I went out and bought a lathe. I picked up a Harbor Freight 10" X 18", which is also sold by Rockler under the Excelsior brand and Penn State under their brand, and probably by a few others as well. I got mine for $160 brand new on sale with a 20% off coupon. The others run anywhere from $250-$300 for the same lathe in different colors. It has MT2 tapers in both the headstock and tail stock and both are drilled through. Adjustments are quick and easy, too.

I went over to the Rockler store yesterday and picked up a MT2 pen mandrel after asking about what I needed to turn something similar to the insert I took in with me to show them. The young guy that helped me out showed me the bushings he had turned for doing similar stuff and fixed me up with the goodies I needed without going overboard. I turned a pair of bushings to hold an insert out of some black and white acrylic. These were the first things I had turned on a lathe since high school wood shop back in '68 or '69.

After messing up drilling one insert in my drill press, I got these drilled and turned. Nothing fancy, but they came out well for my first projects. Finish is wipe on Poly applied on the lathe.