I've just finished installing my 80/20 TAIG CNC Mill Enclosure and wanted to share! I'm really happy with it. I've been milling mostly delrin while waiting for my enclosure and am now happy to start making chips with aluminum!

Check out the details on the enclosure, including more photo's & a video at http://www.nyccnc.com/Herbie/HERBIES_BLOG/HERBIES_BLOG.html

A special thanks to all the contributing members of CNCZone. This summer I did not know what an end mill was. I am now creating parts in CAD, toolpaths in CAM, and milling with Mach 3 & my TAIG. I can't tell you how pleased I am with my progress. Much of it is due to this community! I hope I serve as an example of how quickly you can learn the ropes of CNC and how rewarding it can be.

A special thanks also to Mike Gamber at LoCo CNC. (I have no affiliate with him other than being a customer). He helped added belt-reduction drives on all three axis of my TAIG CNC Mill to help the mill fit in my NYC apartment, included a programmable variable speed DC spindle motor, and included a top notch servo-based controller to run it all. He also was the brains behind the enclosure design.

I've tracked much of my learning experience on my CNC blog and hope it serves as a reference to new CNC'ers!

Thanks!

John

http://www.nyccnc.com/Herbie/HERBIES_BLOG/HERBIES_BLOG.html

Very nice!! I think the motor cooling ducting is especially clever.

I love your enclosure, It's truly an inspiration because i'm a Taig owner setting up my machine right now trying to make an enclosure too, similar to yours. How much did it cost, was on your site the other day, awesome!

Wife must love having the machine there! LoL


-Speed

Nice looking setup, I'm also very new to the Taig mill and I'm having a blast. I knew nothing about programming etc (still don't lol!) and just bought a mill and dove right in, head first. It can be frustrating but in a good way and I'm already making parts and engraving.

Thanks for sharing, and I've also been to your site as well, very nice!

Speeds - the enclosure was definitely not cheap. But it was very important for me as I live in a very small apartment and need to keep the mill quiet, clean & looking nice!

I paid approximately $1,000 for the 80/20 & polycarb sheets, $100 for misc hardware (fan, light, built in power strip, etc) and a design fee to Mike Gamber at LoCo CNC. Mike designed my TAIG mill (and did a great job doing so). He has an 80/20 enclosure and I wanted to leverage his design expertise & experience.

So, overall, it's a "luxury" item that I probably would not have if I were in a proper "shop" but love it ;)

Too young to be married (only 25) but the girlfriend loves it!

Tikka- I see...1,000 is too steep for me right now, but like you said, Luxury, and you needed it. My enclosure will be much less...(I hope...lol)

Glad the Gf enjoys it.

-Jason

Jason - I don't have a breakout of the 80/20 & polycarb costs beyond $1,000 - but I know you could save a LOT by: 1) ordering different-brand 80/20 aluminum, 2) using an alternative to polycarb (that's a lot of money and 3) cutting it all yourself. Just food for thought!

Yea, I'm going with different materials from 80/20 and as for the Plexiglass, not very bad priced at Home Depot and cutting would be done by me too!

You need to continue too update your site, I love it.

-Jason

Hey Tikka,

Looks good. Much better than mine. I am the guy who recently posted on your site and you tube about the height gage. I got it in works great thanks for the tips. I found it best to hook the alligator clip right to the end mill. Shortest path of resistance.



I commented on your site about this as well and I know someone else here has also. "The mill right next to the bed" still gets me.

Now if I could only convince my wife........and maybe add in a beer cooler and life would be perfect. Combine my 3 favorite passtimes. "Hold on honey I just have to make a tool change and freshen this beer up a bit....." LOL

Under-Dog, Funny last line, lol, oh man, can only imagine what would happen if I said that lol! Funny stuff.

-Speed

Add in a pizza or some hot wings and I would never leave the bed

I have a feeling overnight jobs might push the GF over the edge ;)

I agree - a mini fridge, beers (drinking & milling?) would mean I would probably never leave a 25 sq ft area...

Hey, she needs to know that a CAM is more important to mill out...Well nah, I take that back.

Off topic- Or maybe on topic, I just smoked a Macanudo Cigar while.....watching EMC cut a piece, too bad the mill is not done lol!

-JASON

Looks great. I'm confused about the construction. Is the bottom material captured in a slot of the 80 20 material. If so, how do you prevent sagging?

I don't follow. Could you clarify your question?

He is asking that with the 80/20 "beams", they have grooves in them so nuts/bolts can slide up and down the channel.

He's asking- In the bottom of your enclosure, your material; whatever it may be(plastic or something else) is fitted in between the structure and runs sits in all side of the grooving and wondering if it sags or not.

-Speed

Ah, gotcha. To avoid that problem, the enclosure does not have a bottom. What I did was mount a piece of HDPE to the top of my table. I then "draped" the enclosure over the mill and rested it on the table. I then used fasteners to bolt the bottom-80/20 beams to the sides of my table. Thus the mill isn't directly attached to the enclosure.

That is a really nice enclosure. I thought I was bad converting one of our two bedrooms into a workshop, but a mill by your pillow is pretty impressive :)