Re: New guy needing advice
I started with a Taig mill years ago before they offered ballscrews. It was certainly less scary to learn on than a larger mill, but I didn't like chasing the backlash around with those acme threads and ultimately gave up on doing any meaningful machining with it. I later updgraded my shop with a Tormach 1100 and I feel that it offers a better value than the Taig does for machining metal. That said, I still have the Taig mill and I have been doing some research and joined the Taig Lathe And Mill Owners Club group on Facebook. I was pleasantly surprised to see how people have been upgrading and modding their mills and lathes with ballscrews, 3/4 hp motors, R8 spindles, etc. One fellow has been offering a bigger beefier frame and another guy has created what he calls a Taigmach and uses the Tormach TTS tool system in the R8 spindle mod. I am considering adding ballscrews to my Taig and either using it as a mill or converting to a lathe. Centroid offers a 4 axis Acorn controller with encoder input for $300. Much of my work uses extremely small cutters so higher spindle speeds have been a necessity. I developed a mount on the spindle nose that holds the Taig ER16 spindle and motor giving up to 10,000 rpm. Anyway, people are doing some useful work with Taigs on small parts, but there are dollars involved no matter what path you take.
I like the size and power of the Tormach 1100 over the 770 or 440. If I needed to replace the spindle I would consider installing a high speed spindle kit that they offer. On the other hand I like the power of the stock spindle for when I need to use larger cutters. Using an auxiliary spindle seems to work well for me.
I wish you luck in your expansion. I too had to build up a small business over these last 36 years manufacturing costume jewelry and tabletop accessories. Fortunately I can slow down and semi-retire now, but I look forward to not always having to think about paying the bills with a full blown commercial enterprise.
Ken Gastineau
Gastineau Studio Inc., Berea, Kentucky