Controlling 6 stepper motors and 2 spindles on a budget

[Doddy]

freddi - You obviously consider cost a major issue here but don't indicate how cheap you're looking. What Jazz has linked to is undoubtably a solid CNC solution, but if you're looking at cheap, and IF your stepper drive power requirements are limited, then look at the stepstick drivers commonly used for 3d printer type devices, coupled with an Arduino Mega type controller. I wouldn't recommend the suggestion of a Uno/IO Extender - why bother when a Mega would give you the additional I/O required, more flash/RAM and you don't have the faff and latency associated with the extender. Your spindle controller - up to you but you could use the PWM output from the Mega for an analogue drive (use an integrator to get a clean analogue output). Happy to discuss more.