Hi Dan

I have a colchester student which generally has a centre height of 6.5 inches and 24 inches between centres (they are labelled as 6" but most are master CH )
It weighs 675kg and has a largeish footprint
You could get one for £1000 ish with 2 chucks steadys etc
leaveing you with £500 to buy tooling and accesories
You will get all that and more back if you ever sell it
Parts are easily available and reasonably priced (unless new)
Pleasure to use it...If you have the room you wont regret it