Thanks for the offer - I certainly would be happy to do that.

It's funny, I used to post about this on HN deliberately off and on for years and that never went anywhere at all but this chance response has led to the most fruitful conversation I've had on it here!

I've been in-and-out of machining and materials science for decades, it has come in very handy for the paid work I've done over the years but other than the windmill that I've built I feel that most of the tricks of the various trades have been wasted so if there is a worthwhile project to expend it on then I will be the one to be grateful.

The description of your machine has already made me wonder if it isn't feasible after all.