Thanks for all the critical comments on the Unimat 1. I think ebay is
out of my league, first of all from the standpoint of purchasing online,
secondly from the standpoint of knowing what is worth buying and thirdly
from the standpoint of being able to follow what is going on in an auction.
There's no point in explaining to me how easy it really is to do it; I'm
just not ready for it.

"Module #2 Jig Saw: Completely safe (short stroke only vibrates
the skin); max thickness: 7mm."

That short stroke means that it cannot practically be used with thicker
materials, as there is insufficient stroke to allow the chips to clear
the workpiece.

I wasn't too concerned about the saw, since I figured I can get an electric
jig saw for about $20 or so at a hardware store if the need arises.

The Unimat 1 does at least offer some crummy capability of doing both some
lathe work and some milling machine work. I don't want to do entirely without
milling machine capability and just rely on a lathe for everything. Given
what I'm prepared to spend (under $500), I don't see how I can do better
than a Unimat 1, even if it is a piece of junk. Whatever its limitations
are, there must be a way to work with them.

Good Luck,

Thanks. Clearly, I'm going to need it.

I apologize in advance for all the questions I'm going to have to ask
about how to get things done on the Unimat 1 after I get it and I promise
to accept with good grace and without complaint all of the excellent
advice I will get about how I should really be using some other machine.
I agree with all of it in advance. It's ultimately a question of money
and I have very little discretionary capital. That being the case, I have
to find a way to make the cheap toy do the job, but where there is a will
there is a way. Meanwhile, I don't think I'll be unhappy about using it.
I have a lot of experience learning under the most unlikely conditions.
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.