If you don't mind having to spend some time on cleaning and oiling, it can often be worth it to get an old lathe from an industrial auction; often you can find them for a few hundred dollars.
I know a fairly large number of hobby machinists and some of them are quite advanced in age. They still turn out quality work, doing stuff that they love. But you can tell that in some of these cases the writing is on the wall and they'll stretch it as long as they can.