A dust mask will certainly help. My wife (who was tired of all the dust) bought me a simple 1 horsepower dust collector from Grizzly. It REALLY HELPS A LOT!
It seems to me that the problem is not so much cutting the profile on the lathe (which results in chips and curls), but rather the sanding on the lathe that created particles small enough to respire. I also use the dust collector when I sand primer 'cause that stuff just can't be good for me!
So just make a mess, piss off your wife and she will help fund your plug shop.
Patrick aka Digger