Been thinking on what to do with my old 8" drill press and I got this Idea of laying it on its back and turning it into a small 8" by 12" to 24" wood lathe let you know how it turns out later.
I'm always in favor of re-purposing old stuff and wringing more value out of things, but I find that used wood lathes are almost always available on craigslist for $100 - $150, and sometimes they include a bench and/or turning accessories, so I'd draw the line at spending anything more than $50 on the conversion process.