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At the most extreme, I'll need to be able to drill 1-1/2" holes through
1/4" thick stainless steel, space and weight are a big issue, to the
best of my abilities I've narrowed the choices down to a Grizzly G7943
drill press and a Mini Mill/Drill(if I can find a suitable one).

I have this model drill press. I bought it because it went down to 140 RPM
which allows me to drill larger holes than with most drill presses in its
size and price range. Considering its cost, I've been happy with it
generally, although the belts that came with it are very tight and because
of that, is a major PITA to change speeds.

Since I'll need to make parts of various shapes and sizes I thought
that a mill/drill might be a plausible option. But I've discovered that
there may be books that show how to do milling on a drill press with
the proper jigs and attachments, so I may just stick with that idea.

I think you'll be sorely disappointed with using any drill press as a mill.
I had a RF31 type mill/drill that was a far better drill press than the
Grizzly would be as a mill. If you needed to mill and drill on one machine,
I'd search for a used mill/drill of the appropriate size. I'd think you'd
want an RF31 or larger if you're going to drill 1.5" holes. I don't
remember what the lowest spindle speed is on the RF31...

Peter