The heavy table is well worth the 100 bucks in my opinion ...Far better then one of those Chinese abominations that come packed in cosmoline....My use for the table is rather esoteric ......I use it to jewel odd ball shaped firearm components, so i can not speak of how well it would work for machining.....The heavy table is rather well made for what it is.....The base is cast iron and finished nicely ( the bottom of the base is actually flat ) ...The table is aluminum ( not wimpy ) the end caps our metal... The table accepts 6mm t-nuts...The X and Y wheels turn easily and smoothly.. The axis do use bearings so they move very smoothly....There are no measurement markings on the handwheels of any type... Overall its constructed sturdily and finished well ( Keep in mind its obvious limitations and you will be fine )