The Taig Lathe

Nick Carter's Taig Lathe and Milling Machine Pages

Welcome to my pages devoted to the Taig Lathe and Taig Milling Machines! I have been using Taig equipment in my own shop for over ten years and I am an enthusiastic fan of the Taig Lathe and Milling Machines (both the manual and CNC versions), their economy, capability and over all style. The Taig Lathe and Milling Machine are especially good if you are a novice to metalworking, and seek to learn the basics without a large investment of money and space.
These pages are a useful resource for all Taig Lathe and Milling Machine users, with technical support, project ideas, articles, pictures and links to all pages on the internet related to the Taig machines and their use. I am a dealer for the Taig Product Line and I offer their products at a discount from Taig list prices. I will always meet another dealers' price. Updated December 19th, 2008

Taig Will Be On Vacation From December 24th Until January 5th, No Orders Will Be Processed During That Time.

Table of Contents

• Taig Lathe Taig Micro Lathe Information and Specifications.
• Taig Mill Taig Milling Machine Information and Specifications.
• Current Taig Price List, (August 15th, 2008)
  • Descriptive catalog with pictures
  • Spare Parts Price List
  • Some Package Options
  • "What do I Need" Questionnaire
  • Ordering, Contact and Shipping information.
• Pictures Pictures of the Taig lathe and Taig mill, projects and modifications by Taig users, pictures of my shop. (October 15th, 2008) NEW!
• Taig Articles Articles About the Taig lathe, Tips and Accessory Drawings. (April 22nd, 2008)
• Jose Rodriguez Articles on the Taig and 7x10 lathes by Jose Rodriguez.
• Taig Users Taig User Web Page Links. (August 15th, 2008)
• Taig Links Links to other Taig related sites. (December 30th, 2007)
• Aftermarket Taig, Machine Shop Products and Books which I sell (June 9th, 2008)
• Reviews Metalworking Product and Book Reviews (October 16th, 2007)
• General Links Other related metalworking links:
  
  • Other Manufacturers Lathes, General Lathe Information (April 28th, 2006)
  • CNC, CAD, CAM Links (August 6th, 2008)
  • General Machining Information, Links and Instruction (August 6th, 2008)
  • Machine Shop, Tool and Material Suppliers (September 21st, 2006)
  • Mailing Lists, Web Based Discussion Groups, Usenet Groups (November 11th, 2005)
  • Books and Magazines. (July 6th, 2005)
• Links to our non-metalworking pages, blogs, email, etc.
• Our Jewelry on Etsy
• Search This Site With Google

Articles About the Taig, Tips, and Accessory Drawings

Articles on the Taig Lathe:

• Assembling and Lapping the Taig Lathe Kit K1019 (February 28th, 2005)
• First year with a Taig Lathe I wrote an article after my first year with the Taig detailing all the changes and improvements I made in my first year of ownership.
  
• Motor Suppliers Here are some places to get cheap motors for the Taig lathe (February 24th, 2003)
• Took your 3 Jaw Chuck apart for cleaning and now you can't get it back together? (October 2nd, 2003)
• Truing work in the 1030 4 jaw independent chuck. (April 13th, 2004)
• Making a Universal Expanding Ring Mandrel from the 1132 blank arbor. (July 7th, 2005)
• Making a Replacement Dishwasher Basket Wheel on the Taig Lathe (January 14th, 2006)
• Keith Brooke's "A Thread Cutting Attachment for the Taig Lathe" (January 30th, 2006)
• Modifying the #1190 Steady Rest to Use Ball Bearings. (June 6th, 2006)
• Three Methods of Aligning the Taig Tailstock (September 21st, 2006)
• Turning Between Centers on the Taig Lathe. (September 21st, 2006)
• The Taig Toolbit Set, examples of use with notes. (November 9th, 2006)
• An Auxilliary Dead Center for the Taig Lathe, By Keith Brooke (January 8th, 2007)
• Zero Adjustable Dials with Rotating Handles for the Taig Lathe, By Keith Brooke (January 8th, 2007)
• Cross-Slide Table Modifications, By Keith Brooke (October 21st, 2007)
• Making a Replacement Breech Bolt Screw for a Crosman 150 CO2 Pistol (November 17th, 2007)
• An Index Plate for the Taig Lathe, By Keith Brooke (March 1st, 2008)
• Making Plastic Front Aperture Sight Inserts on the Taig Lathe (March 1st, 2008)
• Making a Barrel Band/Pivot Plug for a Custom Crosman 1377 Pistol (March 30th, 2008) NEW!

