I don't have a mill and don't know how to use one (yet)
But from my own experience, I would say that you shouldn't make your first try out of stainless. Get aluminum instead. Its cheap, and should be much easier to work with. It won't be nearly as big a deal, should you screw up halfway through (or god forbid on that very last step
)It will still make a good handle, and you can get some experience with your mill before you start trying to machine tough stuff.
I really don't know anything about a mill, but I would guess that for a project like your looking at in terms of laying it out and what cuts to make when, it would help if your familiar with using a router on wood. There are lots of books, and probably websites showing how to use a router table set up, and some projects get very advanced. If you look at those, you might get a better idea of where to start, and exactly what you need to do with your mill.
Theres definitely some correlation between them cause my grandpa, who spent his whole life in a tool and die shop,has one router set vertically with the cutter down over a special work table he built and another set vertically with the cutter up on another table he built, along with a free hand router all in his woodworking shop now that he's retired. And he always goes on about how "I guess that'll have to do since I can't afford a bridgeport"
