Quote Originally Posted by brsanko View Post
So far I have deduced that I should get myself a lathe and a mill. What other accessories would be essential to begin making things out of aluminum.
For both the milling machine and lathe definitely get a decent size one if you have the space. I got a mini-lathe initially, but I really only used it during the school holidays as the bigger lathes at school were so much better that it just wasn't worth it. Although your budget would get a decent CNC mill and CNC lathe, presumably you'll want to get manual machines and convert them as quite apart from the cost saving you will learn so much more about how they work by to start with using them manually.

A pillar drill would be useful and wont set you back much compared to the rest. The milling machine will clearly work (better) for drilling, but often it's handy to use a normal pillar drill as it's quick to set up and means you don't have to interrupt the milling machine.

A metal-cutting bandsaw is invaluable if you're working with reasonable size aluminium bar, which could well be the case if you mill the block from solid. I won this one (so it was good for the money!) but there are many other good ones cheaper on eBay:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster...aw-prod719253/