I just bought a Homier 7 X 12 lathe about 2 weeks ago. I am very happy with it. I am in the process of building a free standing base for it. I think the best way to buy it is at one of their traveling shows. If you log on to their websight, you can see if they are coming close to wher you live.
About what you need to get started, if you have any kind of shop now, you will have some of the "stuff" you need. And then you just buy the rest little by little.
