the HF is a much beefier machine especially for just a few hundred more.i was going to get that one but here they were 549 dollars plus i would have to buy the steady rest,faceplate,moving rest,drill chuck adaptor,ect..but i would have bought that one if i werent moving ect..plus i can pick it up by myself.But to answer the question i have had no bad luck with my cummins 7x12 and ive been using it straight out of the box with only 2 adjustments and i have it mounted on the rubber feet right now because i just havent bolted it to the bench i made yet.