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Rather depends what you are doing with it. What kind of '3D' work are you doing? Shaping? Actual 3D profiling work in stainless? What sized tools ('bits') would you be cutting with? Give us something to work with here!
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Hey all!
I'm considering buying a Taig CNC mill for knifemaking purposes. This means that I would often be cutting tools and stainless steels and running a lot of reasonably long 3D jobs.
Any thoughts about how suitable the Taig is for this application?
Thanks!
Rather depends what you are doing with it. What kind of '3D' work are you doing? Shaping? Actual 3D profiling work in stainless? What sized tools ('bits') would you be cutting with? Give us something to work with here!
Haha, right! Sorry about that!Originally Posted by cameraguy
I'm going to be doing a fair bit of 3D profiling work in stainless and high-carbon steels, most common endmill size will likely be 1/8" ballnose. The profiling will mainly be putting the bevels on knife blades. Steels involved will likely be things like 0-1, 154CM, 440C, etc...
I have a CNC router that will be doing the same sort of work for the handle materials (G10, Micarta, hardwoods). Don't want to get that kind of dust mixed in with the way oil...
Understood. Router probably isn't stiff enough to do that on 0-1 anyway. Taig should be fine for putting on bevels and the like. Easy stuff. Pretty much anything you want to do with an 1/8" ball mill, that's easily within the scope of a Taig in virtually any material.
Get down much under 1/16" and you need to fit the Taig with a high speed spindle, as the stock one won't run fast enough, but that's of course true of all mills. Want to hog material out with a 1/2" tool and you'd best be getting a full-sized knee mill. Most everything in between and you are fine though.
Yeah, the router is definitely not stiff enough to work O-1, barely even touches aluminum.
Sounds good! I was planning on sticking with mainly 1/4" and 1/8" tooling, that way I'll keep my investment low. I've gone with the same strategy for the router and it's worked very well!
Are there any issues with running the Taig for long periods of time? I know the CNC-ready version comes with a 100% duty motor, are there any other components I need to look out for if I'm running the mill for 4-8 hours at a time?
Thanks for your input!
Nah, they are pretty beefy. People use them for light production all the time. They hold up pretty well.
As for mods, just to keep from being annoyed always reaching for that stupid light switch, I put a Solid State Relay in behind it in the box to switch it instead. They are like $15, and they hook right up to many drivers like the Gecko 540, or other drivers with a special breakout board. That way I can use mach to automatically turn the spindle on and off right in Gcode, then use the switch only as a safety cutoff.
M03/M05 is a crapload easier than that damn light switch.
Be careful when using SSRs. When they fail they often do so in the shorted state, i.e. they will turn on spontaneously and/or won't shut off. You always need a mechanical (alternative) way to shut the spindle off. The other thing to consider is that when changing bits it is safer to be able to cut power to the spindle. I had a friend drop a spindle wrench which bounced and just happened to fly over and hit 'F5' on the keyboard and start the spindle motor. These things are not common, i.e. they don't happen every day, but they do happen and the fingers you save might be your own.I put a Solid State Relay in behind it in the box to switch it instead.
Taig makes a a relay box for their CNC controls that gives you two SSR controlled outlets for the spindle and a coolant pump. Other brands of controls, like the one I make, have the spindle control relay built in.
Jeff Birt
Highly agree here as I still use the "light switch" to turn off the power to the relays when changing any cutters.
They're cheap enough to make your own as well:
Tom Benedict Builds a Relay Box for His Taig CNC Mill
Dave
Dave->..
Yeah, I've thought about putting a spindle relay on my current CNC router a couple of times, and each time I've always come back to the idea that I don't want to put my hands near a spindle that has the potential to start up without my direct input.
I think I'll stick with a manually operated spindle, it doesn't seem like a massive drawback to me given that I won't have a toolchanger.
On my CNC router I am just in the habit of throwing the manual switch right there on the Bosch spindle unit itself whenever I open the enclosure. I do that before I ever put my hands under it. I only ever arm the thing when I am ready to cut just before I shut the enclosure and step over to the keyboard.
Yeah, I would be comfortable with that. I was just never comfortable of the idea of manual tool changes + automatic spindle control.
jjjherzog - YouTube
Also, check out these video's on the set up and calibration of the taig cnc mill. I've had mine for eight year's (from Nick Carter) and never new the easy way to get thing's set up. My controller set up is, 3 gecko 210's (today I'd get the 540) and a unrestricted 70 vdc power supply inside a pc fan equipped tupperware box. The thing has run great for years plugged directly into an old p.c. Although 12L14 and 6061 is all she's cut. My big new discovery, is HMS express.....free! Those toolpath's work great on this little machine!
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