We bought this for my son for his birthday, this is an upgrade to a small lathe that he had. My son absolutely loves it, make sure you bolt it down using all the bolt holes to a heavy duty stand or work bench! It works well!We made this goblet as his first project, he couldn_ do this on his small lathe!I wouldn_ buy this for a beginner, this is much more powerful and more for those that are in an intermediate level or up. My son was a little intimidated at first but slowly started getting more comfortable and is now making some really nice wood projects!