Hi, I know this comes up every now and again, and I've been reading up through the archives but I'm going round and round in circles as to what to get!

The cookson value mill seems great value for a beginner, but most of what I've read suggests that you get what you pay for and suggest the quality holding out and getting a Durston. I like the face that it is geared, but 3mm max thickness seems small, and having to change rollers seems like a lot of hassle.

So, I'm looking at the Durston mills, and am leaning towards a C100 but my main question is whether or not being direct drive will be an issue? Its a big step up in price from the C100 to the geared DRM C100. How much effort does it take to use a direct drive mill?

I'm also curious to know what people use their mills for? I'm sure there are various uses I've not even considered beyond texturing, re-using scrap etc.