Hello

[mekanik]

Hi Nathan
Welcome to the forum, others will better advise regarding your Mac question but all the years i have been on the forum i can't remember anyone using a mac. a lot use Mach3 and that is windows based, also Linux is a popular system.
Regarding cheap Chinese machines, they may look OK on youtube but they do tend to be not well built and nasty electronics.
Do you have an intended use for the machine or are you just getting a feel for CNC, the thing is once you get your head round it and you realise what is possible a Chinese machine is going to disapoint.
Also need to know what your intending to cut, your working area and your budget.
Enjoy the Forum there's a wealth of information available on this site and the guys are extreemly helpfull.
Regards
Mike

[NathanS]

Thanks for the reply Mike
I would want to cut brass, and only need a relatively small working area of about 100mm square and enough room for clamps.
I make clocks and currently cross out wheels on a rotary table on a universal mill with 2-axis DRO, (my manual workshop is pretty comprehensive) I also have a universal dividing head a 2BS and cut wheel teeth on that with a Division Master to rotate it easily. Crossing out wheels does not require great accuracy. I just thought that even at my age it would be good to use a new method.
You can teach an old dog new tricks with lots of time and patience!
The budget needs to be modest as this work does not generate income.
I now recall we had to find an old PC to run the "printer" that punched the NC tapes for the Hardinge lathes I once owned.