New guy with a new taig 5019

Howdy peeps

I am brand new to the cnc world , I found this forum and it looks like it'll be a big help when I start asking a whole bunch of questions so dumb they are bound to lower your IQ just from reading them .

Anyway , the shut down has me unemployed and bored as heck .
So I decided that instead of spending my stimulus money on crack and hookers I'd find me a new hobby .
I bought a brand spanking new taig 5019 ball screw cnc mill .

You might ask why , heck if I know. It seemed like a good idea .

What do I want to make ? Yet another good question I don't have an answer for . Unless wanting to make a fortune is a good answer .

Do I have any machining experience?
Well yes I do , I have a grizzly g0602 lathe and a g0704 mill .
And I've even used them a few times .

Ok , ok , I know what you all are already thinking .. this guys an idiot .
Point taken I may very well be an idiot .
I just spent $2995 on a mill I don't have a clue on how to use .
And I don't have two more dollars to rub together to buy any tooling or accessories for it .

But that doesn't matter , I downloaded fusion and after 5 hours I can't even make a square box :)
So yea .. who needs tools .

I guess it may be odd for a new guy to say this , but I don't even have a single question yet .
Well to be honest , I don't know what kind of questions I should have because all I know about cnc is that I have a mill on a ups truck somewhere on its way to me .

Not the most thought out plan in the universe I guess .
But hey I'm here and thought I'd say howdy .

howdy, and welcome to the group.

I'm guessing no one round here will judge you for buying tools you don't necessarily need.

when you do have questions post them up!

I will thank you .

I am still trying to decide if I'm nervous or excited .
Or if I just have a headache from trying to figure out fusion .
They make it look so easy on the tutorials .

I just realized that the taig subforum is separate from here , please feel free to move if any mods want to .

Anyways I've been reading here and there and I have developed a few questions . These are all coming from a I don't have any more money to spend viewpoint.

First is , the little vise that comes with the mill .
I don't see any one using it anywhere . Just going off what few pictures I can find I'll guess that it's a bit flexible .
Is there anything I could do to make it a bit more useable ?

Next is coolant , I only have hss endmill's and considering that the low speed on a taig is 1000 rpm it seems to me some sort of lubricant might help them live a little longer .

Do any of those cheap $20 misters all over eBay and Amazon actualy work ?
And is there a less expensive coolant out there that will work with brass , aluminum and mild steel .
I'm not concerned about fogging , it's nearly summer and I have a two car garage , I can open the doors and run a fan

I've never used the taig vice, but it looks like a joke. I'm sure it'll work for small parts with very conservative cuts, but i'd plan on getting something bigger when finances allow. The good news is there are a lot of other ways to hold parts besides a vice. I hope you got a hold down kit with some clamps and t-nuts with the mill. That will open up a lot of fixturing options for you.

depending on what you're cutting, WD-40 is a great cutting fluid and is reasonably priced. Back when I had a Taig, I had a squirt bottle with WD-40, that was my coolant system, and it works well. I have since upgraded to one of the cheapo mist kits off amazon/ebay and it works fine.

also 1000 RPM low speed isn't that bad given the size of the cutters you'll be using. Even a 1/4" tool in steel you'll want to be over 1000 RPM and I'm guessing you won't be using any larger tools than that in steel.

I do have a hold down kit for my g0704 . The t nuts are probably to big of course , but I won't be an issue to make a few .
I figured I could buy a few 1/4 studs and make it work for the time being .
Is weight on the table a concern ?
I do have a 5 inch tool makers vice , it seems like it would be a bit big for the machine , but I do have it .

Welcome to the Taig world of CNC machining....
On nice little CAM package is CAMBAM
Very powerful and versatile program.
It has simple Cad interface.. to start with...

Here is a Y-axis extension I made completely in CAMBAM!
https://photos.imageevent.com/scl_el...l%20screw1.jpg

If you keep an eye on Ebay.. that is where I picked up my Accu-Lube Cheap!
It is a MQL(Minimum Quantity Lubrication) system. It added meter drop of lube into the airstream.
So No choking Fog!!!
https://photos.imageevent.com/scl_el...121_174150.jpg
https://photos.imageevent.com/scl_el...515_122233.jpg

As for Clamping, and than to standard hold downs, I use a D40, 4 inch Kurt vise alot!!
https://photos.imageevent.com/scl_el...size/kurt4.jpg

Good luck,
Stuart

Well if that monster vise works I won't worry about using a 5 inch tool makers vise for sure .

I'm having other issues at the moment , got the mill set up today .
Turned on the pc I was going to use and the magic smoke got let loose inside some where .
I'll have to see if I can come up with an alternative solution .

But the mill looks awful purty

Complete and utter frustration .
So today I went out and spent $75 I shouldn't have on a pc .
Got it home , installed mach3 followed the instructions for the micro proto stuff and got ready to see the mill move .

And absolutely nothing happens when I try to jog the machine .
After a fair amount of time pulling my hair out I figure out the problem with some help elsewhere
Mach 3 won't run on 64 bit windows 7 .

I'm a bit ticked off , when I asked , the guy from taig said it would run off any win xp or win 7 with a parallel port .

So now I totally screwed . After buying this pc I have exactly $3.71 cents left in my bank account .
And what amounts to one very expensive paper weight .
Having to give up before I even get started doesn't make me a happy camper !

Not to rub salt into the wound....
The only solution is a motion controller like Ethernet Smooth Stepper.
This one of the bullet proof rock solid solutions...
I run mach3 on 64 bit Win 7 & 10 pro....
https://photos.imageevent.com/scl_el.../ESS-Board.jpg
A Lot more reliable the the ancient Parallel port

Sorry for your pain..
Stuart

Have a look here:

https://www.cnc4pc.com/uc100-usb-motion-controller.html

It's not rubbing salt into the wound , I'd like to have a smooth stepper or even a usb motion control .
But funds are all gone .
It's been recommended to me to maybe find a xp install image and replace win 7
For another work around .