Articles on the Taig Manual and CNC Milling Machines:

• Some notes and pictures about setting up the Taig Milling Machine (July 1st, 2003)
• Some notes and pictures about setting up the Taig Milling Machine V2 (February 13th, 2006)
• About the CNC Stepper Motor Mounts (April 29th, 2004)
• Greg Miller sent this photographic article on adjusting the backlash in the Taig CNC Mill nuts. (December 1st, 2004)
• Faking a 4th axis on your 3 axis Taig CNC mill (June 8th, 2004)
• Some notes on my mill coolant system Frankenstein himself couldn't have put together a better system! (May 29th, 2003)
• An improved motor mount for the Taig milling machine. (July 27th, 2005)
• Some pictures and notes on The new ER spindle and new headstock housing (August 23rd, 2005)
• A Magnetic Spindle Stop for the ER16 Taig Milling Machine Spindle. (February 15th, 2005)
• 3D Toolpath Milling with the Taig CNC Milling Machine (March 10th, 2006)
• Tom Benedict Builds a Relay Box for His Taig CNC Mill (March 23rd, 2006)
• A Sherline Rotary Table to Taig Milling Machine Right Angle Adapter (April 8th, 2006)
• A Dado Jig for the Router (May 18th, 2006)
• Modifying a Taig handcrank to mount on a stepper shaft. (May 18th, 2006)
• Some Notes on Belt Alignment on the Taig Milling Machine (January 24th, 2007)
• Greg Miller shows how to disassemble the Taig Milling Machine leadscrew bearing assembly. (March 30th, 2007)
• The Involute Curve, Drafting a Gear in CAD and Applications (April 27th , 2007)
• Experiments in Machining Jewelry on the Taig CNC Milling Machine (June 12th, 2007)
• Making Model Engine Flywheels on a CNC Milling Machine (July 23rd, 2007)
• Digitizing Kanji for Milling (September 1st, 2007)
• Extending the Taig Y Axis, By Thomas Burgin. (April 22nd, 2008)

Tips on the Taig Lathe and Milling Machines and Accessory Drawings:

• Link to Taig Tips I hope that others will submit tips, tricks and lengthy how to articles for posting on these pages (April 6th, 2006)
  (a lot of tips are contained in the pictures section, as well.)
• Plans for holder Drawings for a simple boring bar holder for the Taig lathe
• Motor mount A crude sketch of a useful motor mount I use on the Taig lathe.
• 3 Pages of CAD Drawings of my Knurling Tool for the Taig lathe, and pictures all on one page now.(October 2nd, 2003)
• Richard Crook drew up the Taig lathe and some of his accessories in Rhino. (zip file of a .3dm rhino file and text)
• Richard Crook drew up the Taig Mill and some of his accessories in Rhino. (zip file of a .3dm rhino file)
  

Taig User Web Page Links

New Sites Start Here

• Jose Rodriguez has a site that keeps growing and growing, truly a master of small shop equipment!
  I also have a number of his articles here: Jose Rodriguez
• Bob Urso has a website of his miniature firearms, most are made with the help of Taig equipment.
• Andy Beals has a page of some woodturnings done on his Taig Lathe (Link Broken)
• Alan Pinkus now has a page about his Taig
• Jim Eckman has a webpage about his Taig.
• Trever Talbert has pages on his methods of pipe making with the Taig lathe.
• Tony Jeffree has written some of the best "how-to" articles on making accessories for the Taig, appearing in "Model Engineer's Workshop" and "Projects in Metal" magazines. On his page are articles on a "Comprehensive set of dividing accessories for use with the Peatol/Taig lathe and mill", "An earlier and simpler dividing head for the Peatol/Taig micro lathe", and "A Leadscrew for the Peatol/Taig lathe".
• Stephen Murray has a great page up about making model locomotive parts on the Taig
• Steven Noll has a great page on his glassblowing lathe made out of Taig parts.
• Jerome Simon has the Taig assisted building of his radio control submarine up on the web.
• Joe White uses his Taig to make really cool paintball guns.
• Wayne Trivin used his Taig to make RC model airplanes, He has passed away, his family keeps the site up as a memorial.
• R.J. Martin uses a Taig to make folding knives.
• CNC Engraving with a modified Taig
• John Shadle builds clocks, On his latest he used a Taig lathe.
• Leon Heller has some excellent notes on setting up the Taig.
• Alpinetek has a great page about a home-brew Taig mill CNC conversion.
  
