South Bend had a small booklet called "How to run a lathe."There are reprints available, and I think brownells or midway has them. (I don't remember which) I've been a toool and die maker for 45 years, and I learned a few good tricks in that little book, even after being in the trade for years. Some of our so called cnc machinists would do good to find some of those old ways of doing things. My current race engine was built on a ww2 surplus lathe and a chinese copy of a bridgeport. It was all done "on the dials." I don't even have dro's on my machines. It can be very rewarding, but can be frustrating at times, too. I've done some real strange setups over the years, but to me, the challenge is somtimes figuring out how to do the job, and that to me is very rewarding. As said by others, it can be expensive for the tooling, but much can be done with just a few simple tools. The farther you go, and the more challenging the job, the more rewarding when finished.