I' m the same way mauser. I' ve been looking at the lathe over at Home Depot by Rigid and the one at Harbor Freight http://www.harborfreight.com The guy who runs the stage department here at the college just bought the lathe from Harbor Freight and loves it. I went over to play with it the other night and was really impressed. He paid $200 for the lathe and stand which is a good deal from the others I have looked at. It' s very sturdy and doesnt' move at all, (he welded som stage weights to it to keep it from moving) I think I might have a small job coming up and I can' t wait... money for call making