• Dave Goodfellow has a Taig CNC mill, and has plans for a steam engine, other projects and a great page about using CNC to make a cribbage board..
• Todd Ferrante has a page showing off his mill and lathe, and some well made projects.
• Al Schoepp uses Gecko drivers on his CNC mill
• Rainnea Graphics has a great site on their Taig CNC conversions.
• Don Feinberg just put up a lovely page detailing his construction of a 4x5 folding field camera, using his Taig mill. (Link Broken, New Page to Come soon)
• Steve Blackmore's Taig Mill His CNC mill in the UK.
• David Merriman has an article on (someone else, looking for his name) using the Taig for scratchbuilding models.
• Steve Scampini has a nice page on a powerfeed for his Taig lathe and other projects
• Walter Anderson has an excellent page on the Taig lathe, as well as a great article on building Tony Jeffree's dividing head.
• Len Winn created this great page about his Taig lathe and various projects done in his shop.
• Tyler Lane Pipes has pictures of his shop, with Taig.
• DASH Dutro has a page about his Taig CNC mill.
• Ken Jenkins has created a site about his Taig lathe and CNC mill.
• Tom Benedict has pages about the Taig CNC mill and lathe.
• Mark Thomas has a new site about the Taig lathe and Mill up
• Peter Homann has just started his informative Australian Taig site. He also sells an upgrade board for the Taig CNC Mill
• Bill Dupont has created a great page about his Taig CNC mill.
• Chris Klindt makes his beautiful cues on a Taig CNC mill. He also has a gallery of Airgun pictures, whihc he's used his Taig to modify.
• JAGWAL (Just a Guy with a Lathe) uses a Taig for his pipes.
• Michael Sheppard uses a Taig lathe and Mill for his knifemaking
• Ship Modeler's Forum hosts pictures of Tom Cummings' HMS Victory project. he built using a Taig lathe.
• Keith Buckner has a great set of pages on converting his Taig mill to CNC
  
• Michael Sobik has started a page about his new Taig Lathe
• Alan W. LaBreque uses his Taig for his wonderful ship models.
  
• Dave Burtchell has a new site on his Taig as duplicating lathe (Link Broken)
• Vlad Krupin's Taig Lathe page (also see his blog)
• James Steven's Company is Creative Modeling and Prototyping, and they use a Taig mill.
  (January 24th, 2004)
• John Hofstad-Parkhill has good pages on his CNC mill and other topics.(Link Broken)
• Sheldon Stokes has a page about his CNC driver box. See also: pictures and movies of the Taig , and home alignment tools
  (February 23rd, 2004)
  
• Ron Thompson has a site up about his CNC work (he will be adding Taig stuff soon I hope)
• Chet R. Biggerstaff has a site up on his Taig
• Mitch Singler has a page up now about his lathe and mill
• Hugh Ellsworth has a great picture of his lathe up, I hope he posts more!
  (April 6th, 2004)
  
• Jeremy Hogg uses his Taig CNC mill to make really cool bike and car emblems.
• Wil Heitritter has some good pictures of his Taig mill and projects
  (May 5th, 2004)
• Patrick O'Keefe's Taig Lathe and Mill pages
• McLurkin Custom Knives uses a Taig Mill
  (June 8th, 2004)
• Owen Buerkle has a page about his mods to his Taig Lathe and his 7x10 lathe
  (August 30th)
• Richard Hagenbuch (?) has a site about his shop including the Taig. Lots of projects.
  
• Mike Gatzke uses a Taig CNC mill and a cue lathe (with Taig parts) for his cue work
• Richard Hagenbuch's home shop page.
• Fred Wilder's friend, Fast Karl the Robot's pages (Fast Karl was made with the Taig!)
  
