OK, this is very preliminary, and I'm not even sure of getting a lathe yet.
There's one VMS-70 in Finland @ Timmion Records, and I'm not so sure there's a real market for another cutting house that could do it all. Instead, I'm thinking it'd be nice to offer cutting as a custom side service, labor of love type of a thing for people who might be seeking more of a "sound" - roots & punk people for example.
This means I would not want to invest too much in a lathe. I wouldn't mind it to be more labor intensive, as it would probably not be an everyday thing to operate. I'm not afraid of maintenance either. The main profit would be in everyday mastering for digital medium.
What choices are out there? Scully, Westrex, I see some choice in there. Prestos seem a bit pro-sumer.
And what are the side effects of getting an older lathe? I'm thinking they must be in getting clean cuts and cutting long sides. Sourcing cutting heads might be difficult too.
Getting a lathe has been haunting me for years.