Inch between Centers 1-1/2 Horsepower Electronic Variable Speed Woodworking Lathe, 115-Volt 1 Phase

JET 708359 JWL-1642EVS 16-Inch Swing 42-Inch between Centers 1-1/2 Horsepower Electronic Variable Speed Woodworking Lathe, 115-Volt 1 Phase


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List Price: $2,347.00
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Features:
  • 1-1/2-horsepower electronic woodworking lathe
  • 16-inch swing, 42-inches between centers; variable speed (0-3,200 rpm)
  • Cast-iron bed and legs
  • Includes lathe, tool rest, faceplate, spur center, live center, knockout bar, tool storage rack
  • 410-pounds for reduced vibration; 63-1/2 by 20 by 50-inches; 1-year warranty
  • Product Description
    Offering a one-inch swing over the bench and 42-inch capacity between centers, the JET 708359 JWL-1642EVS Woodworking Lathe, 115-Volt 1 Phase is ideal for home shop use. Boasting the versatility of a sliding headstock, electronic variable speed, and the necessary capacity for large projects, the JET JWL-1642EVS is a great lathe for beginning and serious craftspeople alike.

    The JET JWL-1642EVS
    Woodworking Lathe offers:
    • A 1-1/2HP, three phase, 115-volt motor
    • 0 to 3,200 RPM variable speed operation for versatility
    • A large-diameter spindle with a 1.25 x 8 threads-per-inch nose
    • A cast-iron tool-rest base that's rigid, easy to position, and easy to lock
    • A heavy-gauge wire guard for operator safety




    The multi ball bearing live center and screw on cone attachment make turning projects with a center hole easier and safer.


    The strong, three phase motor ennsures plenty of power for a wide range of projects.


    The JWL-1642EVS delivers accuracy, capability, durability, and value. View larger.


    The headstock can be positioned anywhere along the bed, including at the very end for turning large diameter blanks "off the bed."


    The speed control knob provides precise control over rpm and keeps you informed with its large LED display.
    Three-Phase Motor with Electronic Inverter for Powerful Performance
    The JWL-1642EVS comes equipped with a 1-1/2HP, three phase, 115-volt motor for shops that do not have 220-volt power available. An electronic inverter does all the work to convert from the "1 phase" to "3 phase." The inverter also provides the ability to vary the frequency of the motor, which in turn allows for variable speed.

    Cast-Iron Castings for Stability and Smooth Operation
    Based on heavy-duty iron castings, the JWL-1642EVS provides long-term accuracy and smooth, vibration-free operation. Even the legs are made from an iron casting and include cast-in supports and adjustable pads at each foot to ensure a solid stance on uneven surfaces. With these legs, the spindle (center) height is a comfortable 44.5 inches above the floor.

    The JWL-1642EVS headstock is also made from a massive iron casting that provides rigid support for the 1-1/2 HP, variable speed motor(0 to 3,200 RPM), and the high-strength spindle. After machining, the headstock is fitted with large diameter, high-quality ball bearings that support the precision-machined spindle for reliable performance.

    Large-Diameter Spindle with Built-in Indexing for Drilling, Fluting, and More
    The large-diameter spindle has a 1.25 x 8 threads-per-inch nose that supports the large chucks typically used with this type of lathe. Additionally, the outboard end of the spindle is fitted with a barrel-type grip for turning the spindle by hand. The spindle also has internal indexing built in that allows you to lock it in 36 positions (or 10-degree increments) for drilling, fluting, grooving, and other operations.

    For added convenience, the spindle is indexed with a screw-in pin provided with the lathe. There's also a push-button spindle lock on the front of the headstock for a simple, tool-free way to temporarily lock the spindle when you install or remove the faceplate, chuck, or other screw-on accessories.

    Heavy-Gauge Wire Guard for Safety
    A special mount on the rear of the headstock accepts a heavy-gauge wire guard (included), and a spring-loaded pin indexes the guard up or down to make mounting and removing turned objects easy. This guard also serves as a protective shield between the work and the operator, when large chips and chunks generated while turning blanks can turn into dangerous projectiles.

    User-Friendly Controls, LED, and Toggle Switch
    Designed to be user-friendly, the JWL-1642EVS features dial-operated, infinite speed controls conveniently located on the front of the headstock. A large digital LED readout makes monitoring the spindle speed easy and very accurate, while the toggle switch on the front panel allows selecting forward and reverse spindle directions. Finally, a large-diameter pull on/push off button (also on the front panel) is easily accessible no matter your operating position.

