"free" Is Never Free

Jon, if you want the mill then get the mill. A worn drill press or a radial arm saw will not get your lathe tool holders made. You already have a screwless vise (which is more accurate than most mill vises anyway) and end mills. Assuming your tool post is the Quick Change type then you need:
  • an accurately trammed mill - need a decent DI or DTI and a way to hold it and a good enough reference to align the head in Z; a plain old machinist's square will do. 1-2-3 blocks or a flat disc brake rotor will help you tram the rest.
  • You need parallels - cheap Chinese sets can be bought for stupid low prices.
  • You need a dovetail cutter to match the angle on your tool holders. You probably already have the end mills you need to hog out the waste in the middle.
  • You need some dowel pins or drill blanks to measure and check your dovetail cuts. I'm assuming you already have a dial or digital caliper.
  • You need a way to square the work before you begin cutting on your project. End mills will do this, albeit slowly. A flycutter is cheap to buy or make, while face mills cost more to buy.
That's basically what you need to do your toolholder thing. The equipment above will allow you to do a great many other basic tasks, too.

Bottom line: Go give your brother a call and save as you are able until you can get the tools you need. Hone your eBay-Fu skills and be patient ... it will come.
 
you have a lathe, so no need to buy anything but end mills
use the lathe to make your end mill holders
use the lathe, mill and surface grinder for everything else
 
Last night I got an offer from a generous member on here (not sure if he wants to be named) of his extra set of common R8 collet sizes. With that and the several end mills I have to get started I will definitely get the mill.

I may also want to get a spindexer to make use of the T&C functionality of my universal grinder, then go for cheap used end mill lots.

I was looking at the shop today and I may have figured out a way to make it work without letting go of the RAS, but it depends on how much (horizontal) space I need for this mill. Can someone give me an idea how much would be A) necessary and B) recommended? Again, this is the RF-30 type round column mill.
 
You can also turn up some Weldon style adapters to fit the collets you now have. Just grind a flat on any end mill that does not have one.
 
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