[sanddrag]

I would avoid combination machines. From what I've seen, most of them are far superior in quality to individual machines. In my opinion, you would be best with a small drill press, a small mill, and a small lathe, separately. Unless you work in a clothes closet, you should be able to fit it it. The combination machines give you the capability of each, but not anywhere near as well as the individual machines. The combo machines do everything "sort of."

If money is tight, you'd be best with a drill press and lathe first (and even a sander and buffer), and then a mill later on. Also, you need to factor the cost of the tooling, which could easily reach half the cost of the machines (or more) depending on what you're looking to do. As for which machine to buy, they always say to buy the largest you can afford/fit, because there will eventually be some job that will be too large for the machine had you bought the smaller one.

I would also say a good size arbor press is something many FIRST teams can benefit from.

So, how much to spend, and what size shop?