JCadwell
Key Veteran
Location: Richland WA/ Morro Bay, CA
| I've got one from www.taigtools.com
It works really well. I haven't had any problems with it. The only thing I don't like is its collet setup. It limits tool size to less than 3/8", which means mostly mini tooling. With creative adapters you can get up to 1/2" though. This isn't usually a problem as the mill capacity isn't huge, and using a 1/2" end mill in this would be way overkill, but sometimes I want to use larger tooling like a centerfinder that is 3/8". I had to search around and find the common machine tool setup equipment in 1/4". www.littlemachineshop.com is an excellent resource.
If I were to do it over again I wouldn't buy their full CNC setup. It cost me about 2100$. I would buy their CNC-Ready mill for about $1000, and buy my own steppers and drivers. Taig's driver unit is proprietary, so it limits what software can control it. It doesn't use the typical Step-Direction control.
I'd buy whatever NEMA-23 bipolar stepper motors suited my needs, and then drivers from www.geckodrive.com.
If you are just learning, and especially with this particular mill, I'd probably stick with steppers over servos. Servos won't get you much more performance, and are more forgiving if you crash. They also are easier to set up. Using steppers is like having a built in fuse. You can stall them without hurting them. Using servos is like using a loaded gun. You better be sure your info and system is working right, or you might get hurt, or hurt something.
Thanks, John Cadwell |
There is plenty of info at 
