I am an amateur machinist with my dad's old metal working lathe in my basement (last patent dates on it are from the 1890's), I have a milling machine from
the 1970's. I've found that I can do a lot of woodworking on these machines as well as metal working. If you still have access to a shop, you might find
it a good starting project to try to make your own forends.

I hope that you will enjoy this thread, this is not my work, but the work of retired professional machinist.

LRF's project