I have been following an interesting start-up for the past few years called pocketnc who have been working on creating a small desktop 5 axis CNC mill -
www.pocketnc.com
When I visited their website this evening, they have just launched their kickstarter campaign -
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...ref=nav_search
This looks like a amazing product which would have so many uses - machining small parts, model engineering, prototyping, astronomy parts etc.
I could definitely see myself buying one of these when they finally make it to Australia - The current kickstarter launch is only shipping to the US.
There is also a lot of really interesting software available for product design which would complement a small CNC mill for hobby enthusiasts. I recently started an online Tafe course to learn Autodesk Inventor which is 3d digital prototyping software.
I can see that the combination of affordable CNC milling, 3d printers, electronics (e.g. sparkfun), affordable software etc. could open up a whole new realm for amateurs. It almost like the next generation home "workshop".
It would be so much fun to build a small working model engine using something like the pocketnc mill.
Cheers,
Mark