[MrForbes]

In the shop we built the FRC robots in from 2006-2010, we had a mill and lathe, and used the lathe quite a bit, the mill only a few times.

At home I have an old lathe I got 15 years ago, and a not quite so old mill that I got one year ago. I bought them for reasonable prices, but did spend a fair bit of time getting them fixed up. The lathe gets more use than the mill, and the mill seems to get more use as a drill press, than as a mill.

Unfortunately, today it's hard to find quality new machines for a reasonable price.

You might find that you design your robots around the equipment you have...