Hi all. I'm in Ireland, and starting up a semi commercial art/woodworking shop mixing wood and metal work as a leading into retirement project.

The site came up while researching a milling/drilling machine interest, i'm going to post an enquiry in a few minutes in the milling section.

My shop is pretty well equipped in woodworking terms - the classic panel saw, spindle moulder, router table, planer thicknesser and hand tool set up. I worked as a general machinist for a couple of years back in the 70s (mostly turning and gear cutting, and in a fairly unsophisticated environment) before completing an engineering degree, and have a background in engineered product R&D, machine design and more recently manufacturing management. The woodworking (and also modelling) has always chugged along in the background as a hobby activity - along with motorcycle building.

The current milling interest arises from a need for a (by current standards) much more precise drilling capability than your typical Eastern pillar drill. Going upmarket in drills tends to get in to engineering oriented territory. (heavier and much more expensive machines but still with a small work envelope) A used mill drill was suggested - which sparked the realisation of how much a light milling capability would open up the metal options in my work. So here we are...

ian