Seeking advice: CX605 or Taig mini mills

[Eyecon]

Hello All,
First time on this forum and so glad I found one specific to Canada. This would be my first mill(I run a few CNC routers for non-ferrous materials). There is a Black Friday offer on the Craftex cx605 which is fairly affordable but has less travel and generally not as nicely machined as a Taig mini mill or other modified Chinese machines from Littlemachine shop. Obviously the big advantage of the Craftex is that I can pick it up from my local Busybee tools and not have pay a significant amount in shipping and customs from the US. So is this mill worth it for someone who wants to get into machining steel/cast iron? Not expecting super deep cuts or high feeds obviously but would like to machine small steel parts with relatively high precision(10um/.0005” range) and use er32 tooling.

 

[whydontu]

Welcome from Vancouver!

Nothing wrong with the CX605 as long as you accept the limitations. Fit and finish isn’t as good as the LMS but if you’re willing to spend some time tweaking it the end results will be the same. Price is very good.

 

[YYCHM]

CX605 Down Feed Tune Up

Finally got fed up with the sloppy down feed and head drop issues on my CX605 and decided to do something about it. Apparently the head drop issue has to do with the poor mesh between the column rack and up/down feed gear as well as the sprung head support system. I tackled the mesh issue by...

canadianhobbymetalworkers.com

Mini Mill DROs

So, after much poking around I have concluded that I can add basic independent 3 axis DROs to my mill for around $150 or go for integrated 3 axis systems for $250-$400. Question is.... is the extra $$ worth it? How many of those extra functions are useful on a manual mini mill? Mini Mill...

canadianhobbymetalworkers.com

 

[Eyecon]

Thank you both for the quick replies. @YYCHM other than the head down feed issue, would you say the ways are useable as is without lapping or replacement of the gibs?

 

[YYCHM]

Thank you both for the quick replies. @YYCHM other than the head down feed issue, would you say the ways are useable as is without lapping or replacement of the gibs?

Can't see you ever achieving .0005”. The dials are crap, the only way to make it some what usable is to add a DRO. Expect to invest at least another $600 in to it, still leaving you wanting for something better/bigger.

Why are you looking at mini-mills? Price? Space?

 

[Eyecon]

Thanks @YYCHM. Yes the plan was to use some capacitive scales(igaging style) or cheap magnetic scales with something like the touch DRO system. I’m not really a manual machinist so definitely would not rely on the dials alone. Mini mill mainly because I don’t have space, this would fit perfectly in place of my bench top drill press…I can’t seem to find anything of a similar quality in Canada. Prices jump up very quickly if importing from US from what I’ve seen.

I am open to suggestions, not really in any hurry, just though 999 CAD for a bench top mill may be a good deal.

 

[YYCHM]

Thanks @YYCHM. Yes the plan was to use some capacitive scales(igaging style) or cheap magnetic scales with something like the touch DRO system. I’m not really a manual machinist so definitely would not rely on the dials alone. Mini mill mainly because I don’t have space, this would fit perfectly in place of my bench top drill press…I can’t seem to find anything of a similar quality in Canada. Prices jump up very quickly if importing from US from what I’ve seen.

I am open to suggestions, not really in any hurry, just though 999 CAD for a bench top mill may be a good deal.

I didn't think I had room either...... Started out with a mini-lathe and the mini-mill.

But have managed to cram in a 9X22 Utilathe, RF30 Mill/Drill, 8" Shaper, 4X6 Bandsaw.....

 

[Eyecon]

Very nice arrangement, unfortunately my bench depth is very limited due to the space occupied by the routers. So you are saying better make space and get something a little bigger? Where did you get your rf30? Also worth mentioning that if I get something bigger I do plan to do a cnc conversion…had a lot of fun doing that on my mini lathe so was hoping to start with the cx605 for the same reason.

 

[YYCHM]

If you're planning a CNC conversion, best to get advise from some other forum members. @Degen , @jcdammeyer , @Tom Kitta come to mind.

