Isn't it a matter of what shape parts you make? Most of the things I need to make are flat, not round, so the mill was the choice for me. I don't own a lathe (except for a tiny wood lathe). I've done some minor turning of short parts on my mill, though I suppose a lathe would be better at milling than a mill is at turning if you needed to do both and could only own one machine. Does anybody use a lathe for serious milling? Kinda hard to turn a long shaft in a mill, and kinda hard to put a 4 jaw chuck in a mill, too, though I'm figuring a rotary table would help mill some parts that would otherwise require a lathe.