The Jet Mini lathes are excellent machines. They have some limitations, but for the most part they are pretty darn near perfect for what we do turning calls. Parts for them are realatively inexpensive, easy to come by from WMH Tool Group and the lathe has been around long enough that all of the quirks are well documented and worked out.
But the lathe is just a start. If you are going to turn calls, you will need, or should I say, you should use a mandrel of some sort. A pen mandrel with spacers will work to get started, and if you like what you are doing you can upgrade over time.
With the lathe, pen mandrel and a few lathe tools, you will be able to turn some one piece predator calls, even open reed calls.
For lathe tools I would look at a 1/2" Skew, 1/2" Gouge, and a parting tool. You do not have too, and I would not spend a lot of money of really good tools at this time. You will need to learn to sharpen them, and it is best to learn to do that on less expensive tools.
A drill press is not necessary to start, as you can drill on the lathe. This is one of the limitations of the Jet Mini Lathes however.
The way the tail stock is constructed, there is inherant play in the ram that can cause you to drill off center. This is not so much of a problem if you are going to turn blanks on a mandrel, but for some opperations, it is best to use a drill press.
You will need a Jacobs chuck for your lathe to drill with. They run about 25 bucks and are simply a drill chuck on a Moorse Taper spindle. It fits in the tail stock and hold your drill bits.
You will need to be able to hold the work piece some way, and for that you will need a chuck. You can find a nice one at Pen State for about 100 bucks. WIth the cost of the jacobs chuck you could probably pick up a drill press for the same or less money.
You might want to start by looking at the tutorials on the main site. They will give you an idea of what is involved anyway.
Please ask any questions you have. That what this forum and this site is all about. If I can help I will and I know that the moderators and members here will do the same.
Al @ THO