Well, I finally took the plunge into a grage CNC mill. I bought a Taig MicroMill 2000. I own and oeprate a remote control hobby business, making aluminum hop-ups for cars and trucks. Up to now, I've been subbing out all my prototypes and production work to local machine shops. I'll be using the Taig for prototypes, minor modiifications and custom modifications.

Just like to thank you guys for all the help so far. There is a ton of info on here for the little guy just starting out.

I'll be making an 80/20 enclosure and doing the Micromark microflow coolant route. I will be machining all 6061 aluminum, taking light cuts mostly, since speed isn't an issue.

Hi Hunter,

I'm sure you will enjoy your Taig. A great machine. One word of caution, Before I bought my X2. I was considering a Taig. I spent about an hour on the phone discussing the machines with one of the company founders, and I was told that the coolant type/brand needs the be chosen with care to avoid attacking the anodized aluminum parts. There are cases where the anodizing was damaged by coolants and the aluminum moving parts were galled. However, He assured me that there are coolants that are completely compatible with anodized aluminum. You should discuss this with Taig to avoid any problems.

Bill

Thanks for the coolant tip. I'll ask them when I pick it up.

Hunter12 - Definitely check out my TAIG blog! I cut a lot of 6061 and have an 80/20 enclosure that I am very happy with. www.nyccnc.com

Too late dude, I've been there many times. Thats why I am going with the 80/20 enclosure. Yours looks great.

I'm pretty new to this whole thing as well and have a Tradesman (like HERBIE) coming soon. Why is it called an 80/20 enclosure and how can I build one?

That is the name of the company. http://www.8020.net/

You can call a salesperson in, and they will give you a demo, or you can shop several stores on e-bay and get drop-offs and scrap fairly cheap.

Hopefully I'll learn lots more from you all soon. Should have the machine in about two weeks.

The first, and only real mod you should find necessary when you get your Taig is this; Remove the center screw holding the rubber way cover on the front of the Y - it adds a little better than 1/2" of desperately needed extra Y travel when removed and serves no real purpose when left in place other than leaving nasty gouges in your Y bearing plate. It is an obvious afterthought and is just in the way. God knows why its even there in the first place. If you feel the need to replace it use a pop rivet or plastic push rivet.

In the future, you might eventually decide to look into options for replacing the motor depending on your needs. The motor supplied is perfectly functional and reliable, and works for most users, but for cost reasons it does lack speed control. It is also more heavily built than needed. If you ever find you need more power there are stronger motors of about the same size and weight. If find you need more speed there are lighter motors that will do the same job as stock while lightening up the Z and increasing performance dramatically.

Other than that, you should find it to be a good mill, and a good time all around. Congratulations.

80/20 is good stuff. For the sizes of enclosures we do there is a much cheaper option than buying through a rep - Check Ebay for seller "8020inc". Their store is "8020 Inc Garage sale". Same guys, just selling odd lots of drops and off-cut pieces like Hunter mentioned. Since anything under about 8 feet is "scrap" to them, you can get the same stuff, plenty big enough for our uses, at a fraction of the cost. You have to cut it to size yourself though. It is nice sometimes to just be able to call the rep and have everything pre-cut and drilled to order - very convenient but much, much pricier.

Thanks for the tips. Can't wait to get it running soon. If anybody has some "poor man's" enclosure tips I'd appreciate it. What do most folks use for the base? Custom shower pan? I wish I could find a big stainless basin and I'd use that.

I think 80/20 uses a sealed bottom for the enclosure. The salesteam showed me a gasket to buy to make it waterproof. For a mist type system, it looks good enough. I should have the machine this week and start building the enclosure this weekend.

Thanks for the tips. Can't wait to get it running soon. If anybody has some "poor man's" enclosure tips I'd appreciate it. What do most folks use for the base? Custom shower pan? I wish I could find a big stainless basin and I'd use that.

I am in the process of building an inexpensive enclosure out of pvc building material, pvc pipe, and two heavy duty shower curtains. I will get some pictures and post them and do a write-up on the process. I didn't get pictures of each pvc piece that I cut individually but I can get one of the base glued up before adding the sides to it. It won't stop a broken end mill from flying around the shop though, which is a definite down side. On the up side...it costs less than $100 and is very easy to do. Depending on the size of your enclosure, it shouldn't cost more than $200.

I wanted to do an 80/20 enclosure, or at least something similar, but costs prevented me from doing that (I am in the process of building a metal furnace and I have to prioritize). So, for now at least, I have to come up with an alternative because standing there spraying the end mill by hand during a two hour long cut is getting old fast! ;)

Anyway, I will get some pictures taken and post those so that people can see what I am talking about. I am about to get a render out of my modeling software to show what it will look like when completed, and I will post that in a few seconds. Hope this helps. :)

http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/500/medium/Encl_Con.jpg

I will keep this post short. Here is the quick render of the enclosure idea. I am going to add a drain at the back of the flood table so that I can recirculate the coolant but that is optional, of course. This isn't a true representation of the flood table because I am not going to wrap the sides with pvc like it is shown here. I will drill holes in the flood table and screw it down to the top of the workbench using small pieces of rubber to seal where the screws go in.

You just attach shower curtains to the pvc pipes and let one hang down, and drape the other across the top to keep everything enclosed. This is manditory for me as my shop is REALLY small and I do a lot of woodworking, so sawdust is a major concern.

In a day or two I will start a new thread for this so that I don't hijack this one.

