Re: Taig mill (ballscrews)

>When you saw this mill did you look at the amount of space avalable
>for ball screws?

For what it's worth, the BSA zero backlash screws used by MaxNC seem to
work very well for mini-mill CNC. Mine don't have any backlash that I can
yet detect. They're supposed to be self compensating for the life of the
assembly. The nuts on the 1/4" MaxNC screws are 0.64" in diameter and
1.18" long. The drive friction is similar to a standard acme nut. The
screws appear to be the "XC" series made by BSA at:

http://www.ballscrews.com/html/2/2_index.html

While the Taig uses 3/8" screws, the BSA XC screws might be an easier (and
cheaper) retrofit than ball screws.

Also FYI... I looked at the Taig mill and liked the beefier 3/8" screws
and spindle motor assembly. But their CNC motor mounts are awkward and,
despite their claims, I'm not sure their design is any more rigid than the
MaxNC 10. The MaxNC was designed as a CNC mill from the outset while the
Taig is clearly a retrofit. The MaxNC 15 is very likely more rigid than
the Taig and offers much greater throat, travel and table size (but it's
also more expensive). The big downside to MaxNC is their slow and phase
based CNC hardware and software but you can get the mills without the
motors, controller or software if you want.