• "Team Nar " combat robots built with the Taig lathe (some great pics of the Taig on the various pages)
• "Team Tier" uses a Taig mill for their robots.
  January 1st, 2005
  
• M.R. Field's Model Car scratchbuilding w/ Taig lathe pictures (I just came across it using Google, I think it's Martin Field? he has 2 pics in the Pictures section.)
  January 26th, 2005
  
• This article by Lori Beckman about a company using the Taig CNC mill is on the "Modern Machine Shop" website.
  February 15th, 2005
  
• Paul Breed's page on cutting balsa wing spars with the Taig mill.
  February 28th, 2005
  
• Roger Tice used a Taig to build his clock.
• Rick Knight uses a Taig to make his tobacco pipes.
• Michael Martin used a Taig to make parts for his locomotive.
• Steve's Pipe Smoking Page has many pictures of his Taig lathe making pipes and his Taig lathe CNC conversion.
  March 9th, 2005
• Roger's Ghastly DIY Projects shows his Taig lathe used for making bagpipes.
  
• Pancerney Custom Cues has a picture of his Taig CNC mill used on cutting cue inlays.
  April 1st, 2005
• Per Tidemann's Taig Lathe pages He uses his Taig for his wireless R/C video hobby.(check out his pages on that subject too!)
• James Holbrook is making money with his Taig, making adapters for CD rom motors used in R/C aircraft.
• An online article in Blades International About Andrew McLurkin's Knives, shows him using a Taig mill.
• Tom Emery's Taig Lathe
  April 19th, 2005
  
• Sandy Alan Squitieri makes a model of the Allouette Helecopter with the aid of a Taig lathe.
• Amateurrocket.net uses an old Taig lathe.
  April 29th, 2005
• Frankie Flood's Pizza Cutters (also on the pictures page)
  June 9th, 2005
• Alex Holden's Taig Milling Machine Pictures
• Chris Abbott's Model Railroad blog
• Dan Hogsett's Taig CNC Milling Machine Pages
• Dan Kautz's Hobbyists Machine Shop - New pages on the Taig CNC Mill
  July 5th, 2005
  
• GarE Maxton makes very cool puzzles on his Taig.
• Peter Tucker makes whole miniature rooms with the aid of his Taig lathe and milling machine
• Tom Benedict has a new site up with his Taig projects (and other neat stuff!)
• Miche Meizner makes her fine jewelry with the aid of a Taig lathe.
• Glenn Greico at the Ship Model Shop of the Nautical Archaeology Program Texas A&M uses a Taig CNC milling machine. (see his homepage here with more stuff)
• Andy Grueninger of Warped Airsmithing has pages about his Taig CNC milling machine.
  October 4th, 2005
  
• Jim Lewis has a new page up on his Taig Lathe Mods.
• Mike Estee has a photoset on Flickr showing his portable disco ball built with the aid of a Taig mill. (also see "Studio Pr0n")
• Aaron Toney has a page on his Taig lathe.
• Lynn Livingston has a site up on his Taig mill and lathe
• JuanGelt has a page on a bunch of CNC stuff, including CNC'ing a Taig lathe.
  November 11th, 2005
• Terry Taylor (who has a lot of great pics in the picture section) has a page for his custom bike business.
• An anonymous page from the Chico Area British Car Club showing the conversion of a Taig Mill to use ballscrews and other neat tweaks.
• Glenn Grieco's Homepage as a complement to his Ship Model Shop Pages. Building a one-tenth scale model of an early Western river sidewheel steamer engine.
  January 31st, 2005
• Codesuidae has some programs for CNC use of the Taig Mill
• Ron Cole bought a Taig CNC mill to build molds for his model caboose line.
• Peter Jensen makes these Nixie Tube Clocks with his Taig.
  March 23rd, 2006
• Greg McFadden has Taig Mill reports on his blog.
  April 6th, 2006
  
• Zsolt Szekely makes rings with his Taig lathe.
• Recursive Instruments uses a Taig Mill to make physical art from the virtual realms of Second Life, using Ogle.
• Andrey Kim's AskmanAP Aerial Photography Systems uses a Taig CNC mill.
• Mark North makes his Enamel Animal lampworking bead embossing tools with his Taig CNC mill.
  April 28th, 2006
• Carbotron just bought a Taig mill to make Carbon Fiber Molds.
• Taig CNC Picture Gallery
  May 18th, 2006
• Mark Yankey has a great site up on his Taig CNC mill and lathe
• Mark Lyle uses his Taig CNC to engrave the panels for his "Cheap Controls"
  July 11th, 2006
• Luis Freeman's Taig site, CNC and lathe modifications and upgrades.
• John Keyser's Engineering Hobbyist site with Taig modifications
• Rob Tukham does beautiful miniture turnings with his Taig lathe.
  August 27th, 2006
  
