I have been around CAD and machining all my working life. I can still remember at my first job when we got our first CNC machines. I was so taken with them, but being the designer and not a manufacturing engineer I could not play with them. Just a few years ago I decieded to get a drill/mill from enco. Even then I did not know that CNC was in the reach of the home user. Thinking back I still can't remember why I started to search the net for CNC stuff.
I have to give credit to that other group for getting me going. The rest of my learining process is documented on my web site.