Homebrew PCBs

I have done some searching and it seems like all I have seen are too 
high priced.  I know I would never even pay $1k for this, let alone 
$2.5k I have been thinking about this for a while and I think it can 
be done much cheaper while keeping it accurate and reliable.  I just 
wanted to get some opinions on how much effort I should put into 
designing such an animal.  First I would include stepper motors
(possibly used), power supply, and controllers(x,y, and z axis) to 
hook to a pc parallel port.  I would only include "free" software or 
maybe shareware.  It would have a maximum accuracy of 2000 steps per 
inch.  Runout on the slides would be .001" or less and would use acme 
screws for the drive.  Spindle motor would either be included or just 
accept a "dremel" type of tool.  


I personally feel that much of America has become overpriced due to 
too many office personel and salesmen.  I would like to be part of 
the solution instead of the problem.  This is just one of my many 
ongoing projects(most of them in my head) to try and make this world 
more bearable.  

Sorry, I'm just babling on....

Ben Englund