I've been bouncing around on what kind of CNC mill to get or convert.
I think I've finally decided since:
a) I have way too many unfinished shop projects already to consider a conversion
b) know very little about CNC
c) Taigs seem to hold their value on the used market
to:
a) get something turnkey
b) where I can focus on CNC
c) get a Taig.
https://www.cnczone.com/forums/taig-...73276-cnc.html is an instructive thread here.
I'd already been looking at the DeepGroove ball-screw-cnc-mill at $2450 which is basically the 5019CR with the g540 controller. The pricing seems decent, nice 48v enclosure and avoids me having to burn time piecing together from disparate parts.
There is also the Soigeneris kit. The base kit plus the ballscrew option is more expensive at $2,858.00 but includes Mach3 license. I read their manual for the controller which says "A mounting location is provided to seamlessly integrate the Warp9 SmoothStepper motion control board". I assume that the Soigeneris STDR-4C Ethernet 3 Axis Kit includes the SmoothStepper? I also assume it can do 4-axis since internally it seems to include the Gecko G540. Calling it 3-axis is a bit weird.
Also there is Taig's own closed loop DSLS system mentioned in the above thread. Quite a bit more expensive.
I'd also like to purchase a 4th axis at the same time. Deepgroove sells this. Soigeneris seems to have some conversion of the Sherline ("We teamed up Sherline's tough rotary table with the proper mounts, tailstock, stepper motor and cable for the Taig mill") but there are no pictures, no link, it's not listed under "Mill Accessories" and searching for "rotary" via the site search yields no results :( There are also quite a few belt driven and direct driven direct from China specials on eBay for $150-200 but I'm hesitant without a positive reference and even then with Chinese sellers two different days can mean vastly different items.
The other issue is that I was considering using Linuxcnc. I'm a Linux developer (for over 20 years) so I'm very comfortable with Linux. The only PC in my shop is a Windows laptop without parallel and so if I'm going to have to go purchase a "new" PC with a parallel port I figure I may as well try Linuxcnc. If I go the Soigeneris route which includes Mach3 it's possible I could use my existing Windows laptop with their STDR-4C controller.
I dislike buying new things and then soon after having to replace parts with other new parts. so I'd rather do some research on the various options. I'd very much appreciate any advice and suggestions from those more experienced than I. Thanks!
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