Cost wise - Hmm... it's difficult to say, as there are probably loads of bits and pieces that I bought and have forgotten about..! But to give you an idea - my HiWin rails and bearing-blocks, ball-screws and bearings/housings came to US$850 including freight (US$200). I paid around UKŁ200 for my aluminium stock and the aluminium extrusion came to UKŁ200. The spindle and VFD will cost you somewhere around UKŁ250. Then you've got pulleys and belts (or direct drive motor mounts), e-chain, power supplies, drivers, motion control boards, a housing to, well, house all the electrics, a PC etc. You're easily looking at Ł2000...

Yes - having access to metal working equipment and/or someone who can help you with some of that stuff (in my case CliveS - also of this forum) is going to be a massive help. But if you want a bit of inspiration as to what's achievable with some pretty basic gear then check out Joe's build:

http://www.mycncuk.com/threads/4513-3-Axis-CNC-router

Pretty cool. Here's his YT channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/joerharris/videos

My very first build was a fixed gantry mini-mill type of thing - I had the frame fabricated and got a machine shop to drill the alu plates - in all honesty, with a bit of careful layout I could probably have drilled those myself..! My point is - there's often a clever way of simplifying something (and then getting the machine to make itself a better part once it's up and running..!)

It would be a great help to you if you could find someone local that would show you around their home-built machine - at that moment a lot of stuff falls into place and starts making a bit more sense..!

If you'd like to see some examples of what I've made with my two machines check out my instagram and tumblr links in my signature below.

Wal.