Yeah I would agree a pillar drill is..well not really designed with milling in mind.(a pillar drill is absolute must for a workshop in my mind, but just not for cobbled together milling).
It's technically possible, but I would question whether it would get the accuracy needed even if you could get over the big deflections.
A lathe would be better suited, and would probably give you a better end product, you just have to think about the setups a bit more.
And own a milling slide of course. You could just use a machine vise with and angle plate and pack the work pieces to the right amount, but this is perhaps going too far. I bought a rigid vertical milling slide, simply incase my mill ever croaks it then I've still got an ace up my sleeve.
Michael W
Edited By Michael-w on 02/07/2017 21:11:39