I hate to jump in on this because I have an apparent conflict of
interst. I currently have a Bridgeport mill on ebay. I traded it
from a man who rents space in the same room I am in, in an old
factory. It was his manual backup mill, he uses a Lagun CNC most of
the time. He traded it to me for a mill with a 49" table. This one
has a 36" table. Opening bid is set at $1,800. Because it ends early
tomorrow, it will probably sell for the opening bid, if it sells at
all (the holiday factor). It is a very nice machine and has hard
chrome ways. There is nothing wrong with this mill, and it has a
Servo powerfeed on it. I traded him a Chinese Bridgeport clone for
it, so go figure that into the Chinese vs American iron argument.
He's a professional machinist with 30 tears experience. I don't
usually use this venue to mention product, but this is a good
Bridgeport, right in the price range mentioned. A little shipping and
you are at the $2,500 budget.
Paul
(papapault)