Welcome to the forum Tom and good luck with your plans.

I have a 600 x 900 DIY CNC router in my workshop and my wife has a total of 4 looms (or is it 5?) in her studio as well as being a knitwear designer and a lace-maker, so I'm interested in your combined wood/fabric venture.

The following threads are from satisfied JAZZCNC customers (Dean is too humble to link these himself).

http://www.mycncuk.com/threads/14357...light=pilsbury
http://www.mycncuk.com/threads/14702...azzCNC-machine


Just a thought, but would your current employer's training budget run to helping you make the most critical parts for a DIY machine? You said you are in engineering.
If you decide to explore that route the build-logs on this forum are a good source of possible designs and you should critically examine every photograph and video of a JAZZCNC made machine you can find. Remember, plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery.

Kit