I use the 14" Jet for grips and reel seats.
Does anybody have any experience, information, or recommendations about the lathe duplicator devices?
Thank you.

Gary Bechtel
North Channel Tackle Service

I have a Vega Duplicator. It's well made, works as advertised. But there are some things it will not do. It cuts by a scraping action so on very hard/dense woods like the exotics it simply doesn't work very well. And Vega will openly tell you that it's not much good on those type woods. On softer woods, or things like cork, it's fine.

It works pretty good as a cork duplicator but due to the scraping action it leaves a very rough finish on cork (better on wood). So you have to stop about 1/8th inch oversize and sand smooth to the final dimensions.

It takes a while to set up and you need a good pattern for it to follow. Overall, mine hasn't seen much use. I can turn 2 or 3 cork grips in the time it takes to set the duplicator up and most of the woods I turn are very hard exotics. If you want a good deal on a little used Vega, send me an email and maybe we can work something out. It's a good unit, but not really suited for what I do.

...........