Questor - my momma didn't raise no fool. This boy learned to keep machinery away from and guns and gun parts a looooong time ago. Seems that the two most dangerous tools in the hands of the American male (me, especially) are the screwdriver and the Dremel tool.
Seriously though, I do not own or use lathes, drill presses or milling machines if I need some gun work completed. It is much less expensive, and for me a much happier experience, to pay a qualified gunsmith to complete the work for me.
Ya see, if I screw it up I am whizzed at myself for a long time. If a qualified gunsmith screws it up he can make it right. I can't. I figure it would cost me about 10-15 visits, maybe more, to the gunsmith for the cost of just one good quality piece of machinery that I may not be able to use properly or even well. And that isn't all - I would begin to feel the need for additional machinery and would need more stuff to work on than I want to stockpile.
It is just not cost beneficial for me to do what you are thinking and this way I get to keep all my fingers. Mikey..