kcoaks - some aspects of the software industry are amazing - look at the opesource movement.
regarding a CNC Mill. its gonna be a hobby all itself. it will take over your hobby-world untill you get it going. my first attempt was pretty unsoiphisticated. i had never made a stepper spin. i always looked at them as those "unuseable" motors.. i just had a bit of electronics hobby stuff under my belt when i started this 2 years ago.. look in my gallery for some inspiration - it only took 2-4 years to get to that point.
i have to admit though, i had lots of building, tinkering, design experience going into this "hobby". i still dont really think of it as a hobby. i am building machines that will oneday pay for themselves. its a secret goal of many of the forum regulars - i think.
Design & Development
My Portfolio: www.robertguyser.com | CAD Blog I Contribute to: http://www.jeffcad.info