Taig Question

[radar]

Hello everyone!

I am kinda caught in a debacle here regarding what mill and lathe to buy. I want to make live steam models in 32mm or 45mm gauge- and perhaps other small projects as well.

I was considering a Taig mill and lathe- are these too small?

 

[canadianhorsepower]

Hi
You will love your taig lathe
don't by one with the motor find a thread mill
and use the motor and speed controller

cheers
Luc

 

[kuhncw]

Hi Radar,

I'll put in a good word for the Taig mill. I bought the CNC ready version and added steppers, mainly to add CNC to my shop. I have a much larger manual mill as well. The Taig has done a fine job on many parts for my model IC engine projects. I suspect it would be well suited to the size projects you are planning.

Chuck

 

[radar]

Thanks for the input guys.
What diameter of boring bars can they accept? I have some HSS tool bits from Grizzly that are 5/16- will that work on a Taig or is that too big?
Also, for smaller work like this, can I get away with using HCS taps and dies?

 

[Wizard69]

Hello everyone!

I am kinda caught in a debacle here regarding what mill and lathe to buy. I want to make live steam models in 32mm or 45mm gauge- and perhaps other small projects as well.

I was considering a Taig mill and lathe- are these too small?

The answer here requires a bit of research in my mind. You can get machine capacities on line for the Taig lathe and mill. From there look at the maximum size of the components you will need to machine, drivers, pilot wheels and the like. Frankly I would consider the Taig lathe to be a bit on the small size to do everything. However there is a big catch here, if I'm following posts correctly, you indicated access to larger machines elsewhere. If so then purchasing a Taig lathe might not be a bad idea as a watch makers class lathe is very useful for these gages. If I have my threads screwed up here and you don't have easy access to a larger lathe, then I'd seriously consider a larger bench top lathe. Note there are a number of scales built on these gages so that is a factor.

As for a mill, have to personally resist my desire to buy big cast iron here. The Taig mill is one of the better small scale mills so it comes back to what exactly do you intend to build and will all the parts easily fit on the machine for the required machining. Since scales vary and prototypes vary, you would need to research what you intend to build to see how tight things will get. My gut feeling is that you will be OK, but don't take our words for it. The big problem here is that going to something bigger means a lot more iron and mass to deal with. Mass is good for machining but you soon loose the convenience of a small desktop machine.

So are they too small? In the end it is up to you and your personality. I would say the Taig lathe alone is too small and doesn't fit . The mill is a different machine. Let's put it this way, I'm seriously considering building something similar. The mill is good quality, for a tight work space.

In the end outfitting a home workshop is no different then outfitting a commercial shop, you end up with an array of machines and sometimes trying to do a one machine fits all doesn't make sense.

 

[radar]

Wizard- I have a Bridgeport style vertical mill on steroids basically. If there is anything that I need to make that would require a big mill, I have that and a big lathe covered- twice. My live steam club houses all the big machines. The main reason I was looking into some smaller machines was for at home use. There are a lot of small parts even on larger locomotives that I would have to make, and on small scale locomotives I could make the whole thing on a small mill and lathe from the folks at Taig.

 

[abby]

As you state 32 or 45 mm gauge you must be building railway engines , the largest diameter you are likely to encounter for turning will be wheels.
Although I have a Boxford model "A" lathe my favourite is my Pultra instrument lathe. Although tiny it is easily capable of doing all the turning that I have encountered building my gauge 1 Merchant Navy Class engine.
Obviously it can't shift metal like a big lathe but it's rigidity makes for repeatable accuracy and fine finish , much can be accomplished with small machines.

Dan.

 

[radar]

That is a beautiful machine Abby, however here is what I have going in the favor of Taig:

1. I live in Arizona, also consequentially the Taig factory is as well. It's up the road about two hours from where I live in this sand filled, blistering hot hell hole.
2. Pricing is outstanding, I am only 28 and was dumb enough to buy a house as a bachelor.
3. All the parts are on the market to convert both machines to CNC if I wish- just a matter of bolting it up.
4. Uses common tooling- no specialty stuff like collets or what not.

 

[kuhncw]

Thanks for the input guys.
What diameter of boring bars can they accept? I have some HSS tool bits from Grizzly that are 5/16- will that work on a Taig or is that too big?
Also, for smaller work like this, can I get away with using HCS taps and dies?

Radar,

The slot in the Taig lathe tool holder is a bit over 5/16ths wide, so I guess it would accept a 5/16ths dia boring bar. You can always make a tool holder for larger bars.

By HCS, I'm guessing you mean high carbon steel? You can certainly use it for the smaller work. I prefer HSS taps taps and lean toward the best brands I can buy, hopefully to avoid breaking a tap. Actually for taps, I like the thread forming taps, especially for softer metals. There are no chips to deal with and with no flutes, or in some cases one very shallow flute, they should be less apt to break. Taig uses only thread forming taps in their plant. My dies are HSS, import brands.

Chuck

 

[t.l.a.r. eng]

Having put almost 2000 hours on my Taig, I can vouch for it's being a handy home machinist lathe. Mine is stock with the exception of the variable speed powered carriage.

The only limits to the Taig is the rate of material removal hardly ever exceeds 0.002 so it becomes a thinking mans lathe on larger projects as there is plenty of time to think while the lathe is making numerous passes at 0.001 or 0.002 at a time.

The lack of thread cutting capabilities is the other negative, but the little Taig makes up for that in the fact it really is a stout home lathe for it's size and keeps accuracy if you take care of it.

 

[radar]

Having put almost 2000 hours on my Taig, I can vouch for it's being a handy home machinist lathe. Mine is stock with the exception of the variable speed powered carriage.

The only limits to the Taig is the rate of material removal hardly ever exceeds 0.002 so it becomes a thinking mans lathe on larger projects as there is plenty of time to think while the lathe is making numerous passes at 0.001 or 0.002 at a time.

The lack of thread cutting capabilities is the other negative, but the little Taig makes up for that in the fact it really is a stout home lathe for it's size and keeps accuracy if you take care of it.

That my good sir is why a CNC conversion will be happening in the future.

 

[Wizard69]

Wizard- I have a Bridgeport style vertical mill on steroids basically. If there is anything that I need to make that would require a big mill, I have that and a big lathe covered- twice. My live steam club houses all the big machines. The main reason I was looking into some smaller machines was for at home use. There are a lot of small parts even on larger locomotives that I would have to make, and on small scale locomotives I could make the whole thing on a small mill and lathe from the folks at Taig.

If this is the case the Taig mill would be very nice. I still have mixed feelings on the Taig lathe, mainly because of its size.

 

[Wizard69]

That my good sir is why a CNC conversion will be happening in the future.

The problem is even running CNC code it will be slow. That however is up to the user to deal with. My biggest concern though is the lathes size. Again only the user will know what is Needed here. However 9.xx inches between centers is not much at all once a chuck is on the spindle and likewise in the tailstock.

So what you need to decide is if the lathes size will be frustrating for you personally.

 

[radar]

Wizard, if it was possible to find a slightly larger lathe that wasn't going to cost me an arm and a leg, I would be all for it.
The chuck is really low profile, and the tailstock is fairly low profile as well. I really don't anticipate a problem with the size of the lathe. If I use the milling machine base it will add some much needed weight to the machine as well.

It's more for fun than anything, and most of what I would turn on the lathe would be small wheels and axles.