Hi Geoff, Firstly let me welcome you to the forum its always nice to hear from new members, I myself am a biker of 30yrs and still no car (well the wife has one lol) But no narrow boat YET!! (sounds cool though) if you are as you have described thinking of building your own machine, then this is the right place. There is so much Knowlege here on this site that i was amazed when i first joined, there are young and and not so young alike but all share at least one attribute.. they are very helpfull, some more vocal than others, plenty of friendly banter, and as many are in the UK you may even get to meet some of them as i have,. When i started out I knew nothing! I still know very little in comparison to some, but ive had some great laughs!! Ive had machining done by members, ive purchased things from members and experienced some of that banter first hand.

Im sure you will come to consider this community as a valuable resource, So ask your questions and you mentioned a build log.... Do it we all want build logs so we can borrow (lol) your ideas, and learn from your failures (i suspect you will have none to speak of) but your experiences will be helpfull whatever they are to other people lurking in the background, and maybe considering dipping their toes in the cnc pool.

Im sure there will be plenty of Cad related questions you could answer for other people (me included) as well.

I look forward to seeing you build your machine and your knowlege.

All the best

Rick