The problem is, this size of machine is always going to be a compromise.

I like my Triac for what it is, and it does the job I bought it for, but I can see something with more power and travel in the future.

A Tormach or Skyfire would fit that bill well enough, but for the same money, I could get a secondhand industrial machine. Somewhat ironically, I can get 3 phase installed for not that much money, but the current workshop isn't high enough for anything above 2.0m.
I could really do with a bigger lathe as well, but every enclosed slantbed I've looked at is also too high.

The big problem is with spindles. Without going to some kind of gear head, you're either looking at limited RPM to achieve reasonable torque, or high speed with limited torque. Although with a larger spindle, and with a suitable drive and/or controller, you could program it to operate in a power limited way.


At the moment, short of building a new workshop, I'm actually considering a solid router to handle aluminium work, and finally finishing the Matchmaker for steel work (every time I get back to actually working on it, some other retrofit comes along..).