25 year break. The Internet changed things!

[Washout]

Welcome BBB

First advice I would give is be realistic and honest with yourself about what you will use the machine for i.e. a router if designed carefully will be good for wood, plastics and aluminium with some light steel milling. In general though the harder the material you want to cut, the smaller you want to make the bed for overall rigidity.

If you want to cut metals all day log then I would say the best approach is to retro-fit or scratch build a turret mill.

There are plenty of builds in the build log area to look at and a lot of videos online, but be careful about the latter when it comes to "selling" products....not all YouTube videos are what they seem, at first glance.

There are a load of very helpful guys here, with way more experience than I have, that will give great advice on specifics.