Hello and welcome Andrew.
I’m sharing your shoes. Last November Doc told me to quit work but keep busy. Told him if I did not quite work I would be busy. Did not fly with him or the wife.
That is when I purchased a desktop cnc router. It’s a great way to pass your time and keep the brain thinking.
My first suggestion is to read everything on the forum that interests you and then some. You will learn a lot.
Since I can’t afford a pre-build bigger router I have also taken a more active interest in building one.
You might find the following of interest:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66889 http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66889 http://ivt.pbclinear.com/IVT/integralvtechnology.asp