Thanks to everyone for all the positive comments. Some ask for additional information and pictures, if anyone is interested in building a similar lathe I'll provide all the help and info I can.
The first picture below shows early testing. I started with a 4" X 4" X 1/4" H beam. After some testing I realized that with a large out-of-balance blank I would get some twisting and vibration so I welded a 4" X 1/4" plate to each side of the H beam, this solved most of the vibration problem.
A 4" square tube with maybe 1/4" wall thickness (for a heavy duty lathe maybe use a 6" square tube) would be a better choice for the main pedestal.
I scrounged the pillow block & bearings at a junk yard then turned the spindle on my old 9" South Bend metal lathe, it has 1 1/2" x 8 tpi and is solid (no hole through the spindle). I have 1 1/2" inserts for my Vicmarc chucks and face plates and other chucks from my South Bend. The spindle will be the most difficult part for most people to build. A local machine shop could build the spindle to your specs.
The 3rd picture is of the tool rest bed. This is made with 3" X 1 1/2" X 3/8" steel angle and is 12" long. This should be at least 18" long. I did not consider how far out a bowl extends when mounted in the chuck. The bed can be lowered about 5" to increase the capacity to 28".
The tool rest (banjo) is 2" X 1 1/2" X 3/8" and is 12" long. The tool rest holder can be any round steel tube with a 1" hole threaded for a bolt. I use a 1/2" bolt.
I think that some heavy rectangle bar stock (maybe 1 1/2" X 2") would work for both the bed and banjo replacing the steel angle.
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