Which Would Be The Most Useful Machine To Get Next?

I know where you can get one. Someone I'm close to just passed on one. A Nichols as I recall...
 
Using a horizontal mill for an for a surface grinder may be an interesting experiment. I'll have to look for a used mag chuck.
 
As Charles Spencer mentioned many of the older horizontal milling machines have some unique features. I have a US Machine tools #1 horizontal mill with many of the same features as the Nichols mill. The only downside is that B&S #9 tooling is a little harder to come by, and often expensive. I do use it occasionally for slab milling and slotting. Other than that most milling is done on the Bridgeport. In my case the choice of mills to use is more of a convenience. I have tons of tooling for the Bridgeport, but very little for the US Machine Tools Mill by comparison.

I also have a surface grinder in the shop. In reality I use it more than the horizontal mill. Feeding it can get expensive depending on the type of grinding you do. Each wheel costs between $20.00 and $40.00 depending on the type and construction. I currently have a couple dozen different wheel to cover the materials and profiles I grind. It seems that lately every new job needs a different wheel. A profile dresser can cost anywhere from $50.00 to $1,000.00 depending on the complexity and the manufacturer. Then there's always the transfer blocks, V blocks and other accessories.
 
If you get lucky and get a Nichols mill with a National 40 spindle, that would be a nice small horizontal mill over one with a B & S 9 spindle.
 
Nice score n the grinder!
Off the wall question: why are there spark shields (?) on both ends? Doesn't all the grinding dust go in the same direction, according to the wheel rotation?
 
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