Thanks for the reply guys,
the machine is this one
http://www.machineryhouse.com.au/M126D - it's a great little mill and pretty rigid, needs a better base though thats the only thing letting it down. I got some 100x100 steel section I'll weld up next week to make a footing for it.
It's a 3 bolt tilt lock which makes tramming interesting but I have a test indicator now.
Anyway, I'm going to read up all on csmio- but I don't really see the large difference between the A and S module. I will get a VFD for the spindle but not sure how to get mach3 to talk to it, I have seen some nice little servo motor packages within budget so there is a good chance I'll go that way. The head is nearly 220 lbs it needs to lift, will 400 watt servo's accomplish that task ok?
There is also the option of flashcut products, but they are belt driven and I don't really trust the backlash on belt drive systems, or is that just me being uneducated?
An auto tool changer would definitely be the prefferred option over rigid tapping, I'm happy to keep a crib and make a draw bar for bt30 pull studs, and at this stage probable just have a flat tool table, but that means indexing the main spindle no doubt. Hood is your ATC on your mill servo driven with indexing? I might have to pick your brain on coding it mach 3.
I looked at 4th axis rotary heads last night, most come with steppers, is it possible to run 3 servo's and stepper motor on 4th? Or would I need to replace the motor? Cheers again all. Project start date is november so I got time to compile a list of gadgets and post them up
Cheers guys, and thanks hood for your input.