Seen many things used like bob Mentioned.
for my manual lathe I use my manual mill table to hold a pc of 1/2" conduant clamped to the mill table been doing so for 30 years.
on the cnc I go bar feeds. slow rps
I have seen tables used for 20 foot steel pipe on a bank of manual lathes for threading, they thread on both sides and have lathes on both sides of there table. pretty f'n cool for manual production work.
one of my numb nut friends used 2 55 gallon drum with wooden v blocks on top for 12 foot randoms up to 2" dia, dumb but it worked and they been doing that for 20+ years on a hitachi seiki cnc lathe.
Until you witness a 8000 lb machine lift off the ground turn about 30 degrees in mid air then land with a thump you will never understand or appreciate a solid heavy bar feeder.