Larry - I read through Juergen's documents and it looks like he has it all covered. I would only add to buy the biggest machine you can fit and afford of the class you decide on because the relative cost of adding a few inches of granite and steel is low compared to trying to fit a big part or multiple holding fixture on a small machine. You may make only small parts but if you buy a big machine you can set up a holding fixture for a lot of small parts, set the machine to run, go do something else and come back to check the report later.