For the adequately funded beginner, taking a staged approach into the hobby has much to recommend it.
In this approach you eliminate the uncertainty of a second hand purchase and buy a new Mini-lathe.
You don't have to worry about transporting it to your workshop. If it's broken on arrival you can send it back Most come with a reasonable set of accessories: chucks, centres, steadies, spanners etc. Earlier gross quality problems seem to have been fixed, but, to set expectations, do not expect the lathe to be as good as a new Western lathe costing four to eight times as much.
A mini-lathe is small enough to fit on an ordinary table, runs from the domestic supply, and is quiet in operation. It will not dominate your workshop! A mini-lathe can easily be moved by two weaklings, and a fit man could do it on his own. Moving a bigger lathe can be much more problematic, soon requiring mechanical aids and a small team.
Once set up, a mini-lathe does all the basics that a beginner has to master : you can turn steel, cut threads, bore, and learn about chucks, backplates, travelling steadies and use of the tailstock. etc. It will give you a feel for the cutting behaviour of different metals and tools – how fast can you cut, how to get a good finish, and how to work accurately.
It will also teach you about its limitations, and what to look for in should you decide to upgrade later. Size restrictions are the most obvious limitation, but using a mini-lathe will inform you about Backlash, ease of adjustment (gibs etc), bearings, gearboxes, clutches, motor power, T-slots on the cross-slide, quick change tooling and much else.
When it comes to buying second-hand, an ounce of practical experience is worth a ton of theory. If you know what to expect from using a mini-lathe, it's much easier to detect wear, and to tell the difference between a well cared for bargain in good order, a fixer upper, and scrap metal. You will also have a much better feel for what you want of a lathe. There's a big difference between clockmaking and mending classic cars.
Should it turn out that you hate metalwork, a mini-lathe isn't a serious disposal problem. Being 'adequately funded' means that the moderate cost (under £1000) could be written off if the worst happened. Actually, you could certainly recover some of that by selling it on. And you won't need to hire a crane to get rid of of it!
The big problem for Paul buying a mini-lathe is his desire to turn fishing reels. A bigger machine would make that much easier, but it pushes the price up.
One actual advantage the modern hobby lathes have over older kit is the ability to turn at higher speeds. This makes it more reasonable to use indexed carbide tools, which don't perform well at low speed, For the beginner, indexing is attractive because you don't have to learn another new skill, which is how to grind HSS, and coolant / lubrication issues are less intrusive. (Later on, you may prefer HSS, but this is a sign of growing expertise.)
That's the case for the mini-lathe. But be aware that many chaps on the forum have picked up absolute bargains, partly because they know what they are doing, but also luck and circumstances! Over the last 20 years market changes have caused most educational establishments and engineering firms to dump good quality manual equipment wholesale in favour of CNC. Some of it is virtually unused, and much of it is well maintained. All you have to do is avoid the crocks, worn-out, thrashed, or expensively broken! Another good source is the workshop of a model engineer separated from his tools by death or illness. Some people spend more time keeping their kit in good order than they do making things.
In conclusion, the beginner has a lot to learn. Taking it step by step is good fun. What makes learning a nightmare is taking on too much at once, for example by using a lathe that's fundamentally flawed in ways you don't understand yet. Especially if you sold the farm to pay for it.
Whatever Paul decides to do, please stick with it – using a machine tool to make things one of the most deeply satisfying things I've ever done.
Dave