    Large Tailstock for Stability
    The JWL-1642EVS has a large tailstock with the mass and wide base to generate the stability you need. The large ram has a full four-inch travel, operated by an easy-to-turn, five-inch diameter handwheel fitted with a spinner handle, the popular #2 Morse taper, and a 3/8-inch diameter through hole, which is convenient for drilling lamp bases. Finally, like the tool-rest base, a large handle makes it easy to lock the tailstock securely in place.

    Ball bearing Live Center and Cast Iron Tool Rest Base for Versatility
    The JWL-1642EVS comes with a high-end, multi-row ball bearing live center with a screw-on, large-diameter cone for projects like peppermills and boxes, and a cast-iron tool-rest base designed to be very rigid, easy to position, and thanks to its comfortably long handle, very easy to lock in position.

    The JWL-1642EVS measures 29 x 28 x 59 inches (WxHxL), weighs 410 pounds, and is covered by a five-year warranty.

    About JET: A History of Sharing New, Feature-Rich Products
    Opened in 1958 after the founder of the company, Leslie P. Sussman, took the first Boeing Jet Airplane trip from Seattle, Washington to Japan, JET began as a small dealer that sold air hoists and trolleys out of a single hardware store in Seattle. Over the years, JET has carried everything from snowmobiles, transmitter radios, and forklifts to nylon stockings, but by the early 1970s, metalworking had become the base of their business line. And by the 1980s, JET had expanded into the realm of woodworking. Today, you'll find that JET offers a wide range of popular woodworking tools that are backed with best-in-class features and excellent service.

    What's in the Box
    One lathe, two cast legs, one tailstock, one headstock, one tool-rest body, one tool basket, one guard assembly, one accessory package, one owner's manual, and warranty card.

    Spotlight Customer Reviews:
    Customer Rating:
    Summary: Love that jet 1642
    Comment:
    The lathe arrived on the freight dock at Cookeville, TN. in two days. They put it on my trailer and i had it set up in four hours. I did it with an auto engine hoist. The next morning I turned it in and made a bowl. It was smooth running and had plenty of power. I think I'm going to enjoy this new toy.H.Broughton

    Customer Rating:
    Summary: Many Great Features For The Price
    Comment:
    Delivery was great, I received my Jet 1642 in 7 days from the Jet warehouse. And as stated on Amazon's shipping & delivery/Items Requiring Special Handling page for large item delivery, it was a 'threshold delivery.' Without any discussion, the delivery guys used a pallet jack to unload the lathe and set it inside my garage. This was very important to me. I shopped several sites for this lathe and most wanted $100 or more for either a 'tail gate' or 'curbside' delivery. I read many reviews that said they had to unload their lathe from the delivery truck one piece at a time, some paid the driver a $50 tip to unload the lathe. With free 'threshold delivery' and Amazon's price at about $100 less than the lowest price I found other sites were selling the lathe for, I am very pleased with my purchase through Amazon. Also the delivery guy said that if there was anything wrong with the lathe, to just call Amazon and they would deliver another lathe for an 'even exchange' without charge.

    The Box: The box was in good shape, no holes or gouges just minor scuffs from handling and a little dirty from setting in the warehouse. One issue that did concern me was the banding around the box and pallet was missing. Had the banding snapped off during transit, was the banding removed by the shipper to inspect the contents? I don't know and didn't notice the missing banding until after the delivery guys left. Upon careful inspection, I saw no signs that the contents had been remove and repacked, i.e. a returned item. The heavy weight box lifted straight up off the lathe, 4 heavy 4-ply cardboard corners protected each corner of the contents. On each side of the tailstock was the boxed leg stands encased in styrofoam. The lathe was lag screwed to the pallet and covered with heavy plastic. Box size: 2' 4" High x 2' 5" Wide x 5' Long

    I assemble the lathe without help transporting each piece either by hand, hand truck or dolly into my workshop. The 80 lb./each leg stands stood upright on their own. I measured the length of the bed and spaced the legs accordingly. Using a hand truck, I moved the bed into place and lowered it down onto an old milk crate so as not to bend over so far to lift it. I then simply lifted the bed up and set it on top of the leg stands. I tapped the legs and bed around a little to line-up the holes and screwed it down (Jet supplied an Allen wrench to secure the cap screws). Using a dolly, I moved the headstock into position and lifted it onto the bed. This was probably the trickiest part of the assembly, although the headstock had several grab points, non seem comfortable and balanced while 'threading' the locking lug into the bed channel. I used a car jack to raise each leg stand to screw the leveling feet in place. You do not want to attach the leveling feet prior to the bed assembly because the leg stands will not stand upright on their on and will tip over.

