I've had and used many different ones, the big bang for the buck is Pro Tools electric in the kit form. You will not be disappointed. It also depends on how you want to use it, if you want to do the fancy flame stuff then any manual with a good strong beam will do, you add a big wheel to turn the shaft and make a large work table. If you need a machine that can do metal shaping then you're talking about ProTools or Mittler Bros. And a work table, gotta have a work table.