I think these guys are right... a Google search of the net, and then a search of this newsgroup is in order.
Lots of great opinions here by actual users, not someone that uses it for a day or two and then moves to the next lathe.
All the lathes out there have good and bad points, and with so much being made in Taiwan and China, you never know about the quality anymore. Some stuff is good, some is not. Some production runs are good, some are not.
The are ONLY two reasons I bought a Nova: because I could NOT find some old iron over a period of about 2 years (which I really, really wanted) and because Woodcraft closed out the Nova that came with the American (Leeson) motor and controller at an excellent price about 5 years ago.
If you have time, I would vote with Ecnerwal. Find some old iron. They are completely rebuildable, and easy to make into what you want. There is plenty of info here to get you on the way to getting motors and controllers if you want variable speed, etc.
Many here have taken these machines and made them into the equivqlent of the high dollar machines. With the right kind of question, I believe you would find as much help as you need right here for your project.
Robert