I vote with the others who have said to just look for a used or a cheap chinese lathe. If you were doing something large or tricky, there might be some benefit to risking it on a PTO lathe. As it is, you are doing rather small pieces, and you've mentioned that you don't need a lot of precision. I have one of the Harbor Freight lathes, and I can turn out a good vase or a cane without much of a problem. The one I have would easily handle the size pieces you mentioned.
Even if you bought the HF lathe at full price with no coupons it would be cheaper than the parts to build one. The best bet is if you can get a killer deal from the want ads or craig's list like what Deereman found.