Well just about all work with most materials can be a pain in the butt, but once you put some time into finding what works you may find it can have its rewards as well. I like having the Gingery manual machines for the basic machining as it does not take programming and special set ups to get something done(except for my limitations due to not having chucks etc) The thing about the Gingery projects is he will walk you through it all and gives excellent tips on ways to get it done. The other thing about the wood patterns is they do not have to be 'precise' so to speak because there is normally some finish work to get the required areas within tolerance. Just the closer you get the casting the less material to machine(or file and scrape off) All of the skills, tips and ideas presented in the series come in handy when you apply them to future work so it is like and investment into your capabilities. Breaking things down into smaller, simpler steps is one of the principles that comes in very handy with these builds and I apply those same principles to the other things I have made and regular projects. I have my first CNC build posted here on the zone and also my larger 48" x 60" CNC router is under I believe 'concrete base idea' for new machine build.
I think I posted the Gingery builds to a Gingery Yahoo group but am not sure since I have not been to that group in some time

I will have to find the links and post them here:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cn...ml#post1615690
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cn...01387-cnc.html