    Features: The motor and spindle ran very smooth and quiet throughout its speed range with very little, if any, vibration. The headstock/tailstock center points lined up perfectly. The variable speed control, digital readout and reversing switch are very handy features. The tailstock's live center is large and heavy weight, the cone point unscrews to expose a cup & point center. The lathe also comes with a headstock 4 spur center and a heavy weight 6" face plate w/set screws to lock it onto the spindle. The 14" tool rest and tool rest body are solid. All item appears top quality. The lathe bed at the tailstock end has mounting holes to add an extension bed for longer turning. I'm not using the tool basket. The basket was not level, tools would just roll to one side. Jet didn't bend the basket enough, I tried to bend it while it was mounted on the lathe but without success. I added a wire shelf just under the bed the length of the lathe, that is far better (see how below). The belt change opening is a little narrow for two hands, it takes one hand and a couple of fingers from the other hand to maneuver the multi groved v-belt onto the pulleys correctly. The 14 AWG power cord is too short at only 56" long. If the headstock is not in front of an outlet, you will need a heavy gauge appliance extension cord. I'm not planning on using the Guard that mounts to the headstock, so I can't comment.

    Extras: I added a wire shelf under the bed. I got this ideal from a review I read and has proven to be very useful. About 6" below the bed on the leg stands are gussets, perfect for supporting a 10" deep shelf. I bought a section of white vinyl coated wire closet shelf, 12" deep by 6' long at my local Home Center for about $7.50. The 2 supporting rods under the shelf that the wire is welded too is spaced 10" apart, a perfect fit for the gussets. I notched out the back corners of the shelf allowing the remaining 2" of the shelf to extend out the back of the lathe. Do not cut this 2" off, this adds needed depth and strength to the shelf. I supported the mid section of the shelf with a modified shelf support bracket (sold next to the shelves), with a hole drilled in the middle and a simple wire attached going up to the bed and wrapped around one of the lathe bed cross support members. The spacing of the wire on the shelf cradles the turning tools and allows the chips to fall through. This wire shelf is not intended for heavy weight such as chuck storage, it's just a convenient shelf to lay your turning tools between use. To install the shelf you will need to unscrew one leg stand (tailstock end for me), and tilt it out enough to lay the shelf on top of the gussets. To support the end of bed I used a 'Come-a-Long' wench attached to a rafter in my workshop - supported the bed with the wench cable, removed the cap screws and raised the bed about 2" to allow the leg stand to tilt away.

    There is 3 unused holes drilled into the back side of the leg stand (tailstock end), I used these to mount a wooden rack with holes drilled to accept my various centers and small accessories. I added a plywood shelf using 2 x 4's inserted into the ready formed pockets on each leg stand as suggested in the Owner's Manual. And I also added a foot operated switch - a kill switch - to plug the lathe into and mounted on the right side of the lathe for safety (see Amazon # MLCS 9089 $25). With the bottom self in place and the short power cord, I had to make up a short 14 AWG extension cord to reach the kill switch.

    Inverter: Not much has been said about the Inverter in the many reviews I've read. For a while I wasn't sure what voltage the lathe operated on, 115V or 230V. Well the motor is defiantly a 230V motor but the Inverter increases the normal household voltage of 110V - 120V up to 230V for the motor to run. The Inverter is mounted on the back of the headstock and does have a small digital readout, a couple of soft touch buttons (Run and Stop/Reset), and a dial knob which I think adjusts the frequency of the currant. The Owners Manual states not to use the buttons or change the dial setting. For something that Jet doesn't want you to touch, they included a 27 page Quick Start booklet and a CD with a 185 page Owners Manual explaining the specs and adjustments of the Inverter. There is an overwhelming amount of info, that for the most part is too technical to be of any use if something were to go wrong. One reviewer said that a friend was helping him assemble his lathe and had moved the dial back and forth and he didn't know were it was set originally. Well mine was set at the 9 o'clock position as seen on a clock face.

