12" x 5.5" x 6" work area.. right?

[klaymonster]

Obviously i dont have one yet but Im designing parts to be milled on a Deepgroove Taig. Those are the specs its listed with so I'd imagine i should be able to plop a piece of aluminum stock on that table in those dimensions and start working right?

Im gunna throw a 12" x 5.5" x 6" block of aluminum on the machine and wont have clearance issues with the bits or whatnot? Sorry if this is a stupid question.

[Hirudin]

It's not a stupid question at all, it's astute. The bed of the extended bed Taig can move 12" by 5.5" and the Z has at least 6" of travel. Problem is, larger stock will hit the Z ways and screw which affects the Y travel.

Unmodified you should be able to cut a 12 x 3-5/8 x 6" block. But you'll probably be limited to the depth that you can cut into the block (I estimate you could go a little more than 2.5" in). If you need to cut to the bottom of the block the largest block you could start with would probably be roughly 12 x 3-5/8 x 4-3/8".

Here's some threads where the travel distances are discussed some more...
Idea: Turn the X carriage around to better accommodate vises.
Vises on a Taig Bed
Quick question on Z travel-

As I said, those are the dimensions that the Taig can do unmodified, there are ways to extend the travels in all three directions.

[klaymonster]

Awesome. I really appreciate you helpin me out with that luckily i havent been working on anything that will be effected by the differences in dimensions. Thankyou!

[MechanoMan]

The X-axis can actually extend further than advertised, it means the slides will only be half occupied as the table leaves it though. But around 14" before the leadscrew actually leaves the leadnut, IIRC. The Y and Z have hard limits on both sides though.

The Z... OK say you have a 3" piece of stock and want to go all the way into it. You need a 3" long bit. So the Z-headstock needs to be 6" above the table. Actually there IS a fix there, the spindle mount and motor can be mounted like 2" or more higher in about 5-10 minutes. However, then you switch to a normal-sized bit like 1/2" long on thin work and find the axis gets to the bottom of the screw 1.5" before the bit reaches the work. So you'd have to change this out and it's not really quick to change repeatedly.

But... technically, with the headstock on the top of its fixed dovetail and a small 1/2" long bit, I might be able to fit a 7.5" deep piece of work under it even though there's only 6" of travel. But I can only go 1/2" deep with that bit and have almost zero headroom to clear the work. In fact I can't even drop the bit out to change it with the work underneath it.