Recently I was able to purchase a used TAIG mini-mill from a ship-modeling colleague. This mill is roughly three times the size of my Proxxon MF70 (which I sold to another member of our forum).
I very much liked the Proxxon, but I was never able to fully resolve the backlash (play) in the turning wheels. Plus, I thought a larger mill would be helpful as I considered where this hobby might take me on future projects. I started ship modeling with a few kits that I modified to satisfy my vision for a finished product. My recent project is a (stern section) scratch build, and I believe I will remain in that lane for at least my next project or two.
I was able to add a digital ruler to the Z axis of my Proxxon, and I thought that was a really helpful addition. Now I wondered if digital readouts on all three axes might be worth pursuing on the TAIG.
At first, I ordered stand-alone digital readouts from a company called iGaging. Unfortunately, I learned the iGaging unit could not be used on the X axis (the X axis moves the table left to right) for lack of space. I might have been able to make the iGaging unit work on the Y axis (front to back) - and could easily make it work on the Z axis (vertical) - but I didn't want multiple systems in play.
(A digital readout system has two components: a measuring component that tracks the movement of the table, and a reporting component that tells you how much movement took place. Glass scales (optical readers) are very accurate but tend to be a bit bulky - magnetic scales are less bulky and have the advantage of being able to be cut to length. With both styles the measuring components simply plug into the reporting component.)
I spent a ridiculous amount of time researching magnetic readers trying to find something that met my size limitations. I ended up with a Ditron DRO system. For the record, I ended up spending more on the DRO that I did on the mill
.
To be continued...
I very much liked the Proxxon, but I was never able to fully resolve the backlash (play) in the turning wheels. Plus, I thought a larger mill would be helpful as I considered where this hobby might take me on future projects. I started ship modeling with a few kits that I modified to satisfy my vision for a finished product. My recent project is a (stern section) scratch build, and I believe I will remain in that lane for at least my next project or two.
I was able to add a digital ruler to the Z axis of my Proxxon, and I thought that was a really helpful addition. Now I wondered if digital readouts on all three axes might be worth pursuing on the TAIG.
At first, I ordered stand-alone digital readouts from a company called iGaging. Unfortunately, I learned the iGaging unit could not be used on the X axis (the X axis moves the table left to right) for lack of space. I might have been able to make the iGaging unit work on the Y axis (front to back) - and could easily make it work on the Z axis (vertical) - but I didn't want multiple systems in play.
(A digital readout system has two components: a measuring component that tracks the movement of the table, and a reporting component that tells you how much movement took place. Glass scales (optical readers) are very accurate but tend to be a bit bulky - magnetic scales are less bulky and have the advantage of being able to be cut to length. With both styles the measuring components simply plug into the reporting component.)
I spent a ridiculous amount of time researching magnetic readers trying to find something that met my size limitations. I ended up with a Ditron DRO system. For the record, I ended up spending more on the DRO that I did on the mill
.To be continued...
.
) !
