Taig tearing up X ways

[bluumax]

My Taig is tearing it's self up (x ways). Not from not lack of lubrication either.
I cut acrylic & use water as coolant, yeah I know, water = non-lub, I know. I'm in an apt so standard cutting fluid is out.
I use bearing grease because it works better with the water.
I'm just curious as to why they would use aluminum on aluminum for the ways?
Had they used anything other than that I don't think this would happen. Binding, ok, but not gouging.


Thanks, Shawn.

[jalessi]

Shawn,

What Taig are you referring to, the ones we have are fitted with ground steel ways?

Are you sure you have a Taig?

Jeff...

[bluumax]

The CNC ready CR18? with the long X.
The saddle, what the X axis rides on is aluminum.
I double checked, with a magnet.

[jalessi]

Bluumax,

Are you sure you are talking about a Taig?

You must mean the one with ground Y steel ways?

Are you sure you are referring to a real, made in the USA Taig.

A real Taig 2018 has ground Y steel ways.

http://www.taigtools.com/mmill.html

The aluminum runs on brass gibbs.


Jeff...

[bluumax]

I'm telling you this is aluminum. I bought this from Taig tool myself 2yrs ago.
This is ALUMINUM.

[jalessi]

Bluumax,


You should call Taig and ask for replacement parts, there warranty is world class.

They stand behind there products 1000% percent.

Jeff...

[jalessi]

Shawn,

We have run our Taigs 16 hours a day for years and have not worn them out.

Maybe you should spend a few dollars and purchase a gallon of way oil and use a fraction of an ounce every day.

Jeff...

[Jeff-Birt]

From the description and pictures I can see a few problem areas:

1) Grease is entirely the wrong lubricant to use. It is too thick and will never liquefy enough to do any good. Use either real ways oil of ATF as Taig suggests.

2) Coolant. If your cutting plastic I would suspect that an air blast system would provide enough cooling without the negative effects of the water. If you must use a liquid then try finding some water soluble cutting oil. This will be no messier than plain water and will actually provide a bit lo lubrication.

3) Keep your machine clean. If your machine if plugged up with that amount of gunk you will tear it up, period. A small shop-vac,a small brush and a few rags are all that is required to have it looking like new at the end of each use. Spending the 15 minutes it take for a good cleaning job will save you lots of time later.

4) If you cutting any plastics with fillers like glass or ceramic then you need to clean up really good as that stuff is like sandpaper.

[Hirudin]

Is stabilized steel non-magnetic or something? I was under the impression the parts labeled in bluumax's picture above were indeed aluminum. I just tested those parts with a very powerful magnet* but it didn't stick.
*actually a stack of about 30 0.5" neodymium magnets.

As far as I can tell, the steel ways mentioned on the Taig website must be referring to the Y and Z ways.

And just for the record: my Taig hasn't seen much use, but so far the ways seem fine.

[fretsman]

Bluumax,

You must have a much older model if it has aluminum parts.

You should call Taig and ask for the steel replacement parts, there warranty is world class.

They stand behind there products 1000% percent.

Jeff...

Jeff, this part is definitely an aluminum casting on all Taigs that I've seen. Never saw one made from steel?


200-20 $135.00 Y-Axis Saddle Casting

[awerby]

Yes, that's aluminum, but there's no aluminum-on-aluminum sliding contact. The aluminum bed is supposed to ride on the brass gibs, and clear the massive aluminum saddle piece they're set in. But if you've got it clogged up with steel chips or something, I can see how they might lodge between the two aluminum parts and cause gouging.

The rust is because you're using water for coolant. This is not recommended. The screws and some of the slides in your Taig are made from steel, which will be adversely affected by plain water. There are anti-rust compounds you can mix into the water that will help, but you don't really want to cut plastic wet anyway. Like Jeff said, an air blast is better - look into a vortex cooling system.

And use oil, not grease. Grease picks up swarf and holds onto it, building up into a clay-like mass that will cause your mill to grind to a halt as it packs itself into every crack and crevice. Disassemble your mill, give it a good clean-out, change your practices, and it will probably work fine afterwards.

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

[bluumax]

One of the problems I've had is melting / welding of the acrylic.
I have a small compressor I can use also.
From what I've read I probably need to get a faster spindle for it too.

As far a greasing it, I run the table out & just grease the table ways, seems to work ok latetly.

I need to find someone that works with acrylic.