[sternman318]

Hi folks,

Just picked up a used Taig and am stoked. Taking some time to tear it down and rebuild it as it could use a serious cleaning. The previous owner had added a 2 hp treadmill motor w/ VFD. The motor weighs about 12 lbs which I figure is a bit more than the stock unit, and thought it might be worthwhile to add a gas strut to improve accuracy and reduce screw/nut wear on the Z axis.

I was thinking a 20lb rated strut like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...0?ie=UTF8&th=1

Is this enough force? Should I be looking for more (or less)? Thanks!

[awerby]

The basic idea is to counter the weight of the Z axis assembly so that it's essentially zeroed out. You don't want to overdo it, since the strut can work against you in the other direction if the motor has to fight to extend it. You do need to position the strut so that only its free range (7" in the one shown) is what's being used as the axis goes up and down. Here's how someone else implemented gas-strut counterweighting on a Taig: 12AMTools: Taig Mill Z Axis Air Spring Setup