Hi. I have one of the tilting column Siegs (bought through Micro Mark because like you I didn't know any better) and I too was less than impressed initially by the refusal of the tilting column to stay in place when tilting, and of course by how shallow my cuts had to be if I wanted to avoid vibration and the column suddenly tilting.
Somewhere here in the earlier pages of this group is my own solution which I came up with in 2012. It was less complex than yours, but it worked well for me. Simply put IMO the primary problem was two fold, the hollow column lacked stiffness, and the column was prone to resonation issues. My solution was to fill the column with an equal mix of sand, epoxy and small nuts and bolts. I trimmed down a piece of PVC pipe on my lathe to the exact diameter of the column bolt hole, coated it with epoxy release agent then snug fit it into the hole. Then I capped the bottom end and filled the bottom 8 inches column with my mix.
When it was dry I found a night vs day difference in performance. I have to be doing a pretty deep cut (say 0.20") before vibration becomes a problem. Needless to say I don't normally mill that deep, but gee it is nice to know I can if I have to.
A little google searching should bring you to some other fix tips folks have found for these things. If you are not going to be using the tilt feature that often (I prefer when possible to angle tilt the workpiece in the vise rather than tilt the column) possibly the most useful second fix is to make a T shaped brace which you bolt into the back of the column upside down. Yes, small (1/4") bolt holes drilled and tapped into the base of the machine's rear matching holes in the cross of the T, and a small bolt through the main body of the upside down T.and going into the column. I used some 1/8" plate on my own, but I have seen others on the web who went as heavy as 3/8". I don't think it needs that much. The purpose of the T is simply to anchor the column, if the beveled washer/nut vibrate loose. Oh yes, I also used some locktite on the nut as there was a lot of slop in how it fit.
One website I found that gave some very useful reviews of the mini lathes and mills is
mini-lathe.com home page
and
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