Thanks Tom. I appreciate your opinion
I won't outsource, I have used non disclosure agreements before ... total nightmare when using a man with van (I mean machine)

you can't judge by a website the size of an operation, major company's charge thousands of pounds for a prototype (more than a laser, which is why there was/ is such a buzz around laser cutters/3d printers).
The amount of times on forums I see people discussing what they are making for a client

. To ruin a patent application only takes a friend wife son to mention it to someone else and it is public (can't be patented).
So long story short, if I can pay a several grand to do my own prototyping, without the risks of outsourcing to the "man with the van" or the thousands of pounds and slightly lesser risks of outsourcing to a major company I will
Granted I may fail to do so in my home, hence my questions

I will have to consider renting a workshop, but that is a last resort
