Thank you, all (not to stop the discussion if people have extra recommendations for me).

Ed - sorry, cant see a MIG on your site. More info? B&Q seem to cope with cheap ones at around 150 quid, up to about 220. Not that B&Q is necessarily my source, Im just next door to one so I went around to get an idea of prices.

Unpleasant news about milling machines and metal lathes. Neither strike me as advanced technology, at least if Im not talking about electronic drive. I was kind of hoping a milling machine could be emulated by the base movement leeway on a bench drill, and that a small metal lathe requires a lot less raw material than something for making table legs (unless Im doing something to a *really* big axle). Naive? Sigh. The Myford 7 looks a tad bigger than I was anticipating. :-)

Kev - can you advise me where to look for welding courses? (Ive read a book on it, but I guess that helps me only in a very limited manner).

And thanks for the support, Babeth. :-) Ill try to ask more specific questions when I dont think anyone else can use the answers!

Presumably lathes mainly come in useful on axles and the occasional ram. How much is it possible to work around not having one, and how essential is machine shop access otherwise?

Finally, anyone care to comment further on my DIY gears question? 99% of the time I can use off the shelf, but Im curious whether theres a way forward if I want to do anything weird. (No, Im not sure what yet).

This is a little bit prompted by Mike saying to me do you have a lathe? and, after the negative answer, okay, get a pre-made gearbox then. Although I have other needs for weird gears too.

Thanks again, all.

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Fluppet