Well the lathe is a casting and about 50 lbs. Not heavy enough for
nothing. But I am building a stand for it and I plan on making it very
sturdy and with a place to add sand bags for weight. I am going to start
at 300 lbs or so and go from there. After all sand is cheap.

If you want to see a photo of the lathe here is the URL
http://www.kudzupatch.com/temp/bowl_lathe2.jpg It's just sitting on my
table saw outfeed table. Of course the key to this is going to be the
stand it's on. It will make or break it.

BTW I used to be a mechanical designer in a previous life so I am very
familiar with Surface Feet per minute and totally agree with you on the
speeds. I have turned a few rough blanks on a on craftsman lathe with no
weight and not enough slow speed. Scared the hell out of me when I hit
the on switch!

I am not sure if you understood or not but I should have speed of 0 and
up with the speed controller