Quote Originally Posted by davitc View Post
I would love one of those Desktop HAAS machines but I'm not sure I can get them in the UH and would probably be horrendously expensive.
You basically do have a HAAS because they are using pretty much the same cheap Chinese machine in a fancy steel box with a fancy controller which they'll no doubt charge a fortune for.! . . . . The best controller in the world can't make these machines any better so yes you have a HAAS.

Regards the bed then I'd go with the 30mm Ali tooling plate and let the machine drill matrix of holes which you then tap and use for fixturing. Dump the T-slot altogether.