Thanks for the responses guys.
I would love a tormach but I live in the uk, so the import tax alone would probably be about 1200£ then I think the p&p is the best part of 500£ so I'd be looking at the best part of 8000£ all in all. Which is a bit of a jump from a 1600£ milling machine + ball screws and fabrication. I already have the steppers and drives. So wouldn't need to buy them. As for a haas vmc I'd need to remortgage my house to afford one of them, even a second hand one.

If I was to pose one last question.. What would you guys say would be the best milling machine to convert to cnc for say less than around 1600£? Has anybody spent this sort of money on a miller and converted it and had a lot of success and can share their story and some info on their machine capabilities?

Thank you again for all the feedback it's very useful and kind.

John.