• Ballbots converted a Harbor Freight Gear drive mini mill to Taig belt drive.
• DIYTi.com has some good Taig projects and mods.
  October 29th, 2006
• Sam Rod's CNC Taig Mill Pictures
• Kyle Weems' Yo-yos, prototyping done on the Taig
• Ed Slatt uses a Taig in his PCB prototype business to modify available prototyping equipment and also to drill through-holes.
• Thomas Burgin uses his Taig for his business doing RC helicopter mods
• GunJigs.com has a good page on flood cooling the Taig CNC mill
  February 19th, 2006
• Forrest Atkinson has videos of his projects on YouTube.
• Landrum Haddix Has a webpage about his CNC mill, drive box and projects.
  May 8th, 2007
• Jenaro Rodriguez has a blog about his adventures with the Taig lathe.
• Ken Kelley has tons of pictures (KMG folders) of his building a belt grinder with the Taig mill and lathe
• Brickarms just bought a Taig mill for mold prototypes of their aftermarket Lego weapons.
  June 12th, 2007
  
• Chris Ghent makes his concertinas with the help of his Taig.
• Steve Ciciora's Solder Dispenser and Pick and Place with the Taig
• New Rail Models uses a Taig for making prototype injection molds, also see this fascinating forum thread.
  July 24th, 2007
  
• David Jost uses a Taig lathe in his toy/product development and prototyping.
• Jeremy Fix uses his Taig for control knobs and such on his amplifiers and radios
• Dean Williams uses his Taig lathe in his camera repair work (lots of detail on gear cutting!)
  September 1st, 2007
• J.R. Bentley has a great set of pages on his models and his beautiful Taig Lathe with which he made the models.
  He has a new set of pages up here as well with his more recent projects.
  October 21st, 2007
• John Bear Ross has a page about using his Taig CNC mill to prototype his wargaming miniatures
• Niels Jalling has a new page up about his Taig/Peatol lathe which he uses for his excellent miniture work.
• David Robertson has a page up on converting a Taig Mill to variable speed
• A post from father.tinsmith.trustee showing scoop blanks drilled with the Taig CNC mill. (who are you?)
• Herbie: The New York City Taig CNC Milling Machine
• Justin Shumaker's projects
• Mcginnis Custom Knives uses a Taig mill in his shop.
• Reiyuki blogs about his Taig CNC
  December 30th, 2007
• Blair Shallard uses a Taig mill in his clock and watch repair business.
  March 1st, 2008
  
• Eugene Sargent's Orrery, made with a Taig CNC mill. Amazing!
  March 30th, 2008
• Peter Zicha's Taig Youtube Videos
  April 22nd, 2008
  
• BlMartech's Taig Youtube Videos
  June 10th, 2008
  
• NJM Solutions uses a Taig for their design and prototype work.
• Custom Cut does machining work with their Taig.
  August 6th
• Johnny's Taig Lathe
• Frets on the Net uses a Taig Mill for their awesome custom guitar parts.
  August 15th
  
• Cascabots offers robot parts, and they use a Taig mill.
• Del Ogren's homepage
  

Other Taig Links

• Taig Tools now has a website up,Your source for official Taig information. Their CNC Division is Microproto.
• Taigtools Yahoogroup There is now a mailing list dedicated to the Taig. Lots of good ideas and a place to find out what other users think about the Taig. If you own a Taig, you must at least monitor this group, the volume of information is staggering, and help is available. Be sure and check out the "files" section as well!
  
