<i>"... My question to everyone here that has (hopefully) messed about with CNC machinery is: how did you get started? Are there any online/ofline guides you would recommend? ..."</i><p>The best resource is probably to contact your local hackerspace ~ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackerspace" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackerspace</a> Where do you find them ? ~ <a href="http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/List_of_Hacker_Spaces" rel="nofollow">http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/List_of_Hacker_Spaces</a> Playing with CNC machinery requires a bit of up-front knowledge and semi expensive kit so a hackerspace good place to ask questions.<p>To give you an example of what you can do with CNC mills check out what vrogy builds with his own CNC mill ~ <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vrogy/sets/72157602307522809/" rel="nofollow">http://www.flickr.com/photos/vrogy/sets/72157602307522809/</a> You can get a good idea of what he's using for looking through his flick set ~ <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vrogy/sets/" rel="nofollow">http://www.flickr.com/photos/vrogy/sets/</a>