 

[Eyecon]

Much appreciated @YYCHM. I think I’m better off waiting and making space for something mid size in general…would be more rigid I guess and worth the effort of conversion. I think at this point the cx605 may be an impulse buy as opposed to something I really need

 

[Former Member]

To be far unless you have ball screws and linear encoded feedback getting those tolerances requires work and knowledge.

The easiest method is to approach cuts from one direction only in each axis. This way errors introduced via backlash are virtually eliminated, however this can limit the type of cuts you can do.

 

[Eyecon]

To be far unless you have ball screws and linear encoded feedback getting those tolerances requires work and knowledge.

The easiest method is to approach cuts from one direction only in each axis. This way errors introduced via backlash are virtually eliminated, however this can limit the type of cuts you can do.

Fair enough, I do have experience in machining, I just don’t own a mill but I totally understand what you are saying. I think I’m going to go with a PM-25 clone available here in Canada with free shipping. Double the price but I know would be sufficient for what I want to do and definitely a good candidate for CNC conversion in the future,

 

[PaulL]

Fair enough, I do have experience in machining, I just don’t own a mill but I totally understand what you are saying. I think I’m going to go with a PM-25 clone available here in Canada with free shipping. Double the price but I know would be sufficient for what I want to do and definitely a good candidate for CNC conversion in the future,

Number one rule of tools: If you can afford double the price, spend double the price.
I mean, do your homework, and know you're getting the extra value. I've never regretted this rule.

 

[Eyecon]

Number one rule of tools: If you can afford double the price, spend double the price.
I mean, do your homework, and know you're getting the extra value. I've never regretted this rule.

I like this rule but I don’t think my wife would. But fair point, i bought a mini lathe for the home workshop and ended up spending almost as much tuning it as the lathe cost. I found a RCOG-25V for 2.5K CAD and free shipping, way more than I wanted to spend but I know that most of the PM-25 clones have a useful working envelope and can generally be easily converted to CNC.
and when needed.

 

[PaulL]

I like this rule but I don’t think my wife would. But fair point, i bought a mini lathe for the home workshop and ended up spending almost as much tuning it as the lathe cost. I found a RCOG-25V for 2.5K CAD and free shipping, way more than I wanted to spend but I know that most of the PM-25 clones have a useful working envelope and can generally be easily converted to CNC.
and when needed.

I hear you (and your wife). My woodworking tools paid for themselves - I was a grad student and could only move up when I'd sold enough work to afford the next tool. That doesn't seem to work as well for machining, though I haven't been looking extra hard for a market...

 

[Former Member]

If thats the case then you know what you're doing. If you want a true commercial level CNC consider Centriod's Acorn CNC, order from CNC4PC as they have an adapter board for Clearpath SDSK servos (plug'n'play).

Clearpath come in 2 flavours 800 or 6400 step per revolution encoders. Example:

0.100" travel per rev of feed screw translates as follows: 0.100/800=0.000125"/rev or 0.1/6400=0.00001563"/rev. Buy to accuracy you deem is required, my choice was to first was more that enough.

Your big cost is going to be the servo's (well worth the money), actually just a little more than equivalent steppers, followed by a close to even split for the purchase from CNC4PC and computer to run the machine.

Truthfully I'm kicking myself for not doing this sooner.

 

[Arbutus]

FWIW I have a TAIG mill with the extended table. It is a solid little machine, but somewhat underpowered. I upgraded all the standard NEMA23 steppers with Teknic servomotors and changed the spindle motor to a large servomotor. This provides plenty of cutting power and the machine frame can handle the extra muscle easily. Of course that adds about $900 to the damage.

The TAIG mill is a great starter CNC or precision manual mill for smaller work, however it is quite limited in the table travel and Z height. The Z axis height becomes an issue when there is a drill chuck, drill, work, and vice involved and its a PITA to have to cut drills shorter to fit the job.