Honestly, I don't have any big plans in mind. My desire for a lathe is two fold.We still don't know what he wants to make with a lathe. Knowing that would really help.
Another vote for the Sheldon.
1. I'm an introverted engineer. I don't drink, smoke, fish, bowl, golf or hunt. I have no hobbies outside of the house, no close friends, and other than the wife and 2 grown kids, no other family within 750 miles. My happy place is in my workshop, tinkering around. As mentioned in my intro, I can design just about anything, but when it comes to making stuff, I've been having to dumb down the projects to work with available sized materials and my previously limited machining capabilities. Now, having the new Jet mill/drill and (hopefully soon), a lathe; will greatly expand the complexity and scope of the projects I take on.
2. I acquired most all the tooling (drills, end mills, taps and lathe tools) from my fathers work shop (none of my siblings wanted any of it). I'd estimate retail value of the collection was over $5000. I still haven't had enough time to go through it all. Seemed like an awful waste to have all that stuff and not be able to put it to good use.