They are still making tabletop lathes and mills, at [link|http://www.taigtools.com/|Taig Tools] A CNC version is available at [link|http://www.microproto.com/|Micro Proto] for around $2,000.

[link|http://www.sherline.com/|Sherline] is probably the best known hobbyist lathe and mill company. Sherline does have some advantages, such as the availability of DROs and continuous speed motors. CNC conversions are available from other suppliers, and are, IIRC, over $2,000 for a complete system.

Similar (bigger but less precise) tools are available from China, e.g. Grizzly ( [link|http://www.aerocom.ws/bedair/Grizzly.html|here is one Grizzly web page] ), Harbor Freight, etc.

For dedicated CNC use, I'm most impressed with [link|http://www.maxnc.com/|Max NC], also in Arizona. Their models aren't much more than Taig or Sherline, but are available with servo motors, for example.

The manual table top mills seem to be roughly $500 - $1,000 (DRO is more), with CNC models at $2-3,000. A used full size manual mill would typically be $3-5,000, but has many problems for home use (3 phase power, often 480V, a weight of about 2,000 lbs, etc). I don't have any experience with these, but a friend who has used the Sherline says it's hard to do precision (meaning 0.001" or better) work with it, and that the real thing (Bridgeport) is much better.

Tony
Who is slowly learning the Pro/Desktop free computer aided solid modeling program (and it's pretty good for a free program -- and no, I ain't going to become a ME -- but I might buy a table top mill or CNC machine)