Steve,

Thanks for the extra detail. That all makes sense.

Robin,

Have a heart!! I'm not into metalwork. My interest is very definitely woodworking. Hence, my desire for a large woodworking sized machine. In just one week I've gone from thinking in terms of wood / MDF for this build to conceeding that aluminium would be better. Now you want me to jump straight to steel. You'll want blood next.:sad:

A fold up solution wouldn't help me. My workshop is around 5.5m square, which isn't bad for a hobby workshop, but it's absolutely full. All my main machines, including 800kg of table saw / spindle moulder, are on various forms of wheels or castors so that I can pull out the particular one I need at any one time. There's just not sufficient wall or floor space available without discarding things that are already there.

You ask how I would drill holes. Therein might lie another problem! Before I got quite so seriously into developing a workshop, I bought a Shopsmith combination woodworking machine. I've subsequently replaced most of its functions with much more capable separate machines, but still use the Shopsmith as a vertical drill. In that regard, it's seemed adequate for my purposes to date without going to the expense of a dedicated pillar drill. It has a reasonable sized table to which I can attach a fence, and depth setting ability. Other than hand-held drills, that's my lot for drilling at present. Although I say I'm not into metalworking (beyond drilling and tapping the occasional hole), I can see that some limited capability here could have uses from time-to-time. To that end I've started giving a bit of thought to getting a milling machine. Don't know much about them, so guidance would be welcome. So far I haven't got beyond the Axminster catalogue. In there, the possibilities that have caught my eye include the SIEG U2 and Axminster RF40. Anyone have any experience of these machines by any chance? (Perhaps I shouldn't admit on a CNC forum that I'm contemplating a manual solution here! Perhaps a retrofit one day in the future might be on.)

My table saw can take an aluminium cutting blade claimed to be able to cut up to 30mm, which should be more than adequate for basic straight line cutting to size. (If it can cut 30mm solid, I guess it would be OK on 40mm extruded profile sections. With a 300mmblade, depth of cut isn't the issue and with a 5.5hp motor, I guess it would have adequate power.) That would still leave detail shaping and drilling, of course. Obviously, trying to cut steel would be another matter altogether and not something I'm equipped to deal with at all at present (beyond a hacksaw!).

All-in-all, while I hear you, I still think aluminium, whether extruded profile sections or not-too-thick solid, is better suited to my needs and capabilities.

Julie