That was my second lathe, and the 600 rpm is a bit scary with an out of balance bowl or platter blank, Alignment problems are a given with any lathe that has an articulated headstock, it takes a bit of patience, and like butch said they are a little light , a sand box or a box filled with redymix concrete would be a good idea IF the legs were stronger, I've turned 6 and 10 inch bowls with it, but I sawed the stock round first, even then it was a little unnerving until I got it turned round and in balance, BUT for pens and spindle work I still maintain it's a nice lathe, I just bought a 16x42 that is a killer, all the difference in the world Cast Iron Legs and a lot heavier, it still has the 600 rpm threshold with a 35 pound chunk of wood and 4 bags of sand in a weight box it still tried to dance a jig.
I've worked on the new 46-xxx Delta 12-1/2 x 21 and it is a nice lathe, Short, but an absolute wonderful piece of equipment, The 1014vs Jet is the pen lathe to judge all others by, FOR PENS and small bowls up to 8 or so inches, but with a chuck you only have about 11 inches of bed left unless you get a bed extension, and it's still only a 1/2 hp motor. My new 16x42 in Shop Fox has a 2 HP motor, swivel and or sliding headstock but it has a reeves drive like the HF 34706, unfortunately a lathe of any size with EVS is going to get real expensive, 1500 or so used. if you are just going to do Pens, (that's what I said) check out Steel City, nearly an exact match up for Jet, except the new ones have a Granite bed, and are a super well made machine.
I have an older one and love it to death, good variable speed, only two pulley positions easy to change and generally a well made machine with a factory 5 year warranty, same with my shop Fox, sadly their small10x14 lathe is way under powered.
