Taig mini mills

[gizmo]

Can anyone suggest a complete set up for me using a Taig mill and servo motors.
I would like to build the machine myself with the help of a friend for the electronics side of things. I will be cutting mostly copper electrodes and some ss 420. Speed is not too important but accuracy is, within .001".
If you have built a complete set up yourself I would appriciate your advise and experience.

[Halfnutz]

You can bolt the three axis servo kit from IMService (cadcamcadcam.com) right up to the taig cnc ready mill and go. If you want to build a slightly better system buy the Taig CNC ready machine, three gecko servo drives and get the toroidal transformer, capacitor and bridge rectifier and globe nema 23 ready motors from IMService. Build a box and wire it up. All the info you need for the wiring is right here at CNCZone in the electronics section and with the gecko drivers.

[gizmo]

If I use the globe servos (404058) from imservice what Gecko drives would you recommend, 320 or 340?
Are servos the best option?

[deep_drill]

Originally Posted by gizmo If I use the globe servos (404058) from imservice what Gecko drives would you recommend, 320 or 340? Are servos the best option?

Gizmo, What setup did you finally end up using? Are you up and running now?

[rsecret]

I plan to order the Taig CNC ready unit from Carter. When it comes to the drives I am not clear if I should go servo or stepper? I would think that a closed loop servo setup with encoders would be fool proof but steppers seem to more popular. Is it a cost factor and if so is a servo system that much better?

Thanks for your help!!!

[crease-guard]

Originally Posted by rsecret I plan to order the Taig CNC ready unit from Carter. When it comes to the drives I am not clear if I should go servo or stepper? I would think that a closed loop servo setup with encoders would be fool proof but steppers seem to more popular. Is it a cost factor and if so is a servo system that much better? Thanks for your help!!!

TTT.

I am in the same situation right now, deciding servo vs. stepper. Any input is appreciated.

Thanks
Jay

[ZipSnipe]

Well I asked an engineering buddy who works designing boats for the military and marine patrol, I asked him what the better motor was . He said servo,s becuz they move in a continuous motion where as steppers count the steps in their movement. But what do I know? either would probably work well for my situation and yours.

[crease-guard]

It sounds like servos for the TAIG is overkill...but if it means I can leave the piece unattended and go do something else, then I'm more than willing to spend the extra money. I'm not interested in speed as long as I don't have to stand over the thing and watch it for 2 hours. I want to be able to set it and leave it until I need to change the tooling.

Jay

[metalbyter]

Yes servos for a taig mill are over kill.
I have a CNC ready taig with a hobby CNC board and mach3 moving 200 oz/in steppers, my rapids are set at 45"/min but it I have tried it at up to 75"/min with no lost steps that I have been able to detect.
The bottom line is you are not going to cut anywhere near these speeds
and I don't think taig recommends rapids this fast for these machines.
I do run mine unattended,I use it for small production runs up to 500 pcs,
and I do get better than .001 accuracy.
My machine is set up at 16000 steps/ inch which is .0000625"/step.
IMHO any more really isn't worth it for me on a machine of this size.
No, servos don't step but the resolution is still limited by the encoder
Mark.

www.microtools.ca

[itsme]

Hi,

Jay, I have got steppers on my X1 Micro Mill. After recently standing for over 6 hours non-stop 'supervising' a part I was making, I can tell you that steppers won't stop you from leaving the machine unattended. The lack of a decent coolant system will!

Regards
Warren

BTW, 6 hours standing in front of a machine clearing chips and spraying coolant by hand can get boring (who would've guessed?). I'm definitely going to look into flood coolant one of these days...

[crease-guard]

Good advice. I'm just at that point where I'm ready to buy but I don't want to turn around in a couple months and say "damn, wish I had gotten 'x' instead of this". I'm trying to figure out exactly what 'x' is right now. I'll mainly be cutting plastics and aluminum. I doubt there will be any steel milled on this machine. I might give it a try, but softer stuff is what I'm after right now.

I'll definitely look into an enclosure and coolant system.

Jay

[Halfnutz]

I think if you can afford the extra work and money, servos are worth the extra investment in the long run, but they are not an imperative. If you design and build your stepper system correctly it should work without missing steps, but it may not be as smooth and run as quickly as a servo system.