I own a micro milling machine with just a couple of end mills and slot drills and a basic machine vice. When it comes to making a part with curves that can't be done on the lathe, the mill isn't a lot of use other than for making a nice 'square' initial block from which to cut the part.
One the base 'block' was ready it was a case of marking out then resorting to hacksaw and file. On a 1/4" thick piece of steel you need to allow a fair bit of time...getting to this stage took about three hours. Once the basic shape was filed I put it back on the mill and cut a lengthways slot; the upright will also be 1/4" (well 6mm) thick so I'll need to make this slot three times as wide (note to self: buy a bigger slot drill, a rotary table and a tilting vice when finances permit :D).
Apart from widening the slot I also need to make a couple of threaded holes to fasten down the standards (where the blue bit is in the photo). Anyways, it's pretty cool to have a nice shiny, shapely part made from a bit of rusty old angle.
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