Sanity check
I recently found myself in a "there would be signs" situation, and was looking at upgrading basement workshop.
I mostly work in wood and 3d printing, but also have a desktop cnc that I use for aluminium / steel and rarely stainless steel.
I've gotten it into my head that it might open up my capabilities to also get a relatively small lathe and learn how to use it.
After falling in love with cutest damn mini lathe I've even seen at my local hardware store, I decided to go back to the drawing board and put practicality over lust.
After going over a lot of options, the optimum 3008vb with all the accessories seems to be a reasonable balance of price (for the factory inspection/ guaranteed calibration that you wouldnt get from a cheaper white label), feature set, and rigidity. I was pretty concerned that anything with less mass would vibrate too much or had other compromises that made the price and size increase worth it, and i wouldnt find myself wishing i'd gone further up in 3 months.
I'd appreciate a sanity check on this, considering this would be my first lathe, and i'm aware that with great mass (and centrifical force), comes great responsibility.
How likely am I to royally mess up the structure of my face and or hands, even if i'm doing it 90% right.
Are there any critical reading materials that you would heavily suggest anyone digests before working with heavy machinery?
Is there anything you wish you knew before you got started / used your first lathe?