Thanks again Hood, really helpful.
1 -- Delrin sounds like a good choice for the smaller wire, the mig tip is great, looks like it was meant for the job, but I'll be using too thin of wire for that. The adjustabilty of the wire guide is a feature I didn't think of, and will have to work into the plans.
2 -- I realize you probably didn't adjust the feed throughout the wind, but that is a feature pretty important to my application. I was thinking of using an iMach pendant for the z axis, and an iMach spindle tach for the spindle. Would this work? Would I still need the smooth stepper you mentioned? I realize I am very new to this all, and I'm sure I'm missing something, so please let me know if I'm not thinking correctly.
3 -- Will copycat or jcode work with a handwheel such as the iMach pendant, or is jog and handwheel not compatible?
4 -- My laptop does not have a parallel port, so will I need the smooth stepper (or simialar) to run off the laptop regardless of whether or not I buy an iMach pendant?
Thanks again,
Jeff