How to build a CNC Router?

As my somewhat naive start into the topic in this thread:
forum.linuxcnc.org/12-milling/55699-any-...th-cnc-step-machines?
has mostly changed into another direction, I open a new one.
The goal is to end up with a machine able to work mostly flat wooden material mostly up to 27mm thickness with a working area of about 1500x1000mm. (Most likely by buying a made ready chassis and fit it with the desired motors, drvers, controller, spindel/router)
As it is -as several members mentioned in the other thread- kinda unwise to dump a few 1000 bugs directly. I decided to take a less costly path first. As I would love to have some use other than learning I'm thinking of this approach:
-getting a small, used desktop sized 3-axis mill chassis (around 200x200mm) with steppers and start from there
-purpose would be something like prototype PCB milling, some small wood pendant engraving
After I have that running turn to the larger machine, with the lessons learned from the mall one.

Technically that's more router type machine, mills are big heavy monsters made of cast iron.

Yeah I have both, the little 3 axis desktop thingy is good for testing concepts and moving around.
The mill stays put in the garage, mind it's only a little 120kg thingy.

(fixed the title, wording seems a bit different in german)
EDIT title seems not to be edited.
There was a desktop sized thing on ebay for 130,- EUR so I just bought that one. Assembled, 3-axes, linear rails, steppers, cables. Seems the right starting point to learn.
I'll post details of the steppers, when I get it.

tommylight wrote:

What should the title be?

unknown mentioned "router" instead of "mill" would be more fitting for the type of machine I aim to build. Thx,
 

Did a bit of testing with the PC i have lying around (mostly Thinkpads). The old Panasonic thoughbook seems to have died.
My TP x220 (nearly all peripheral deactivated in the BIOS) does the latency test with just not exceeding 35000.
What I still not understand is the complete chain of devices from PC to the machine. As I understand it:
The budget way: 3 TB6600 connected directly over parallel port to the PC (limits the router to what the PC can process (limiting point is the latency)
The more expensive , but higher performance way:
a mesa ethernet card (FPGA doing most of the latency related stuff) connected to (more expensive and powerfull) stepper drivers.

What I seem to miss is the point of the daughter/ I/O boards (like 7i78, 7i76). Are those additional boards to have more options like (spindel speed/ on/off, peripherals like dust collector, air assist etc) or to those have the stepper drivers included).
Please let me know, if those info is somewhere in docs and I managed to miss that.

Got a pic from the ebay guy about the steppers:
D42HSC1413B-24
A quick search didn't bring up something useful, other than me guessing it is a cheap china copy of a nema stepper.