how far can one turn down a crank?

The "technical" answer is "whatever you can find bearings for." I believe .030 is accepted, some cranks maybe older engines may have had .040

For some special "stroke" builds, different rods, etc, some cranks have been turned a LOT more than that. Found this post in a similar discussion:

"Before 350 journal sized stroker cranks were available, it was common practice to turn a SBC 400 crank .100" under when building a 383".

And someone corrected:

"Nope. Turned .200, not .100.

400 main size is 2.65", 350 main size is 2.45". .200" different"

It's .200 different, therefore you cut .100. When you cut .100, you're cutting .100 per side, which makes it .200. Think about it.

Russ.