From: MICHAEL <tailgate@jps.net>

you can buy used Shizuoka ANS knee mills with Bandit control for 10-15K
or the slightly smaller STN for 6-10K. if you find one that has been
treated well mechanically you could get very good value for dollars
spent. electronic parts are available for the controls and if you aren't
aware, Shizuoka made and still makes a quality machine. i have a 1978
with bandit level III. some arrogant people look down their noses at the
bandit but some of the routines biult in to the firmware (20 years ago)
are simpler to use and with less data required than my fanuc or mitsu
controls. for instance, reactivating a canned cycle g-code after cancel
is a simple g89. the modern controls still don't have that feature (at
least what i am aware of).
i'm happy to share more info if you wish. just e-mail

mike