Re: Small CNC Machines

At 00:43 16/05/2001 +0000, you wrote:

>I have a small manual machine at the moment, and was wondering, if
>anyone could suggest the best way of going into the CNC work. I want
>a small machine, that will mill Aluminium, Plastics And mild steel if
>possable. I looked at the taig small machine, would it be robust
>enough? Or is buying a small miller and retro fitting best? What can
>people suggest?
>
>Thanks
>Anthony
>
>Ps. Does anyone know if you can buy the Taig milling machine in the
>UK? If so where?

The Taig CNC mill is imported/distributed in Europe by Quantum CNC:

http://www.quantumcnc.co.uk/

Peatol Machine Tools also import the manual version of the mill:

http://www.peatol.com

The Taig mill is significantly more robust than its immediate competitors
(Sherline, MaxNC) - especially since they re-designed the Z axis to use a
ground steel bed & box slide. I retro-fitted the new Z ways to my Taig & it
has made a significant improvement to the rigidity.

There is also a "CNC-ready" version of the Taig mill - no steppers,
electronics or software, but suitable stepper mounts factory fitted. Makes
a cheap starting option if you want to source the rest yourself, but bear
in mind that they now supply their CNC mills with 200 oz/in motors - the
top end of the power range for size 23 steppers - & you can probably buy
these cheaper from Taig than you will find them in the UK (unless someone
tells me different!). They used to use 140 oz/in, but the bigger motors
are preferable, especially with the new Z slide.

Regards,
Tony