I have always wanted a lathe. Someday…
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Marginally safer, in that it’s the stock spinning at dangerous speeds, rather than the sharp, cutty bits. But I’ve heard they are very interested in getting a closer look at any long, flowing, or loose bits of clothing, hair, or gear…
I’d feel safer with a machinist’s lathe (mounted tool), but would get more use from a woodworker’s lathe (hey, one use is more than none).
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I enjoy working with wood and I cringe working with metal. Metal is mich more useful for a lot of things though.
I would honestly be pretty happy with a very small lathe. Able to make pub skittles or maybe turn a bunch of custom pieces for special board games.
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Why cringe? Straight metal is easy. Cut it and melt it together lol. Curved/bent metal is where I start to cringe lol
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For the longest time, I’d been wanting both a metal lathe and a woodworking lathe. I recently pulled the trigger on both. In my research on woodworking lathes, I’d heard that good quality tools, that are kept sharp, matter more than the machine itself. In other words, if you are going to go cheap on anything, do that on the machine, not the cutting tools. So, about a year or two ago, I pulled the trigger on some nice, decent cutting tools. They’ve been sitting in a drawer in my tool chest. I did indeed go cheap on the woodworking lathe. Got this one for only $179.
Our Lidl sells one for 79€, I bought it years ago and haven’t used it yet.
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I recently purchased a Wen 14x20 and the bed extension to go with it. Haven’t touched one since high school but I’m having a blast! Gotta get good with the skew 
I originally bought the Wen 6 piece chisel set, but quickly found they dulled rather fast. Ended up scoring a nice set of older used Marples and Sons chisels, along with a bunch of assorted new old stock Greenlee chisels on Craiglist. They all hold an edge very well. Finally finished the table I was working on.
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I inherited my grandfather’s 1934 Craftsman lathe. Unfortunately it doesn’t have morse tapers in the head or tailstock, so when my daughter got to try pen turning in high school, the mandrel didn’t fit this lathe. Found a nice little Grizzly with more modern ends on a state auction, but by then she had moved on to new interests.