[Deus Machina]

Agreed. If you need a good 3in1, listen to Rainman. He knows his. And, frankly, 3in1's aren't *bad* machines, they're just a pain to switch back and forth, and not as user friendly as strict mills and lathes are.

Me, I have Harbor Freight mini mills and lathes (well, Micromark; same base manufacturer--Sieg--but more careful fit and finish) and enjoy them, but they're about the size for 'gun bodies and anything smaller, and not strictly the most stable setup. I won't do any material harder than stainless, at the moment. But they've always done me well. And I do have to readjust the Y-axis gib on my mill.

There's also no reason you *have* to buy new. If you can check out a used machine, you'll save money on the machine itself, and probably shipping if you haul it off. Even better, if it comes with tooling and such.

Heck, you may save enough to get a phase converter, and use a nice 3-phase on your house current. Careful doing that, though. Some machines don't like it, and sometimes fuses don't either.