Setting Up a Mini-Jim Tabletop Lathe

What's an ER Collet Lathe?

Several different styles of grinding lathes are available. A straight shaft lathe has a 1-inch straight shaft that wheels mount directly onto with a threaded end for locking the wheel in place, to a Morse taper lathe where the interior of the shaft has a tapered inset in the shaft where you mount a spindle into the shaft for the various types of wheel mountings you required.

The JIM lathes offer an ER25 machining collet on the shaft end. This allows you to mount different spindles into the end of the shaft for anything from standard 1-inch arbor hole wheels to saw blades to cones and domes. It also allows you to change out the collet style on the lathe to mount other ER25 collets on the lathe, which enables you to use things like a 1/8-inch shaft diamond point on the end of the lathe for point engraving on your glass.

An extremely versatile and adaptable connection style for your lathe.

What's Special About the Mini-Jim Lathe?

The Mini-Jim lathe is a compact tabletop lathe with a tight shaft tolerance for precise and more extensive cutting work. The tight tolerance will keep your wheels running true and increase the life of the grinding wheel while making your coldwork easier and more comfortable to achieve.

The variable speed control makes it simple to adjust the speeds for control versus efficiency while grinding, and the small footprint of the lathe makes it easy to mount to tighter areas in your shop. A simple water hookup, built-in splash guard, and water delivery system make the lathe ready to go right out of the box.

What's Different About the JIM9000 Lathe?

The JIM9000 lathe is the MIni-Jim's big brother. While the shaft, variable speed, and other accessories are the same between the two lathes, the larger JIM9000 lathe has a few other tricks up its sleeve.

The obvious difference is that the JIM9000 is a freestanding lathe and does not require a tabletop to be mounted. The most significant difference is that the JIM9000 is a height-adjustable lathe. 

That's right, you can change the height of the spindle on the JIM9000 by quickly shifting the assembly up or down from a seated position to working underneath the spindel itself, you can adapt the spindle height for any size work or person. The counterweight on the back of the lathe makes adjustments as easy as shifting it with your finger. 

The ER collet version of the JIM9000 also accepts the same spindles as the smaller Mini-Jim lathe.