After much guidance and a lot of build log reading I think an achievable goal for my first build is to be able to machine wood (typically at around 40mm depth) and be able to do a lot of carving work (although if I can get more depth it would be preferred). If this could also engrave aluminium this would be a major benefit (although not my primary purpose for this machine).

Cutting area for this would be around 500mm x 500mm. Material and equipment for the frame (steel or aluminium box section, mig welder, drill press and hand tools) are all available for free from work. For the rails I was going to use roller carriages with a cold rolled steel plate as a guide rail and for the linear motion of the axis I was going to be using ACME threaded rod (but setup for later replacement with ball screw).

For the spindle I was thinking of initially going with a simple router like a bosch colt or maybe something smaller which I have already in the workshop such as a pnematic dremel but after some time upgrading to something like a 2.2kW spindle dedicated to the machine.

Budget for the electronics (motors, drivers, PSU) is around £200.

This build seemed to suit all my requirements therefore, I planned on using this setup as a guide: http://www.mycncuk.com/threads/1541-...-framed-router

This was another build I was looking at as an alternative but I am not sure if it would be powerful enough for what I need: http://www.neo7cnc.com/

Also, it may be worth mentioning that I also have an arduino uno available so was thinking of running this from GRBL as this would allow me to use my laptop USB for to communicate with the machine.