There was this sale at HGR...
I think it was $112.00 after taxes.
You can work out for yourself how long I agonized over the decision.
Wow. I wish there was industrial surplus local to me like there is in the states - I'm jealous. Looking forward to seeing your progress.
On a side note, I'm still trying to work through some issues with my spindle. The good news: SKF TR bearings seem to be holding up so far. I've been running them pretty hard without seeing excess heat buildup (measuring 50-60C on average when running through programs). The bad news: I've seized the small bearings on the idler tensioner and as a result burned through a belt. At 8000rpm spindle speed, the idler is spinning at roughly 18krpm. The bearings I seized were rated to 45krpm but the dynamic load rating had essentially no factor of safety in my design. I'm in the process of redesigning the idlers with more capable bearings - small oversight on my part.