I think I may have found a solution to the whole spindle debate. Ebay are featuring water cooled BDCM with speed controller with prices anywhere between $250 and $700, shipped from China or Hong Kong.
Apparently the water cooling is achievable using a large bucket and a fish tank circulating pump.
They claim that the VFM can be controlled from Mach3 using the S feature in g-code.
So now all I need is for the numbers to come up on Wednesday or Saturday and I can get one in before the VAT increase!!!