My TAIG enclosure is here!

[Smertrios]

The box is 1 piece construction and I am now very close to some serious chip making!

[warpedmephisto]

"Helloo innn therrreee!!"

But seriously, NICE looking enclosure! I made a similar design with mine but only had the bottom and back of the enclosure made of sheet metal. I made the sides out of plexiglas along with the front two doors on piano hinges. What do you have planned for front of it? Any plans for a drain for a coolant system?

Once again, nice job, looks great! (Go Taig!)

[Ritsel]

@warpedmephisto

Your cabinet looks very interesting too, do you have pictures of it?

Thanks,
Ritsel

[warpedmephisto]

Sure, as long as Smertrios doesn't mind a slight thread jacking...

Really helps in keeping all the swarf contained.

[Smertrios]

I planned to take another pic with the 48x32 1/4 acrylic sheet but the carriers taking it to my mothers car (she picked it up) dropped it cracking the sheet at one of the corners. They actually tried to convince her it was just a scratch and that it "didn't matter its ok"... she had to push on the cracked piece to show them how it moved and they still insisted it was a scratch... over an hour later and 1 assistant manager and 1 manager later it was finally decided that it was indeed broke and she could get another piece tomorrow after a delivery from another store was made to them.

[Smertrios]

VOILA! The acrylic came home as a 72x36" sheet of 3/16" acrylic so its not quite as stiff as I would have liked but after cutting it and putting the handles on I'm satisfied with it.

[Smertrios]

Originally Posted by warpedmephisto "Helloo innn therrreee!!" But seriously, NICE looking enclosure! I made a similar design with mine but only had the bottom and back of the enclosure made of sheet metal. I made the sides out of plexiglas along with the front two doors on piano hinges. What do you have planned for front of it? Any plans for a drain for a coolant system? Once again, nice job, looks great! (Go Taig!)

I don't know about sheet metal fabrication costs but the total was $200 and I'm happy with it. All they had was a carboard box I taped together as the design its great in my opinion. I am definitely going to be using coolant but I am not sure how I am going to work it yet.

[warpedmephisto]

Looks pretty good! Does the front just slide in and out then? If you need any help setting up a coolant system for the Taig I can help out. I just got done installing mine. Nice use of the filing cabinets!

[unixadm]

That looks very nice. That will last you for quite some time. I'm in the process of finishing up my Taig enclosure as well. Being my first enclosure and not sure what I want ultimately I went cheap. I used 5/8" MDF painted with a rubberized paint. Works very well. Cost me about $25 for the base ($10 for the MDF and $15 for the paint). I cut the parts on the table saw and routed all of the edges for a cleaner look. I spent about $220 on my coolant system with the drain pipes, etc. For the sides I'm using 7/16" heavy duty window screens with 3 mil plastic in place of window screen. Thus far it's working very well, and again it's cheap. Boat window grade clear vinyl would laso work. Once I get something I'm happy with, I'll bend a new sheet metal tray along with acrylic or lexan side panels.

I'm working on my servo system this week and hopefully I'll have the Taig up and running shortly. Mine has some spindle motor problems though so I'm waiting on a replacement motor from Taig.

I went with the $100 10 gallon Enco cooler. Works VERY nicely btw. If you have any questions about the cooling system, let me know. Again, nice job!

Pics: http://www.dmwtech.com/gallery2/v/machining/wt/
Pics2: http://www.dmwtech.com/gallery2/v/machining/taig/

[Smertrios]

I've cut chips!... of parafin I need a good way to control how the wax cools to prevent the creation of cavities in the middle of it I'm thinking just a cover so the top does not get a chance to solidify before the rest of it maybe.

@warpedmephisto: I am going to need it! I can use help what did you have in mind? I have a magnetic base with some loc-line links on it but I think I would rather have what you use so that it moves with the tool.

[pastera]

The wax will contract as it cools. I don't believe there is a way to stop the depression from forming in an open mold. If you close the mold (add a cover) putting a riser on the cover and filling the mold until the riser is full will allow the contraction to draw material out of the riser.

Aaron

[warpedmephisto]

Wow, thats a huge vise for the Taig!

Mine's a pretty basic setup. I have a coolant block with four 1/4" npt ports in it (1 input, 2 outputs, and a cross transfer hole to be plugged) just mounted with two 8-32 screws and nuts to hold it to the headstock. I have a drain in the rear left corner which is basically a funneled hole in the bottom that drips into a shower drain type deal in the actual MDF countertop. Then it just drains into a reservoir just to the left under the lower countertop. I use a Little Giant (from enco around $40, don't have the model number off hand) pump for the coolant which is more than enough for the Taig.

I run about 2 gallons of coolant (I check what kind I use and post it later) which seems to be more than enough to cycle through nicely. Also another thing to make sure you do is to put some sort of cover over your X and Y steppers so you don't get coolant and swarf on them. I just used some cheapo disposable food containers and cut a notch in them to fit over the motors and a rubber band to secure them. You'll need to lube your ways and leadscrews more often too as the coolant will wash it away after use. I use Vactra medium way oil ('bout $10 or so from Enco).

Something else that I haven't done yet is install some sort of way cover for the Z axis as it seems to get a lot of swarf thrown on it. I just make sure to use a chip brush to keep the leadscrew and ways clean when I see some build up occuring. Also I had to play a balancing act with my enclosure to get the coolant to drain to one corner but some wood shims make that and easy job. I also mounted the mill on 2 pieces of hollow rectangle aluminum to keep things nice and secure while leaving me able to move the mill around in the enclosure if I have to work on a long piece (like the photo above).

Ideally I would have liked to done something like the Tormach mill base and enclosure, but I definitely don't have the room for that and this system works pretty well as is. Also I could use some cross bracing at the top of the aluminum frame for the enclosure to keep things more rigid, but for now it works just fine. You do get a slight hum from the sheet metal enclosure, but not really much to notice when you're cutting chips.

The parafin is a good idea and I was going to learn my Taig on that, but I just ended up using some scrap wood from the garage. Then I got too anxious and started cutting aluminum shortly after that. You should love it, and yes, you will soon become addicted to machining and all of your "spare" cash will soon be consumed by the hobby. Have fun with it! Make some cool parts and post pictures!