Tim I have also wondered about the possibilities of building a machine from scratch using modern parts (McMaster Carr catalog, etc). I guess I'm just curious about whether you could improve upon the old designs enough to make it worthwhile.
There are things I love about each design, and things I don't like so much. It would be fun to combine my favorite features. It will probably remain a daydream because I am only mechanically inclined enough to repair/modify old machines, not design/engineer one from scratch. But I have met a few folks in the TF world who could do it no problem.
As far as I know, no boring machines are in production today. So you are probably right about supply eventually getting thin.