• Peatol Need to buy a Taig lathe in the UK and Europe? The Taig is sold as the "Peatol" there. For the CNC mills, try the Model Engineer's Digital Workshop.
• Supertech is the company that produces the Supercam software used on the Taig CNC mills. They have a series of web pages on their CNC conversions of the Taig and other machine tools as well.
• Lee Valley Tools Have a beautiful two page spread of the Taig in their latest catalog. They manufacture wood turning rests and spur centers for the Taig in their own shop. If you are thinking of freehand woodturning on the Taig, give their products a shot - or at least see how theirs are made before you make your own.
• Carter Index Plate Kits. I am now offering an index plate kit for the Taig.
• W.M. Berg sells 3M series belts (which are the series used on the Taig) in a variety of lengths from 180mm to 750mm, as well as bearings, gears and other precision mechanical components. They do have a minimum order of $50, so you can't just buy one belt, but you'll find something else in their catalog to fill out the order.
• Bearing, Belt and Chain sells 3M series belts.
• OMW Metalcrafts sells a nifty ball turning tool (among other products) which will work on the Taig and other small lathes.
• KENBO is the company run by my good friend Kent Rudisill, who makes a line of quick change toolposts for the Taig, 6" Atlas and other small lathes, as well as doing general machining jobs in his incredibly well outfitted shop. He is always interested in taking on work, no matter how small or large.
• Knaell threading kit for the Taig. (Used to be called the "Minimech") He No Longer Produces This Item, Unfortunately...
• Cue man cue turning lathes which are made from Taig parts - if you want cue lathe parts, buy them from him.
• Divisionmaster is Tony Jeffree's excellent CNC indexing system for constructing your own dividing fixture. Now available here
• The Taig Lathe A new book by Tony Jeffree available through me in the U.S. and Canada.
• Fisher Machine makes a 1/4" shank edge finder suitable for the Taig milling machine.
• Bonnie Klein makes a well known wood lathe based on the Taig Lathe, and has several interesting accessories.
• CNC Zone has a forum for the Taig CNC Mill
• Andrew Werby's Computersculpture.com is an excellent site selling advanced CAD/CAM software and CNC machines.
• Peter Homann Designs sells an upgrade board for the Taig CNC mill controller that has a bunch of advanced features.
• Robitek sells clamping kits, nuts and wrenches for the Taig milling machine.
• EZ-Tram sells the "NanoTram" tool for tramming in the Taig and Sherline milling machines, as well as other useful products.
• White Wolf Airsmithing is selling screw on endmill holders for the Taig milling machine.
• A2Z CNC makes quick change toolposts for the Taig lathe, tooling plates and screw on endmill holders for the Taig milling machine
• High Tech Systems LLC makes a tooling plate for the Taig Milling machine and other small machine accessories
• Beall sells a collet chuck that can be adapted to the Taig Lathe.
• Harbor Freight has 3/8" shank flycutters that can be used with the new ER spindle on the mill. (Taig now sells a similar item)
• Deepgroove Steppers and Taig dealer.
• Woodwrite offers the Copy-Cat wood duplicator for the Taig.
• New England Brass and Tool offers a Bison 3/4"-16 chuck that should fit the Taig.
• DeArmond Tool sells some Taig mill accessories.
• Lane Manufacturing sells Variable speed motors for the Taig Lathe and Mill.

Aftermarket Taig Accssories and Related Machine Shop Products I Sell

In an attempt to fill some gaps in the small machine supply market, as well as showcase items made in the USA by small manufacturers I have started selling the items below. I have personally tested all items and stand behind them 100%.

• The Taig Lathe A new book by Tony Jeffree available through me in the U.S. and Canada.
• Carter Index Plate Kits. I am now offering an index plate kit for the Taig. 40-50-60 hole deluxe plate available!
• Replacement Tailstock Lever Arms. I now make 8" long replacement lever arms for the Taig tailstock.
• Sherline products: Rotary tables, CNC ready rotary tables and tailstocks.
• Sherline Rotary Table Right Angle Adapter for the Taig Mill.
• Fisher Machine 1/4" Shank edge finders, other edge finders, micro tapping guide, PEE DEE thread wires, magnetic bases, sine bars and magnetic chuck accessories all made in the U.S.A. (January 4th, 2006)
• Bar Products Spra-Kool Coolant Mister An inexpensive coolant mister suitable for small machines.
• My Rhino Modelling Portfolio
• My Ebay auctions, sometimes I have good deals on tools, or just weird stuff. (none right now)
• Machining Books, Magazines and Tools available through my Amazon.com store

Aftermarket Product and Book Reviews

Product Reviews:

• FROG I have finished reviewing the FROG x-axis CNC powerfeed/threading unit for the Taig (Updated October 3rd, 2001) Sadly FROG is out of business.
  
