[Phil]

Chris
As mentioned above the small mills don't really cut it even with seemingly small parts and tougher materials.
I have a bridgeport mill (J-head) and I can tell you that it literally weighs a ton. It seems extreme, but even with a small end mill like 3/8 or 1/2" you really need to hold position securely and nothing does this like a heavy set of castings and good tight ways on the sliding parts.
You should be able to pick up a decent machine for about $1,500 or less, and usually when you find a good used machine it is not unusual to get a bunch of tooling, collets and maybe a vise to go along since they are useless to the seller without the machine. Also, a Bridgeport has a good following when it comes to replacement parts, available tooling and accessories such as auto feed drives and maybe a DRO for really accurate and easy positioning. There are also some copies of Bridgeports around that are pretty decent.
The only drawback I can forsee is moving the machine which usually can be done with a good rollback, but they are a bit top heavy, so a good tie-down is essential..
Hope some of this helps
Phil