I'm tired of walking in the shop and seeing a mill and a lathe, and not knowing how to use them. I figure 80% lowers are the perfect vehicle for me to learn on.
Who has the best price on 80% lowers currently? I'm going to buy a few as I plan on TOTALLY dinking up at least one in the learning process.

Nobody.

Off to crosspost in GD!

I don't have access to all the toyz that you do.
Had to get my own drill press and table vise.
I went with Ares Armor since they're fighting the ATF at the moment over it. Help support the cause.

Best deal I know of right now.

Anderson 80% lower $45


Bolt-catch hole is there on the one's I saw (recent purchase). Someone reported that hole missing on lowers purchased sometime in the past.  They are GTG in my opinion. Quality of what I saw was higher than 4 other brands of 80% lower I've seen.

Link?

How "blank" are they?

The blankest. They're almost literally straight out of the forge. I don't have a link.

http://www.ar15brick.com/index.php/0-brick.html
http://www.tacticalinc.com/ar15-lower-receiver-raw-forging-p-1108.html
http://www.tacticalinc.com/ar15-upper-and-lower-receiver-forging-combo-p-1223.html
http://mogunparts.com/index.php/ar15-0-lower-forging-7075-aluminum.html

FWIW, I started milling with a few 80's.  Otherwise I've really only done a few small projects, accessories, tools, ect.  But a 0%'er is on my short list.  There's lots of room for mistakes before it won't work.  But when you're starting at 0, there's lots of mistakes that can be made.  My first 80 was the first thing I ever milled.  I made TONS of mistakes, way out of spec, and it works GREAT !!!!   Probably gets more action than all my other AR's combined.  One thing about messing up an 80, if it still works, ALL of your mistakes are on the inside, unseen.  

I say go for it.  I'd start with an 80, less work, faster sense of accomplishment.  Do a few, then tackle a 0%.  Might want to buy those in bulk

Oh, and I bought my 0's from AR Brick.  Best price I found for a 5 pack. Very happy with them.  As far as 80's, hit the 80% Lower Link  in the BIY Forum

You don't "need" a jig with a mill, but if you are interested 80% Jig Link

I've helped a few by literally standing there for an hour with my hands at my side, talking them through milling their own 80%'ers.  You can get a lot of satisfaction out of milling your own.  I even get a lot more than one might expect out of teaching somebody else "make" their own.  I say "make" because once you start milling, it's far more than "building"

I started out with 0% lowers from Here
http://www.tacticalinc.com/ar15-lower-receivers-c-374_410.html?page=2

or Here

https://rguns.net/shop/category/80-lowers/

I screwed up the first few primarily in the location of the pivot pin holes,  ( they are hanging on my shop wall to remind me to pay attention to detail)

When I did my first 80%, it was like hell that was easy.  I have done both poly 80% and alum 80%.  Probably have completed about 20 or so lowers in the last two years.

My favorite lower is the one I bought from Vader Spade with custom engraving and then sent it off to have a custom finish done.

Honestly if you want to learn how to run the mill and lathe, get some scrap and play around. You will learn more doing that than having at an 80%. BUT I highly encourage the 80% as well. Just do it after some learning, especially with feeds and speeds. Also the 80% will only get you some mill time, to play with the lathe I recommend a form1 suppressor. A nice little K baffle .22lr suppressor is a great lathe learning experience!