Something to keep in mind is that buying a lathe is just the beginning of the expense. You can easily spend an equal amount or more on the tooling required: chucks, tool holders, etc.
I've owned a machine shop for over 40 years and I could not live without a lathe and my other machine tools. I'm retired . . . but my personal projects require their use.
I'd also recommend finding a friendly machinist and get to know more before purchasing a lathe.
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Don
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