Help n00b with Taig mill

[pixel8tryx]

A Taig 2019CR just appeared in the guitar workshop next door. The original owner died and it ended up in the shop of a local acoustic guitar builder who wanted to use it but didn't know where to begin. I've always wanted a CNC and told him I'd see if I could get it running and maybe I could run some stuff for both of us. I expected a small wood router. He didn't tell me it was a metal mill.

I have zero experience here. My only semi-applicable background is that I was a software developer for many years. At one point I wrote embedded motion control software for controlling large flatbed plotters, stitchers and a general 3 axis controller that used to be sold by Data Technology (I think Gerber owns them now). I also have a good bit of experience modelling very non-CAD near photorealistic models in Lightwave.



I do a lot of inlay work on guitars, so ultimately I'd love to cut inlays and rout pockets on it, if this turns out to be possible. It has less X travel than I'd like and way less RPMs. Right now I'd just like to see if the darned thing runs. It's supposedly "new".

Pics of the machine are here: http://home.comcast.net/~ath3na/Taig.html

Taig Tools says that's not their controller. From the looks of it I kind of gathered it was a homebrew CNC job. I have no doc at all. Just the sheets shown in the link about.

I know it's missing the drive belt. I just ordered a new one from Nick Carter. While I'm waiting for that to arrive, I'm plotting my next steps. I know I need to buy Mach3. I'd like to see how the machine performs before I go any further into CAD/CAM software.

Is there anything you guys think I should check before I put the belt on, flip the switch and see if it powers up? I gather I should keep the controller off at first? I'd like to see it work as a manual mill first.

...Ath
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[awetmore]

You don't need to buy Mach3. I found it easier to configure EMC2 to work with my mill that also had a mystery controller.

I'd pull out the controller board and see how well labeled it is. My mystery controller turned out not to be a mystery once I found all of the silkscreened stuff on it. I easily found the manufacturer and the board was labeled with the controller pinout.

You want to see which pins are used to drive which motors. In general you'll probably find that the digital out pins (2-9) are used to drive something like:
2 - Xdir
3 - Xstep
4 - Ydir
5 - Ystep
etc

It looks like you have 4 wire unipolar motors.

alex

[themedulla]

Hi there,

That looks like a xylotex controller, which is an OK controller. I think most would prefer the gecko controller boards, but the xylotex will work just fine. The Keiling stepper motors are supposed to be pretty nice and they are likely capable of running quicker than the xylotex is able to drive them.

The sherline rotary table is a nice addition, but I'm not sure how useful it will be to you for inlay work.

The chuck and the tailstock can be used to run the mill as a lathe. You'll also need a tool holder, but those are pretty inexpensive. I'm not sure if you have a use for that, but it is pretty nice to have.

The Taig is definitely capable of doing excellent inlay work. If you are working with wood, you will want to keep the dust from getting in around the screws and the ways. You can use a sheet of plastic between your vise and the table and that will do a great job of keeping it clean.

I would test the mill out manually as you plan and make sure everything behaves well.

You will need mach3, and there is also EMC if you are comfortable with linux (EMC is open source). You'll find much more support with mach3 and much more information readily available to help you set it up. Mach3 has setup files that are ready to drive the xylotex board.

There is a lot of information out there on how to get Mach3 and the xylotex and Keilings all working well together. You will want to use the xylotex config file for Mach3 and then tune your motors. The Mach3 manual does a great job of helping you out there.

Once you get it all set up, you probably want to also adjust the backlash nut and you'll need a dial indicator. Working with detail inlay work you will want good accuracy.

If you have any troubles getting things set up, just drop a line here. Nick Carter has excellent information on his website as well.

[awetmore]

I just wanted to add that a 12 volt power supply (what you have) is pretty low. It might be worth replacing the drive and controllers with more modern hardware that is plug and play, like the Gecko 540.

It looks like the mill is in good shape, and the motors are probably around 200oz/in, which is a good size for this mill.

[ChrisPDX]

That looks like a Xylotex [ http://xylotex.com/ ] controller to me. I have the same on my Taig, but I plan on upgrading to a Geckodrive in the future. The Xyoltex is a fine controller, though, just perhaps limited in its speed.

The Taig is probably a little small for the type of work you want to do. You could probably do inlays fine since guitar necks/fretboards are narrow, but you will be limited to about 12 inches of travel in the x, minus whatever you need for fixtures, etc. You can re-position the neck and probably get the entire thing routed out eventually. I would think that most guitar bodies are just too wide for the Taig and you would constantly be running into the column. You could machine some nice bridges and tuners, however. This machine is really designed for relatively small parts machined from aluminum.

You may want to consider using the Taig to machine parts for a CNC router. You can find free plans or purchase plans from someone such as Solsylva [ http://www.solsylva.com/cnc/cnc_plans_home.shtml ]. I am doing just that, building a large belt drive CNC router on my Taig to cover the larger wood and foam parts I need.

For control software I would recommend downloading the trial version of Mach3 or EMC if you are a hardcore Linux guy. CAD and CAM software is another story, although there are low-cost options for both, just reply if you need some suggestions.

Finally, before running the machine check the gibs, backlash, tram, etc. You can find articles on all of these adjustments on Nick Carter's site. Also, make sure your controller software is accurately setup otherwise you will be chasing around dimensional issues all day long.

Hope this helps.

-Chris

[pixel8tryx]

Thanks to everyone for the replies and all the great info! I know it's not optimum for inlay work. I would never have bought it myself but I've inherited access to it for free, so I'm going to see what I can do with. The X travel is the biggest issue because it would've been nice to rout pockets for a full set of fretmarkers. When I understand fixturing and zeroing more I'd love to set up something where I can re-position the board.

Once I saw it, all hopes of even playing around with learning to rout necks or bodies was gone. However it might be spiffy for say prototyping new bridges. The electric builder involved does aluminum ones and the acoustic builder would like some wood pyramid bridges.

I figured it was a Xylotex as it matches board pics I found online down to maybe one stray component. I've heard it will probably only do 20 ipm max. I don't like the 2 prong A/C plug. Is that a bad thing?

Yeah, from the research I did a while ago, I was set on wanting Geckos if I built something myself, but this fell in my lap. If I get it working and producing well I'd love to rebuild the whole controller.

For CAD I might be getting someone else to pony up for Rhino. However I'd like to still design inlays with paths in other software and export .ai or .dxf files. That's another topic for later. CAM is still way up in the air. I'll be trying to test and learn on whatever freeware ends up working best.

I'm kinda set on using Mach3 for a number of reasons. I just have the demo now.

I have no .xml file, just this printed out:

Driver is set at 8 microstep mode
Leadscrew is 20 tpi
Steppers are 200 steps per revolution
X step pin is 2 direction is 3
Y step pin is 4 direction is 5
Z step pin is 6 direction is 7
4th axis step pin is 8 direction is 9
Steps per unit 32000

I watched Art's setup video last night and the above stuff seems to be standard (though there was no mention of the first 3 parameters). Do I need to load an .xml file? Which one?

Mach2Mill_Taig_Xylotex.xml?
Mach3Taig2000.xml?

Those were the 2 most likely I found on the Mach ftp site. Art didn't mention them in the setup vid.

Are there more special parameters for the Xylotex and/or Taig that aren't handled by the above info and defaults?

I'm waiting for a missing drive belt to arrive, so I can't run the mill manually and actually cut anything. I'm hoping to get access to the old PC to use today, install Mach and see if I can get the table to move. Not sure about the .xml file though.

More later as I'm about to dash off to the workshop next door and see if the computer has appeared.

Thanks again,
...Athena

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