I have been spending the last few days tuning the Taig. I have completly taken everything apart and have done a tuning on the machine. When it comes to the taig, I like to say that I know the machine pretty well.

Before we get to the problem. After all tuning was done, I recorded 0 backlash on the Z-axis. I found .002 backlash on the Y and a sloppy .004 backlash on the X (Need to retune this). All measurements were used with a .001 indicator.

The y-axis is the trickiest part to tune on the Taig. Mainly because of it's gib set-up. In any case, I adjusted the nut at the center of the screw to get that .002 backlash. I have been running the machine for over a year now with some decent CNC work. The problem I find right now is that when the y-axis is closest to the z-axis column and is being pulled toward the stepper, it's smooth as silk. When the table pushes from extreme to extreme, always on the push does it start to make a GRINDING noise, this bothers me because I know that something is loose or not right enough. However! When I apply a small amount of pressure (5-10 pds of pressure to help the table) the noise goes away. Meaning, that I help the table while the stepper pushes it.

I e-mailed Nick Carter and he thinks there is some vibration which tells me the y-axis is not tuned just right.


Has anyone dealt with this?


-Jason