New Guy here

[Kubus]

Hi everyone. Been doing lots of research and it seems a Taig machine is the best starter system out there for me.

I have some small questions and I haven't seen anyone do what I want to do.

Can I use vcarve pro on the taig machine? I've never used MACH3 and i have experience in vcarve.

I want to do very small engraving in metal handles and I'm unsure whether the machine will be able to do so since there isn't anywhere local that has the machines in stock so I could go see if it would work. I want to use small end mills (0.008"-0.015") to do the engraving. Does anyone have experience with end mills so small cutting about 0.020"-0.030" deep? Cutting into P20 steel.

If anyone can please point me in the right direction as I'm new to this all and really want to learn as much as I can.

Thanks!

[Jeff-Birt]

> I've never used MACH3 and i have experience in vcarve.

I'm not sure exactly what your asking here. VCarve is a program that takes artwork and generates GCode. Mach 3 is a program that takes the GCode and makes the Machine move. If your asking is can you use the output of VCarve for Mach3 the answer is yes, I have customers that use VCarve.

>I want to do very small engraving in metal handles

What kind of handles? If you are only engraving on a flat area there would not be an issue. If you are engraving a rounded area your need a rotary table to rotate the part under the spindle.

>I want to use small end mills (0.008"-0.015") to do the engraving.

I would suggest looking into a 'V' bit to do engraving. You can look up my website (URL in avatar) for more information on 'V' bits.

[Kubus]

Thank you for the reply! PMed you.

What kind of cutting speeds should I be looking at? I'll be doing small cuts (0.01" each pass) in P20 steel.