Today, Drew and Matthew came by from 10:30 till 4:30 or so.  We had a trip to Radio Shack, to Lowes, grabbed lunch, and then did some work.  We wired up the stepper motors to the CNC controller board, started sanding the antique pupil's desk with a power sander (needed to take turns to keep our arms turning completely to rubber), and learned a bit about shop tools, plasma cutters (i.e. real-life light sabers!), CNC design, stepper motors, and more.  A good first day!

Wiring up the CNC stepper motors in the shop:

.... and sanding decades of graffiti and chisel marks off the antique desk we intend to turn into a computer....

Matthew would start, then Drew would take over, and then I'd put some elbow grease into it...

A great start!  Looking forward to the finished projects.  Before and after photos will definitely be posted...