Tell me about the Taig 2000 micro cnc mill please

[cmv]

Considering trading into one for roughly $2000. Comes with PC, monitor, software, & ~50 endmills/engraving bits. 3 axis

My primary use for the machine would be engraving things mostly made from stainless steel and titanium. Is it rigid enough to do very fine engraving (small letters like typical roll mark lettering on a firearm frame) in hard material?

Other than engraving, what would be some good uses for it? Seems pretty small.

I know nothing about programming a CNC machine. Is MACH3 pretty intuitive/easy to pick up? Is that even the software I'd want to use if engraving is the primary goal? The engraving will be a mix of flat and curved surfaces. I'd prefer a less expensive option but I need much better than handheld engraving and the ability to engrave on something tubular. Like if I wanted to mark a gun barrel - is there a better/less expensive option than a small CNC mill?

OR would I be better off converting my knee mill (similar to a G3102) to CNC? Could that be done for the same $? I have an older Win XP PC with a serial port that can be dedicated. However, I know nothing about this and would need a pretty much "turn key" conversion package.

 

[Mid Day Machining]

Considering trading into one for roughly $2000. Comes with PC, monitor, software, & ~50 endmills/engraving bits. 3 axis

My primary use for the machine would be engraving things mostly made from stainless steel and titanium. Is it rigid enough to do very fine engraving (small letters like typical roll mark lettering on a firearm frame) in hard material?

Other than engraving, what would be some good uses for it? Seems pretty small.

I know nothing about programming a CNC machine. Is MACH3 pretty intuitive/easy to pick up? Is that even the software I'd want to use if engraving is the primary goal? The engraving will be a mix of flat and curved surfaces. I'd prefer a less expensive option but I need much better than handheld engraving and the ability to engrave on something tubular. Like if I wanted to mark a gun barrel - is there a better/less expensive option than a small CNC mill?

OR would I be better off converting my knee mill (similar to a G3102) to CNC? Could that be done for the same $? I have an older Win XP PC with a serial port that can be dedicated. However, I know nothing about this and would need a pretty much "turn key" conversion package.

Mach 3 is not a programming software. It's more an operating system much like Windows. I use Mach 3 on my Tormach PCNC 1100, but that was considerably more money than you're considering. When you talk about engraving guns, are you talking about engraving around the barrel, or just on flat surfaces. If you're planning on doing barrels, you're also going to need a CAM software that will allow you to rotate your part and a 4th axis to allow you to rotate it. Now you're talking about some expensive software. I use GibbsCam to program my machine, and I have a little over $18,000.00 just in the software, but I can do up to 7 axis simultanious motion. I don't have any machinery that will do that, but if I wanted to spend a half million dollars, I could have it. But at my age, forget it.

I should explain the software purchase. I owned a real CNC shop until October 2007 when a major health issue forced the equipment sale and closure of the shop. I was using GibbsCam there and brought it home with me when I closed the shop.

If you're going to do flat engraving, with very small carbide cutters, you'll probably be fine with a TAIG, but if you get to a point where you have to use more than a 1/8 inch end mill, then that machine probably won't work.

 

[ScottA]

I own a CNC Taig. Not sure what the Taig 2000 is. Mine is a Taig mill with servo motors and a LocoMotion controller. I run it out of a Windows Vista machine that is several years old. Windows XP would work fine too.

As long as what you do will fit in the x/y travel limits and you recognize the limitations of a small mill, you will be happy with the Taig. I mainly work with aluminum. With harder material you will be making lots of small cuts. It is, as you point out, a small machine.

My software flow is:
CorelCad
MeshCam
Mach3

For my hobby use, I have found those to be adequate.

Scott

Considering trading into one for roughly $2000. Comes with PC, monitor, software, & ~50 endmills/engraving bits. 3 axis

My primary use for the machine would be engraving things mostly made from stainless steel and titanium. Is it rigid enough to do very fine engraving (small letters like typical roll mark lettering on a firearm frame) in hard material?

Other than engraving, what would be some good uses for it? Seems pretty small.

I know nothing about programming a CNC machine. Is MACH3 pretty intuitive/easy to pick up? Is that even the software I'd want to use if engraving is the primary goal? The engraving will be a mix of flat and curved surfaces. I'd prefer a less expensive option but I need much better than handheld engraving and the ability to engrave on something tubular. Like if I wanted to mark a gun barrel - is there a better/less expensive option than a small CNC mill?

OR would I be better off converting my knee mill (similar to a G3102) to CNC? Could that be done for the same $? I have an older Win XP PC with a serial port that can be dedicated. However, I know nothing about this and would need a pretty much "turn key" conversion package.

 

[SilverWorker]

Hi, I bought a TAIG cnc mill (stepper motors, not servos) December of last year for jewelry work, never used a mill, cnc or other, before that. I've been very happy with it, though using it for other purposes than the ones you're thinking of, mainly milling very small detailed jewelry models out of wax (for casting) from my digital designs. I use Mach 3 to control the machine, very straightforward, using NC code that is generated by Visualmill's Freemill from my designs created in Moment of Inspiration (MOI3D.com). Mach 3 is control software, it just tells the controller how to make the motors move (though I think there are add on wizards that implement some limited design functions? design is not it's main purpose.)

I do some trade work with engravers that use cnc engraving machines, from what I understand you can engrave with a diamond bit that's dragged through the metal, or rotary engraving with a very fine carbide engraving cutter that is spun at high speed. I've seen examples of the diamond drag engraving done on flat steel surfaces with the TAIG, the stock TAIG spindle/motor combo maxes out at 10K RPMs, which is slower than the speeds of the dedicated cnc rotary engraver's I've seen, seem to be upwards of 20K. You can swap the motor and spindle off the TAIG and replace it with various options to get more speed and or power.

You might try Nick Carter at cartertools.com, very helpful guy who deals TAIG mills and lathes and accessorries. No connection, just a satisfied customer- I bought my TAIG lathe from him and he was very experienced and upfront about the machine's suitability for various jobs I was considering, his site also has a large base of articles on the TAIG mill, lathe, CNC software (CAD & CAM) that you may find helpful.

If you already have experience doing hand engraving, have you considered power assisted hand engraving? GRS tools as well as an independent manufacturer named Steve Lindsay both make very good pneumatic powered hand controlled engraving equipment that is used to do some very fine engraving in steel.