Which CNC mill is better for my needs?

[TheOfficialCzex]

I'm looking to machine aluminum and brass parts at small scale for clockmaking. I've found two machines that seem to be capable of the job at around the same price point, but I can't decide which is the superior option.

Carbide 3D Shapeoko 3 with Z-Plus: https://shop.carbide3d.com/collectio...31527638401085

Original Mind KitMill BT100: https://www.originalmind.co.jp/products/kitmill_bt

Also, if you have any better suggestions at under the 1500 USD mark, those would be welcomed, as well.

Thank you so much! I look forward to your responses.

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[awerby]

I doubt that either of those machines will really work very well for your needs. It seems that your reasoning is backwards. Instead of starting with an arbitrary price point and buying whatever machine costing that much seems best from looking at a website, try finding out what has actually worked for people trying to do the same thing as you, and looking for as good a deal you can get on one of those. That way, you'll only have to spend the money once.

[TheOfficialCzex]

I've seen good things from the Japanese mill: https://www.originalmind.co.jp/cultu...015/12/792.php

I know it's reasonably capable to some extent.

[awerby]

Have you seen anything else made on that machine? Have you heard from anyone else who has used it for machining metal? Do you know how many passes it took to cut out one of those brass gears? With that tiny spindle motor, it might be able to cut metals to some extent, but it could take almost forever with the small depth of cut it's capable of. But it does seem more capable of metal machining (however slowly) than the Shapeoko, which is a router (however small) rather than a mill.

[TheOfficialCzex]

There are a lot of operating videos on the Original Mind YouTube channel and it seems to perform well, but I don't have any kind of metric to compare it against.