We are loosing a bridgeport mill at work that isn't used much. But there is occasional need to mill something so I proposed getting a desktop mill and was surprised how well it was received. Main reason for moving out some of the big stuff is space. Now I am trying to figure out what to get. I don't have any milling experience (well, a little but almost none). I need 6" of Y travel and that seems to be the key factor. Considering a Taig CNC with Y axis extension. Or something like the Grizzly G0759. Thinking I need to keep the main cost to around $3000 or the justification will get much more complicated. I realize that tooling can double or more that number but most of our operations are very basic and tooling can be purchased as needed so I don't see an issue with that. My concerns are:

- size of the Taig table. Some of the parts will be 5 - 6" diameter. Taig mill table being 3.5" wide seems like an issue for solid mounting. Sure I can mount it and I will be cutting mostly plastic and some aluminum so maybe it isn't a real issue?

- CNC or not? Thinking it would be great to have a small CNC but most of the work is currently manual. This is for an prototype shop so, for example, we might want to mill a hole in a part to run some extra wires through for testing. Haven't figured out how g code would be generated from our CAD system so that is another hurdle. Some say a CNC can be run as a manual mill by using basic commands but I am wondering how easy that will be. That's why I am considering the slightly bigger, manual machine with DRO.

I need a package that is complete - don't have time to put together a kit or modify a mill beyond something simple like bolting on a Y axis extension kit.

What's the next step up from the Taig in size for CNC? Seems like the next thing is a big step.

What are my choices in this price range for a mill with DRO?

Hoping to get some advice from more experienced folks...