• KENBO Here's a review of the KENBO quick change toolpost for the Taig
  
• SPILLAGE Spillage International makes many accessories (shell mill, clamping kit and grid plate, etc.) for the Taig and MaxNC Milling machines. Here are my experiences with their tools
• KNAELL-MINIMECH A review of the innovative Knaell (Minimech) threading accessory for the Taig (February 21st, 2002)
• The Flipper A Quick Toolpost Wrench for the Taig Lathe by the makers of the FROG (Oct. 27th, 2003)
• Jim Shaulis Quick Change Toolpost A well made quick change toolpost for the Taig (Oct. 27th, 2003)
• The Divisionmaster A stand alone CNC rotary indexing attachment, made by Tony Jeffree (Nov. 4th, 2003)
• Robitek makes clamping kits, nuts and wrenches for the Taig milling machine, Here is a review of their clamping kit. (January 26th, 2005)
• The A2Z CNC Endmill Holder a screw on endmill holder for the Taig milling machine (April 8th, 2005)
• High Tech Systems LLC Taig Milling Machine Tooling Plate a tooling plate sub table for the Taig Milling Machine (May 3rd, 2005) They Have Changed the Design since the Review.
• The Beall Tool Company Collet Chuck an ER32 collet chuck for the Taig and other lathes. (May 29th, 2005)
• LittleMachineShop.com has a number of interesting accessories which work with the Taig lathe and milling machine. (July 6th, 2005)
• TS Engineering's Modular Vise for the Taig Milling Machine. An excellent and useful workholding solution. (July 27th, 2005)
• White Wolf Screw on Endmill Holders for the Taig Milling Machine. From 1/8" to 1/2" and more. (February 13th, 2006)
• Review of the TurboTaig Step and Direction Upgrade Board Peter Homann's Upgrade Board for older Taig controllers (March 10th, 2006)
• Tom Benedict Reviews the TurboTaig Step and Direction Upgrade Board (March 23rd, 2006)
• LittleMachineShop.com Knurling Tool Review (April 28th, 2006)
• Review of the Nanotram for the Taig Milling Machine (May 5th, 2006)
• Paul Chamberlain's 4 Way Toolpost for the Taig Lathe (October 16th, 2007)
  

Book Reviews:

• The Taig Lathe A guidebook by Tony Jeffree available through me. Every Taig Lathe owner should read it!
• Machine Shop Trade Secrets is a great new book full of helpful shop tips. (January 30th, 2005)
• Machine Shop Essentials: Questions and Answers, 2nd Edition is a basic text on machine shop operations. (June 9th, 2008)
• CNC Programming Handbook is an excellent and detailed book about programming CNC machine tools. (February 21st, 2005)
• Machinery's Handbook is the "bible" of the metalworking industry, here is my review. (March 2nd, 2005)
• Welding Fabrication and Repair: Questions and Answers, a good welding and fabrication book. (March 9th, 2005)
• Setup Reduction Through Effective Workholding, an advanced jig and fixture design book (April 8th, 2005)
• Make magazine, a new DIY magazine that straddles the mechanical and digital worlds. (April 8th, 2005)
• Welding Essentials: Questions and Answers, an excellent welding textbook. (April 8th, 2005)
• Easy CNC, A Beginner's Guide to CNC, programming a CNC benchtop mill, made easy. (October 1st, 2005)

Want a product or book reviewed? Email me.

Other related metalworking links

Other Manufacturers Lathes, General Lathe Information

• Sherline makes a line of miniature machine tools, their web pages contain volumes of interesting information.
  I sell some Sherline accessories on my Sherline products page.
  
• Levin makes some of the best and most accurate small lathes available today, if you can afford them!
• Clisby Has the smallest metal lathe, designed by the inventor of the Sherline lathe. A US Dealer is here
• Myford, the Cadillac of home shop lathes.
• Tony Griffiths maintains a web site with information about many different types of metal lathes, well worth looking at if one is shopping for a new or used lathe
• Mini-Lathe.com has tons of info on the 7x10 /12/xx series of imported lathes.
  
• Logan Actuator has information and parts for Logan lathes, as well as a useful tips section.
• Cowells Small Machine Tools

CNC, CAD, CAM Links

Instruction and Information

• CNC Concepts has a great site with CNC tips and information
• CAD CAM EDM DRO Yahoogroup, if you have an interest in CNC machines, subscribe to the list!
• Linux CNC resources
• Industrial press has a free CNC e-book in .pdf format
• This is a good page on the G2 and G3 G-codes "The Dreaded G2 and G3"
  
