[TurboStep]

A question for both of you: how linear are your .1thou steps on the jog? Mine are terrible.

Quite some time ago I made a short video showing microstepping on my 1100. The .1 thou steps aren't exactly the same but each step can be clearly seen on the indicator and there's no real "tip-tip-tip-bop!". I suspect either your gibs are tight or you have debris between the way running surfaces.
https://www.cnczone.com/forums/torma...ml#post1672052

Did you tram you mill by adding shims under one corner of the base? If so, this could be the reason you have higher backlash in the Y (there are of course other possible causes). This method can leave the Y ways twisted and this would almost certainly increase backlash. I'd recommend leveling the Y axis using a machinists level as shown in the recent Tormach video.

While backlash correction sounds like the solution for all manner of problems - it's not! If your mill is set up correctly you don't need it. I leave backlash correction turned off except for very specific cases where I like to think I need it (but really don't) and I know that it will work for me. In (many?) other cases backlash correction can work against you and DOUBLE the effective backlash. I tried to explain this in the following, long-winded post:
https://www.cnczone.com/forums/torma...ml#post2118824
If you don't understand what's happening then it's best to leave it alone or risk pulling out what ever hair you still might have (this is becoming less of an issue for me )- this is the best compromise.
There are easier ways to enable/disable backlash compensation and I suspect this might have been one of contributing factors why Titan's first part on his Tormach 770 came out 3 1/2 thou oversize (search YouTube for "My New Tormach CNC Machine - Vlog #58").
@Mike: If my memory isn't failing me, the last time I remember you mentioning backlash correction on this forum you said you were no longer using it because it was causing problems, but I can't find this post. Are you still using it?
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