Jet mini bearings

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cowchaser

Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2007
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927
Location
Bartlesville, Oklahoma, USA.
Anyone know of a good place or have an extra set of bearings they want to sell for a Jet Mini VS. I called Jet and even though my lathe is just barely a year old I was told it's a wear item and not a warranty item and they will not replace them.

Makes a loud knocking noise when running, but stops when I remove the belt from the pulley so I can only guess that it is the headstock bearings unless someone else has a suggestion.
 
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Oops, my bad. It's not the bearings. It is a bad spot in the belt that is slapping the bottom pulley as it pulls apart. Soooo, I guess I will try and track down a belt instead. Thanks for trying to help and the PM's I got trying to help also.

Anyone know a good source for belts???

Jet just wasn't being very helpful at all and the tech guy wasn't very helpful either in trying to identify the problem. First time I have ever had a problem. Maybe I was disturbing lunch or they are just ready for Christmas break.
 
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That's what I paid for two bearings at a local bearing supply. If I were you, I'd change the bearings while you have the lathe apart. These things are know for using up bearings, well not as much as toggle switches, but almost everyone has replaced the bearings after a couple of years.
 
cowchaser said:
.....I called Jet and even though my lathe is just barely a year old I was told it's a wear item and not a warranty item and they will not replace them......
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Dustin: There have been untold numbers of posts by folks who have had bearings replaced by JET. Unless they changed their policy when they went to the 5 year warranty this is quite a surprise to me!! Maybe you just got hooked up with someone who didn't know what they are doing or maybe the guy was having a bad day??

There is a tech at JET with whom I have a good relationship..... his name is Randy...... what else?? If JET is opened tomorrow, I will give him a call and see what is going on. If they are closed, I'll call them next week.

That sucks!!
 
Randy_ said:
Dustin: There have been untold numbers of posts by folks who have had bearings replaced by JET. Unless they changed their policy when they went to the 5 year warranty this is quite a surprise to me!! Maybe you just got hooked up with someone who didn't know what they are doing or maybe the guy was having a bad day??

There is a tech at JET with whom I have a good relationship..... his name is Randy...... what else?? If JET is opened tomorrow, I will give him a call and see what is going on. If they are closed, I'll call them next week.

That sucks!!
Click to expand...

Thanks Randy. I appreciate it. Just let me know what you find out if you don't mind.
 
Dustin:

Don't know who you talked to at JET; but it appears something got messed up in the communications.

I spoke with Danny in the technical services department today and he said there has been no change in the warranty policy that he knows of and that bearings are still fully covered under the 5 year warranty. They either send out new bearings or direct you to a shop that will do a warranty repair.

I did try to nail him down as to what JET expected bearing life to be; but he said there were too many variables involved to give a specific figure. I don't really believe that. He may not have the information; but I'll bet there is a JET engineer somewhere who knows what the "MTF" is for those bearings. (mean time between failures) If you want a little shock, get out your calculator and figure out how many times your
bearings turn round if they are used one hour per day for a year at top speed. I think it will surprise you!!:eek::eek:

As it turns out, I just picked up a book on turning from the library by Ernie Conover who is the co-designer of a commercially produced wood lathe and well known turner. There is a short section in his book on lathe maintenance and he states that bearings are a wear items that generally last 1 - 5 years or more depending upon use. He recommends replacing them every 5 years or more frequently if needed.
 
LOL... figures. I always get the wrong person. The one that told me that was a customer service person I was transferred to from the tech department. I tried to find some bearings here in town before I replaced my belt today. With this town it's always the same old story no matter what you want. "We don't have, but we can order it".
 
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