15 x 15 was decided to cover off a 12" subwoofer ring if ever i felt the need to make one as this is what i used to do alot.. and i just thought 15" was a good size. if someone said well for very little extra you could go to 20 x 20 then i'd possibly go that far.. the idea with this machine is to keep the cost down, show the missus what it can do and for it to prove itself then i'll move on to a 4ft x 4ft so i can atleast cut half a sheet of material.

as for a cheap £25 router i'm willing to pay more for the spindle and i think from what i've read a router doesnt lend itself to variable speeds very well and from what i've seen of my own router it doesnt finnish plastic very well. also the standalone spindles are less bulky meaning machine design can be kept smaller and the collet extends alot further down than a router

so far i've seen these CNC 300W Spindle Motor & Mount bracket For Engraving Carving MILLING GRINDING | eBay

but i have no idea how good they are and what the limits would be.. also i suppose i need to consider psu for one? and how is the speed controlled?

or these 0.8KW MORE PRECISE WATER-COOL SPINDLE MOTOR ENGRAVING MILL&GRIND WATER-COOLED k5 | eBay

or to go as far as a 2.2kw, but again i just dont know.

i am hoping that as my machine is going to be small it wont need such a big motor, but again i'm open to ides if needs be and i need to spend £150 on a motor then so be it.

the plan is to get a list of all the parts i need and then go to one of the chinese guys and ask for a price for the lot which will hopefully save myself some money overall, but i cant get to this stage until i design the router