People do not understand what it costs to learn how to do things and what equipment costs.You have to factor in the price of the lathe, glue, cleaners, razor blades, as well, nothing good worth having is cheap.
It reminds me of David Thorne's spider/pie charts/missing cat flyers.
I had a guy who wanted a stainless plate made with his personal intricate design cut into it as well as mounting holes.
The design was such that the plasma guys would not touch it.
He sent me a pic and I created a DXF for his approval and quoted $150 (he supplied the plate).
That is for the design work, creating a fixture, tooling the machine, writing the program, etc.
He passed on it because the price was too high. I stood to make about $30/hr. No way did he find it cheaper. I"m roughly 1/3 the cost of other local shops
because my hours are not that important since my shop is my happy place.