Taig 2019 with Gecko 540 on the way

[schmutzig]

Everything is here now and working. I haven't machined anything yet but setup EMC2 and ran their test program. After lots of tweaking all of the settings seem correct (axis travel and inverts, home positions, etc.). Attached are some more pictures of the setup process.

The videos from the Deepgrove site were alright, would be nice if there was more about setting up the machines from beginning to end including software information (screw pitch, charge pump, parallel port mode in the BIOS, those kinds of details). Packing for the controller and motors was questionable and some screws were rattling inside of the controller box upon arrival. No major damage and it was easy to fix but worth noting. Then again it was a bargain for the setup!

Once I'm sure the EMC2 setup is solid I'll post that for others who want to try EMC2 out. Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to mill my first parts. Until then, cheers!

[klaymonster]

I have to say im getting rather nervous about the setup process i got my 4th axis table the other day and i can tell already i neglected to order a bunch of stuff. there is no right angle attachment or tailstock, none of those jaw things that close the part into the rotary table (chuck?) it'll be interesting to see how long it takes figure out (not to mention the final cost!)

sorry schmutzig i need to quit hijacking your thread.. im following your progress closely though all the pics are really helpful to me (and the whole taig community im sure!)

[schmutzig]

Its been a very enlightening week. I forgot to get some stuff and have figured out a pipeline to get information from one end to the other. Main thing I forgot was a way to hold the work down to the table. It took me a while to find a clamping kit that would fit the TAIG mill, so I'll share it here to save others time.

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...18&category=11

Its already here and it fits and works great. I also bought some end mills and a Keyocera .02" engraver bit. Between the workbench, mill, Deepgrove controller and steppers, end mills, clamping kit, and engraver I've spent about $2,000. With the cost of the computer its about $2,500 but already had the computer around. So if you see the $1,700 price tag think about the extras that you'll need too.

As for the data pipeline I use high end visual effects software (Houdini) at work and already know my way around it. Through PyCAM I've found a way to get geometry out of Houdini and make a tool path from it (full 3D, not just 2D). Awesome! Same thing could be done with Houdini Apprentice which is free, or Blender which is similar and open source. CAD software is probably the ideal, but since I don't know the first thing about CAD this is perfect for me.



On a side note, would anyone be interested in a tutorial for that computer graphics software to PyCAM pipeline or maybe EMC? I'd like to give back to the community since I've learned so much and made use of the open source software out there. Cheers!

[ChrisPDX]

I have the same clamping set from LMS, it works pretty good on the Taig, although it is probably better suited for a slightly larger machine. I may make something similar to these clamps on instructables: http://www.instructables.com/id/maki...lling_machine/

You may also want to check out http://www.shars.com for tooling and such. I just ordered some items from them recently, although it is import quality, it does seem to be a little better (from my limited experience) than what you can get from Enco.

I am interested in PyCAM, although it probably won't become part of my work flow in the near future. I use Blender to do renderings and animation from imported CAD data. Probably the main challenge with theses type of programs is that they work with mesh data, which is great for the tasks they are intended for, but not so great for precision work (i.e. CAD). For a real solid modeler on a budget I would recommend Alibre. It offers much of the functionality of SolidWorks, et al. at a fraction of the cost. From the CAM side of things, I would be interested in your experience with PyCAM. I assume it is written in Python, which as you probably know is integrated very nicely into Blender... could make for some interesting possibilities. I find it interesting that today you can buy a CAD system that is comparable to the "big three" for under $100, but there is nothing out there even close to Mastercam, etc. for anywhere near that price point.

-Chris

[schmutzig]

Thanks for all the information! Alibre looks great for the price. I was not aware of a CAD tool with those features in that price range. Downloading the demo right now. Cheers!

[schmutzig]

Better late than never. I'm setting up EMC2 on another machine and realized I never shared the configuration files. The setup is basic with no switches for limits or home. Hopefully it'll help somebody out.

[fretsman]

Not sure if the picture is telling the truth, but please check your coupler distance for the nylon tubing as from the picture, they look too far apart? According to the recommendations, the optimum gap is found to be between 1/32” and 1/16”.


Hope this helps,
Dave

[schmutzig]

Not sure if the picture is telling the truth, but please check your coupler distance for the nylon tubing as from the picture, they look too far apart? According to the recommendations, the optimum gap is found to be between 1/32” and 1/16”.

Dave, you have excellent eyes! I'll double check the gaps today. The machine has been taken down and setup several times since that picture but it wouldn't surprise me if it was still incorrect. Thanks!

[whitehedr]

your controller box sitting out in the open like you have it could attract swarf and cause you untold grief.

RWW

[cameraguy]

A friend who also has a Taig and uses Mach3 was visiting quickly this weekend and I showed him around EMC2. He was impressed with the 3D toolpath view that EMC2 with Axis gives you.

The only Mach3 feature that I miss on EMC is being able to jog using keyboard controls at different speeds. In Mach3 you can rapid jog using shift-arrows, or slow jog just using the arrows. In EMC2 you need to adjust the jog rate slider to change this.

One downside to using EMC is that I haven't found good CAM software for Linux.

I also really like the EMC toolpath views and options to change them.

Since EMC is opensource, I think that would be a very good and simple thing to add. I will have to ask my Linux geek friend how hard it would be to add that. EMC used to be very rudimentary, but it is quickly becoming a very desirable program due to people adding things like that to it.
It also means it is more reliable and doesn't suffer some of the technical issues the 'other' program has, as people can openly discuss and fix the issues. (Since a moderator here is actually an employee of that other company and patrols CNCZone removing any references to people having any trouble that particular product, I can't mention the name or you won't see this post. You may not see discussions of it here, but just like anything else it isn't always perfect.)

I haven't found good CAM software for Linux either, but I use a dedicated machine to run the CNC. I use just Windows on my normal desktop and EMC on the machine controller.

Good luck with the new Taig, they are a lot of fun!

[cameraguy]

Just talked to my programmer friend, he has a Taig too. He said adding the different jog speeds to EMC should be trivial. We are going to work on it tomorrow. If its as easy as it sounds, we should be able to upload a submission pretty soon. Don't know how often they include those in new releases, but I can always send you an unofficial patch if you want.

[rwmorris]

Thanks so much for posting all this data! I'm dangerously close to ordering one of these mills from deepgroove1 myself. Hopefully by Friday... We will see.

Cheers,

Robert M.