    This was a surprise - when the lathe is turned off, the headstocks' digital readout still displays "0". The machine may be off but the Inverter remained powered up and displays its own readout. I'm just a weekend turner and didn't want the lathe powered up 24/7. I could press the Stop/Reset button on the Inverter but with the Inverter facing the wall, it's inconvenient to fumble blindly for the small soft touch button. My kill switch serves as a master off/on switch. I just tap the foot switch at the end of the day to power down the entire lathe. Also I experience a small catch while turning and it triggered a 'Over Current' fault code on the Inverter, I just tapped the foot switch, waited about 5 seconds till I heard the relay inside the Inverter release and tapped the foot switch again to power up the Inverter and turned the lathe back on to resume turning. I have have a few more catches without the Inverter overloading and shutting down, so I think it was just a fluke.

    Conclusion: I started out shopping for a Midi lathe for about $500 @ 100 lbs.. The two common threads I read from reviewers was they had to weight down their lathe with bags of cement, rocks or sandbags and that smaller lathes, 1 HP and under, were good as "starter" lathes. This was unacceptable to me, I didn't want to use unsightly sandbag taking up valuable space on the leg shelf and I didn't want to outgrow a smaller lathe only to upgrade in a couple of years. So I consider the Jet JWL-1236 a fine lathe I'm sure, but still a light weight at only 180 lbs. and with only a 3/4 HP motor. Then I considered the Jet JWL-1442 with the leg stands weighing in at 80 lbs. each, the lathe weighs 360 Lbs. No sandbags needed :-). This was my final choise. But wait, I'm already spending over a $1000, for just another $550 more........ I got the Jet JWL-1642, with a bigger motor, 1 1/2 HP, Variable Speed, Digital Readout, Reverse Switch for sanding, 16" Swing, the motors' location at the end of the headstock is better, and with a hefty weight of 440 lbs. This will be my first and last lathe, I anticipate it lasting a lifetime. I am very pleased with all the features it has, the rock solid weight, the smooth, quit performance and Jet's 5 Year Warranty. Amazon, with its great free 'threshold delivery' and good pricing, is the place to buy this lathe.

    [See my 10 photos above for more detail.]
    Happy Turnings

    Customer Rating:
    Summary: There's none better
    Comment:
    I am a professional wood turner and in my opinion, Jet makes the best lathe there is on the market. I opted for this lathe because of the size, versatility and options. I spend an average of 8 to 10 hours a day turning. This is my second Jet Lathe. The first is a model 1014 that is over 5 years old and what is convinced me to purchase a second Jet.
    This lathe is TOUGH. Cast iron bed, headstock and tailstock. Get someone to help with the set up. It runs smoothy and quietly at all speeds. The first project I made was a cane from a 5 inch diameter solid pear log. The variable speed is great for your initial roughing and as you progress through the project, you can speed up as needed. Sand bags are not a requirement but I can see where they might come in handy with very large off center items. There is plenty of power for anything you might wish to turn. Be careful when you first start using this lathe. The power will surprise you. The reverse feature is great for sanding. Sand in one direction then the other for an unbeatable finish.
    I would like to see a smaller tool rest for this lathe. The one that comes with it is a great general purpose rest but on smaller projects it's size can prevent you from getting close enough for optimum cutting. A bit longer cord would also be a nice feature.

    Customer Rating:
    Summary: Great Lathe
    Comment:
    I purchased this lathe because I already had the Jet 1014 and was happy with it except that I wanted a lathe with a larget swing and variable speed. I have now been using it for three months and have no complaints; it has met all of my expectations.

    Delivery was prompt and the carrier courteously wheeled the pallet containing the lathe right into my garage shop. I started to assemble it myself but my wife let me know how foolish she thought I was being and held parts for me while I tightened bolts. Really, two persons are a good idea. Since the head stock slides off, the weight was reduced just enough to give me false confidence.

    I have removed the wire mesh guard; most people work without one and I found it to interfere with my dust collection--that's a personal choice.

    I would recommend this lathe for consideration by anyone looking for a lathe in this catagory.

    Customer Rating:
    Summary: Excellent Lathe - Get One!
    Comment:
    Haven't had time to do anything but set-up the machine and make sure it works. I'll write more when I turn something on it. In my case, I could NOT have a GFCI in the line I hooked up this lathe on - with mine, something about the variable speed/inverter that blew the GCFI every time the machine was turned on - was advised about this on the woodworking forum, 'Sawmill Creek'. Turned out to be true, in my case. Also, before trying to remove the faceplate the thing comes with, be warned there are 2 set-screws holding it in place. Nice heavy duty machine, looking forward to years of use. Bye now.