Here she is:

http://www.hpibajaforum.com/Taig/Taig1.JPG

Looks great! Have you trammed it up yet?

I took it out of the truck and put it on the table. I'll be reading the manual this weekend. The computer comes Tuesday, so I have some time.

TIKKA308: Can you give a brief "noob" lesson on tramming and general setup for your machine. I should have mine in a week or so. Still building a cabinet for it now. I'm thinking about going with Lexan enclosure with a basic frame from whatever I can find. 80/20 stuff is a bit expensive. I may end up with some light angle iron welded up(or other redneck solution). :)

RCSimpson:

1) Yes, I'd be happy to. However, I'm on the road the next 4 days, so in the interim....
2) Check out http://www.cartertools.com/millset.html Nick is an expect and his webpage is the "bible"!
3) I have a good sense of basic tramming, but I am a novice with adjusting the gibbs. I've actually just ordered this DVD from Smartflix and will post a video after I've absorbed everything: http://smartflix.com/store/video/912/Teardown-Tuning-Tramming-MiniMachines-101-volume-5

Thanks. I'll digest that info this weekend. I take it by your blogname that you may be interested in firearms?

I'm a type 7FFL/II SOT so my end goal for my machine are pieces and parts for evil machine guns and silencers, etc.

:rainfro:

RC - where are you located? In a former life I dabbled in Class-3; mostly suppressors.

Finally got her running and making engraving samples. I should have done this a long time ago.

Picture please. I'm still waiting on my machine to get here. :rainfro:

Nothing fancy yet, jsut running the sample programs and the engraving programs.

http://www.hpibajaforum.com/Taig/TaigTextTest.JPG

Props, it's a cool feeling making your first cuts.

Enjoy it!


-Jason

More engraving. Just running through some canned programs:

http://www.hpibajaforum.com/Taig/Taig2.JPG

The good news is I figured out how to "garage" cut the anodize away to make my new rims, the Zylink-MAA. Machined After Anodize. I can't afford to pay for a secondary machining operation on the big machines, so I am doing them in my garage on a Taig. Here is a quick video to show how it works. For you expert programmers, I salute you. I still have a few minor bugs to work out. Alot of lost time.

The bad news I need to figure out how to figure out an easier way to find home after each fixture change. I guess I'll be reading the forum for a few days.

Zylink-MAA First Piece video (http://www.hpibajaforum.com/ramtech-rc/ZylinkFirstPiece.wmv)

Cool stuff man, I do Rc plane stuff. (Not on my machine) But my lil brother does RC cars, so i'm going too make him some parts for his cars. Cool stuff. Enjoy it


-Jason

Well, its finally getting close to under 100 degrees in Phoenix, so back to work. I fabricated an 80/20 enclosure today. I still need to figure out the doors and some other minor stuff. I used a washing machine drip pan for the coolant tray, and used the 80/20 to lift it off the ground about 4 inches. 2 hours sitting in the Arizona sun, and it has a perfect droop towards the middle. I'm going to try without a top for now, do you think chips will climb 30" over the top?


http://www.hpibajaforum.com/Taig/TaigEnclosure1.JPG

Hi RC,

Had a look at your blog. Doesn't it get messy in that nice room of yours with stray chips and coolant?

Alex

You are probably thinking of Herbie in the New York Apartment. Mine is in a garage.

Put a roof on it. It will free up a lot of bench space I made mine out of melamine from HD. I have the computer and the controller up there all nice and tucked away. I also mounted the screen on the wall and ran a usb hub to the back of the monitor to get the mouse and keyboard and memory stick all plugged in without having to climb to the top.

I also noticed you have a dell. I had a dell Gx270 and it fried itself. Just keep an eye on the it. IT would do unwanted things with the mill. I swapped it out for a shuttle.

And lastly you can make you door out of 8020. I made it the same size of the outside opening and used a screen door actuator to keep it closed/ open. To keep it open you just have to move the piece of metal up the shaft and it holds it in place. I used normal hinges from HD as well.

Oh Ya. Sorry RC. The message was meant for Herbie.

Wow Regnar. I am envious of your enclosure. Very nice. That setup looks like it can be in an office and not in a garage or a store room like mine. Hope to do something similar in the near future. Very clean.

I feel it should be noted that steppers are not sealed, so take steps to adequately cover them so that coolant does not get inside them or on the connections. Nice setups guys. I made my box out of wood as I am not running flood "YET"

Fixittt I dont use flood coolant either. I use air as my coolant. But yes steppers need to be covered for flood.

If you have a look at Hoss's 2nd last post on 'X2 finished for now maybe', you will notice that he doesn't use any cover for his stepper although it is a must I am sure as the stepper will allow water to get into it. But look at the mess. Just my thoughts.

Alex

Better look closer, I made custom covers that do a great job keeping the motors
nice and dry;)
Hoss

Motor Covers

Boy, look how clean it used to be.

now that is a very nice and clean way of doing it!!!!

Just thought I would share my enclosure and my flood coolant system if you ever wish to get ideas.



http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/SpeedsCustom/th_3years047-1.jpg (http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/SpeedsCustom/?action=view&current=3years047-1.flv)
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/SpeedsCustom/3years049.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/SpeedsCustom/3years016.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/SpeedsCustom/Taig052.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/SpeedsCustom/Taig046-1.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/SpeedsCustom/Taig029.jpg



Enjoy!


-Jason

Great idea with the plexi motor covers.