[Mike[FT4x4]]

First off id like to say hello,

OK im 18 and in the process of starting a small business and im looking at the Taig CNC mill.

I have alot of work for engraving in 6061, 304 and some 1018

Also i have quite a bit of work for Delrin, pockets, outer contours and such

So my question is will the Taig mill be ok for production work of this sort.

Thanks in Advance.

[Stepper Monkey]

If size of the workpieces isn't an issue, then yes, you are probably looking in the right place. For production milling of those listed alloys, you would need to look at quite a bit larger, heavier, and more expensive of unit. Engraving those alloys and cutting Delrin it is fine though.
It will go through the Delrin like it isn't there, as will almost any of the small mills. For the engraving, however, among all the inexpensive options the Taig has the high spindle speed for it and is the best suited among the choices. So for both of the jobs you list it is quite well suited, and they are actually quite tough - they hold up in production environments cutting things like Delrin frighteningly well, especially considering its cost.

[Mike[FT4x4]]

EDIT: Double Post

[Mike[FT4x4]]

is the Taig mill considered a production mill for my uses, engraving and plastic work,

i mean im going to give this thing a workout, not like im playing with it on the weekends.

[Stepper Monkey]

Yes. There are quite a few companies running banks of the things 12 hours a day for light manufacturing work like you speak of - plastic molds, wood inlay, jewelry wax, pool cue parts, etc. Don't try heavy loading or heavy vibration jobs like production metal cutting - which would be too painfully slow on these to be profitable anyway - and they will hold up for years. The replacement parts are all available and dirt cheap - I don't even run tooling plates on mine to protect the tables - a good tooling plate actually costs more than a new replacement table from Taig does....

Eventually, the first thing that usually does go is the saddle, especially for people putting them under heavy loads. The hard anodized surface treatment on the aluminum wears through and it starts running on the softer aluminum underneath and binding and galling. The only cure for this is a replacement saddle (essentially the chassis of the X/Y axis). The number of people who I've heard of actually running a machine hard enough and long enough to require one is fairly rare though.
I wouldn't see this as a design flaw or problem, the choice of aluminum saddle was very intentional - it only adds like 90 bucks or so for an entire new replacement saddle and obviously is only needed for some mills, a steel one would have added hundreds to the price of every mill. It does require a full teardown and reassembly to replace and adjust it though, which isn't tough at all but can take a full afternoon.

[tikka308]

Mike - take a look at my TAIG blog at www.nyccnc.com. I have many videos of my TAIG cutting delrin and aluminum.

[Mike[FT4x4]]

Nice Site there NYCCNC