Tooling for Taig CNC mill / geting started advice

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ZeptoBit

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I have just ordered a Taig 2019CR-ER CNC ready mill. It's got an ER16 spindle and I will use a Consew CS2000 motor instead of the standard motor.

I will use the mill mostly for making aluminum parts for building other CNC machines (such as my P&P), parts for telescopes, parts for home brewing equipment and for making or modifying electronics enclosures. Most of the stuff I'm planning to make is small, but some is close to the work envelope of the machine. I think I will be cutting aluminum about 80% of the time with the rest being mostly plastics/mild steel/brass. I might occasionally use it for milling/drilling circuit boards as well.

What kind of work holding devices do I need? The Taig milling vice is included with the machine, but from what I've read it's not very useful(?) I'm thinking about a 75mm (3") screw-less vice because it should be able to hold most of the parts I want to machine without being too large/expensive. Is this a good size? Will I need more than one size?

I think I will also need something to hold larger work pieces. Should I get a clamping kit, a tool plate, both or something else? (Maybe making a clamping kit instead of buying it would be a good first project for the mill?)

Is a fly cutter or a face mill useful for a machine of this size?

What kind of end mills should I get? I'm thinking I should get mostly 2-flute HSS end mills because I think those will work best with aluminum and plastics. Maybe some 4-flute for steel? I think long end mills will be useful for pocketing etc., but will they bend to much? Maybe best to get different lengths? Straight shank or not?

I guess that for CNC mill with limited rigidity it's best to use smaller diameter end mills than I might use on a larger machine or on same same machine if it was manual, and just accept that it takes more passes? If you have a similar CNC mill, which end mill sizes do you use the most?

This ended up being much longer and with many more questions than I intended :) Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
 
What kind of work holding devices do I need? The Taig milling vice is included with the machine, but from what I've read it's not very useful(?) I'm thinking about a 75mm (3") screw-less vice because it should be able to hold most of the parts I want to machine without being too large/expensive. Is this a good size? Will I need more than one size?
Click to expand...

Here is a link for making your own screwless vice - http://www.deansphotographica.com/machining/projects/mill/vise/vise.html - that would also make a good "starter project". Maybe the next one after the clamping kit project. There are also a few other projects on that sight - http://www.deansphotographica.com/machining/projects/projects.html - that you might find useful for the mill.

Mark
 
I have that mill also, I use 2-3 inch machine vises on mine they work great, I found that the Taig ones would not hold everything I needed to work on. My tool bits run from .1mm tapered ball mill to 1/4 -4 flute carbide end mills. You can use larger bits but you wont be taking large bites. I cut mostly wax but still have cut a lot of aluminum on it. I actually used My taig to build a larger bench top cnc mill. The new one has 8 x 18 cutting area Your choice of bits will be determined by your work load. I have them from 1 inch long to 3 inches long. I do have a fly cutter and a carbide insert face cutter.
 
I have a similarly sized mill (MaxNC-15 with extended X travel) and have found that the stuff I use most often is:

- Small selection of primarily 2 flute end mills (great for aluminum) in typical sizes, e.g., 1/16, 1/8, 3/32, 3/16, 1/4, 3/8
- 5-10 T nuts with an assortment of studs (just 1/4-20 threaded rod cut to various lengths)
- Some strap clamps with 1.5" step blocks
- A small, 1.5" palmgren vise
- A 3/8" shank fly cutter

Some things I wish I had:

- A better vise
- Some parallels
- 123 blocks

I mostly make hardware for my electric guitars, but also do other random stuff as well. I really enjoy making woodworking tools, but I don't think my machine has the mass or rigidity to do those very well.
 
Thank you to everyone for the advice.

I have bought:
-ER16 collets: 6mm, 8mm, nut.
-2 flute HSS end mills: 2, 3, 4, 6, 8mm (all except 8mm have 6mm shanks). I got just one of each, I'll get more when I see which sizes I actually use.
-Some engraving bits and small drills for milling/drilling circuit boards.

I plan to buy:
-A 75mm/3" screwless vise.
-Parallels.

I plan to make:
-A clamping set/t-nuts. Is aluminum OK, or should this be made from steel?
 
Is aluminum OK, or should this be made from steel?

I'd be concerned that aluminum clamps couldn't be tightened enough to hold. I go with steel clamps.
 
I would maybe give some thought to a tooling plate like Taig's part # 2010, or something like the fixture plate system that deepgrove sells. Not selling for either of them and making one your own self shouldn't be that hard with a CNC mill already in hand. You need to go to the video section on the deepgrove site to see the video of the fixture plate. Nice system using the eccentrics.

Mark
 
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