Delta 1642 Review

BACKGROUND

Several years ago, I suspected that I would like turning wood so I invested the $30 or so to purchase a device that attached to my drill press. In place of a regular turning tool I used a carpenter's chisel which, of course, immediately broke. Well, I was still intrigued, so I bought a Jet 1236. During the years I have owned that machine, sometimes I chased it all over the shop. During that time I have made accommodations and adjusted my turning style to overcome the inadequacies of the machine. As a result, I have learned a lot that I would not have learned if I had started on one of the "big" lathes. My next lathe was the Delta Midi. This turned out to be a wonderful little machine that provides a lot for the money. As my skills improved, I really wanted a lathe with more capacity and higher quality components. When the new Delta 1642 came on the market, I felt that it had all the features I wanted for a very good price. I have used the machine now for several months.

THE REVIEW

The lathe comes in a crate with a total weight of 400 pounds. The machine by itself weighs 354 pounds. It is designed so the owner can easily add weight as needed. The dimensions are 68' high, 54' long by 20' wide. It has a 1 1/2 hp variable speed electronic motor pre-wired for 110v. There are three pulleys allowing for the following speed ranges: 0-1100, 0-2200 and 0-3200 rpm. Both the headstock and tailstock are machined for a #2 Morse taper. The spindle size is 1 1/4" by 8tpi. Tailstock travel is 4" which is adequate for most situations. The swing over the bed is 16" but only 12 1/2" over the tool rest banjo.

It comes with a 4-inch faceplate and a spur dead center and a live center in the tailstock. There is a knockout bar included as well as wrench to tighten the faceplate. Also included is a hex wrench of approximately 4mm, which tightens the set screw in the faceplate to the spindle and is tee handled. This also works with the Oneway chuck that I use. The 20-in. feet are hollow to allow for a 4x4 to be slipped through for more length. I make my 4x4s 36 in. long. I screwed an additional 4x4 under the feet to raise the whole lathe. I am 5ft 81/2 in. tall and this extra height is good for me.

The lathe has an emergency stop button located on the headstock just below the electronic control panel. This is an inconvenient feature as far as I am concerned. I like to lean on the lathe and prop my arm on the headstock but keep turning the darned thing off. I don’t seem to break old habits too easily! I discovered that the off switch cover for emergency stops can be removed easily. Since I removed the cover, I don’t put the machine out of service unexpectedly if I lean on it.

The castings are a bit rough under the paint but just fine to work with. The hand wheel on the left side of the headstock is quite tiny and works fine to turn the spindle when stopped. It has electronic braking so one can’t stop the spindle by grabbing the handwheel. If an aggressive cut is attempted the lathe "faults" out and you must wait a short time and then restart the lathe. A little frustrating but workable. The tailstock locks quite positively and slides well on the bed of the lathe, as does the toolrest. But I am still not proficient at moving the toolrest with one hand. The toolrest base has much more mass. It comes with a 12-inch tool rest that is adequate but could be better for the size and capacity of the machine.

The tailstock on the Jet 1236 does not have a hollow for a knockout bar to remove the live center or Jacobs chuck. On the new Delta 1642, I retracted the tailstock quill all the way to "pop" out the live center. I’m used to doing that on the Jet 1236. Since I found it sticking, I cranked on it hard. There is a roll pin holding the quill that broke in the groove. Subsequently, the quill spun round and round. I took a nail set and drove the roll pin into the groove again. It works fine again. I found that the quill retracted enough to self-remove the Jacobs chuck and curiously now will also pop out the live center if I am really careful.

The legs are hollow and can be filled with sand or shot. I am slowly filling mine with shavings. There are brackets on the inner sides of the legs for a shelf.

I am going to add a shelf since I tend to put my left foot there to take the strain off my poor old back. The shelf could hold sandbags or other materials for even more stability.Oh yes, the headstock has a spindle lock, which is a part of the 24 position indexing system. If you want to sand a specific area you don’t have to climb onto the bed of the lathe and clamp your knees against the piece of wood to keep it from turning. What a great feature and just how did I live without that feature? I remember I was so consumed with just chasing the other lathe around that I didn’t notice little things like that. It is wonderful to be able to turn a large piece with this lathe. The head stock can be positioned anywhere along the bed of the lathe even at the far right end of the lathe and could turn a much bigger piece if one wanted to build a stand alone tool rest stand. In that position it would probably be easier to sand also.

I bought mine at Coeur d’Alene Power tool. Just east of my home in Spokane, Washington. Their asking price was around $2200. Which puts this lathe in a unique position because it is the lowest price lathe in that size. Sure I still tell my wife that I still really need a Oneway but this will suit my needs just fine for some time too come. Please nobody tell my wife, though!

There is a 110v. plug but it has to have a dedicated 20 amp outlet that has an R.V. style receptacle.

One other thing to watch out for is that Delta uses very poor packaging to crate the machine for shipping. The one that I took home made a very bad thumping sound when running and didn’t "feel" right. When I looked inside the spindle and pulley housing, there were lots of metal filings inside. I blew these out with compressed air and ran again it but found more filings. I took the headstock off and took it back to Coeur d’Alene Power Tool. They let me take the headstock off of the floor model. I requested that I be allowed to see that one run but they had no outlet for it. I hope they have remedied that. This new headstock works perfectly.

All in all I am overwhelmed by the improvement in performance of this lathe over my Jet 1236 and especially at the price!