Jet GHB-1340A, Gear Head Bench Lathe with Stand

Size: 13 x 40
Carriage Travel:  35"
Compound Slide Travel:  2-11/16"
Drive Geared Head
Length of Gap: 8"
Max Tool Size: 5/8" x 5/8"
Motor (HP) 2 HP, 230V, 1Ph
Number of Inch Threads: 38.0000
Number of Longitudinal and Cross Feed Rates: 40
Number of Metric Threads: 23.0000
Number of Spindle Speeds 8
Overall Dimensions: (L x W x H)  79" x 28-1/2" x 30"
Range of Cross Feeds: (IPR) .0006 - .0130
Range of Inch Threads: (TPI) 3-1/2 - 80
Range of Longitudinal Feeds: (IPR) .0018 - .0374
Range of Metric Threads: .45 - 10
Range of Spindle Speeds: (RPM) 70 - 2,000
Spindle Bore: 1-3/8"
Spindle Mount: D1-4
Spindle Taper with Sleeve: MT-5 (MT-3)
Steady Rest Capacity: 2-3/4"
Style (Type) Bench - Geared Head
Swing Over Bed: 13"
Swing Over Cross Slide: 7-25/32"
Swing Through Gap: 18-3/4"
Tailstock Spindle Travel: 3-3/4"
Taper in Tailstock Spindle: MT-3
Weight (Lbs.) 1154
Width of Bed: 7-3/8"

I had a request to show some pictures and share some information about my lathe and milling machine. I thought, 'why not' so we'll start off with the lathe. I bought this bench lathe new in April of 2017 which is made by Jet. This company has been around for many years and they sell a lot of different models of lathes, along with a bunch of other metal and wood working machines and equipment.

I'm getting ahead of myself here so let's go back to the day that it arrived to give you a better idea what I had to deal with.
 

The truck driver was kind enough to help me get these crates into my garage using his pallet jack. And notice the larger one is longer than normal, which made it challenge to move around. In fact it's about six and a half feet long.
 

The 'GHB' in the model number means 'Gear Head Bench' and then there is four numbers after it. The 13 is how many inches of turning capacity it has and the 40 represents how long of a piece you can turn in inches.
 

Now that the crate is out of the way, it's time to lift this onto its base. And Jet was thinking ahead here because those black pieces in the foreground are going to help me with that. The plate mounts under the center and the eye bolt goes through the bed of the machine and threads into it the plate.
 

That's not shrink-wrap, it's packing grease. Every critical surface had this stuff on it so it doesn't rust. I had fun removing all of it :-]
 

Here I'm assembling the base and making sure it's level. Now it's time to get that heavy piece on top of the base.
 

A forklift would've worked great here but that's only wishful thinking. I started looking at the two pallets the machine was shipped on and I had an idea. If I were to raise the top pallet a small amount and then cut the bottom pallet in half (arrows), I could slide out that center piece.
 

Once the center was out of the way, I was able to slide my hoist under it and lift the lathe.
 

Here you can see I have just enough room for the legs of the hoist to fit under the top pallet (arrow). To lift the pallet to this height was not an easy task. It took me over an hour of using a pry-bar, placing a wooden shim in one spot, moving to a different corner and repeating the process over and over again. I was pretty tired once I got to this point because the whole time I'm lifting the weight of the lathe, about 1000 pounds.
 

I took my time and moved a small amount here and there to get my hoist into this position while the lathe was in the air. Not really all that much fun because I could just see things going very wrong in my head the whole time. In fact, I wondered if something was going to fall while taking this picture.
 

Once I had all the bolts tightened down, it was time to level the machine. I borrowed this precision level from my work and it worked really good. All I did was tighten or loosen the adjusting bolts under the machine until I had it where I wanted it. However, over time I will need do this over again because things will settle and move.