• The Stepper Motor Archive
• Control of Stepper Motors Tutorial
• Deepak Manuel's CAD/CAM page
• Tauseef's CNC Machining and R/C Helicopter Pages. This is the best set of pages on a beginner starting out with home shop CNC, learning and sharing what he's learned. There are so many great pages on his site I can't believe it. You must visit his pages!
• 1st-in-cadcam.com CAD CAM and other CNC Machining Related Resources
• CNC Applications, A thorough course in G and M code programming of two axis turning centers and three axis machining centers from Purdue University Calumet. Very cool and free.
• Francois' CAD/CAM World. lots of links and learning.
• Desktop CNC has evaluations of many CNC machines.
• Majosoft has a good set of pages on making a CNC engraving machine, also some software.
• Parallel Port Interfacing made Easy. A great little guide to the parallel port.
• MachineToolHelp.com CNC machine tool help and advice
• Dr. Matt Frank's CNC World (great stuff showing how to use an edge finder and find z-zero)
• XDobs.com has a great G-code tutorial up, especially for programmers.
• Working with Stepper Motors
• Cutter Stop Rings, Great idea for tool presets with the new ER spindle, check out the rest of his site as well.
• Make plastic 3D models from CAD designs using an automated "milling machine"
• Tips on Designing Cost Effective Machined Parts
• David Morrow's Benchtop CNC site, with great clocks!
• CAD/CAM Jewelry Primer A great tutorial on jewelry CNC work.
• Fourth Axis' Flip Flop Wax, a great way to fixture ring waxes! Excellent info. (also see their inside ring engraving calculator) NEW!

Software and Software Dealers

("*" means I use the software myself, "**" means recommended by other users, even though I don't have much experience with it myself)

• CAD
  • Rhino is very cool (just started using it myself) surface modelling, Moderately expensive but extremely powerful. *
    Available also from Andrew Werby
    
  • Autosketch is a very capable 2D CAD program.*
  • Blender, a free solid modelling program **
  • CADdepot.com has a lot of links to various software and downloads.
  • gCAD3d, free CAD software
  • ProgeCADLt, free CAD software
  • FreeCAD.com, links to free CAD software
  • Delta CAD is inexpensive and a bunch of people tell me it's great. **
  • Peter Eland's Free and Cheap CAD pages
  • Art of Illusion open source 3D modelling software.
  • A9 CAD is free...
  • Minos free 3D CAD
  • Google Sketch-Up Free (use with OGLE to get 3D files)
  • Draftit Free 2D CAD
  • Solid Edge Free 2D Drafting
  • Hobbing.com's Gear CAD Library
• CAM and Code Creation/Editing
  • Yeager automation has "ACEconverter" a great little DXF to G-code Converter for FREE! **
  • GCode2000 is another low cost program **
  • Millwizard 3D CAM
  • GenGCode is freeware written by Mark Thomas, and provides a great conversational G code environment. Thanks Mark! **
  • AutoEditNC is a freeware program for writing and editing g-code *
  • Deskam is another low cost CAM program, They also have DeskEngrave software for Free!
  • TMO free text milling g-code online.
  • Free Programs to Write G-Code by Jon Elson
  • Meshcam, It is a great program for 3D milling.**
  • Sheetcam is a low cost CAM program. **
  • Softsquad has a free G-code editor with a lot of great features called "Codeshark Lite", as well as other good programs.
  • Advameric has some low cost CAM programs.
  • Microtech has free online CAM services.
  • CNC Editor 2002, a (free?) Czech CNC editing program.
  • Discriminator CNC Editor is another low cost program.
  • Engraving on the Sherline Mill has PERL scripts for generating G-code.
  • I think this is the Python source code for a Blender CAM module, found through MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms...
  • Mecsoft offers "Free Mill" for 3D toolpath generation, and sells Visual Mill and RhinoCAM
  • Simple CNC seems to be heading to take the place of GenGCode, and the price is cheap, anyone used it?
  • Freesteel is working on an open source CAM program. They have a version for use up on their site. Their interesting blog is about writing and testing CAM software.
  • Robotics Math and Music Programs has some free CAM software.
  • Acme Profiler is a low cost engraving software.
  • G Zero Mill seems to have a free "home" version of their conversational CAM software
  • A Rhino to G-code Script.
  • OpenCAM freeware CAM?
  • VCarve seems popular for Text Milling. **
  • MadCAM is a CAM plugin for Rhino.
  • G Simple 3 Axis Free CAM
  • GCAM, GNU Computer Aided Manufacturing open source package
  • CamBam freeware CAM software
• CAD and CAM
  • BobCAD/CAM Ok CAD and relatively good CAM, I use it for most work. Make sure you find a discounted price. * (download tutorials)
  • Andrew Werby sells a number of CAD and CAM programs including Visualmill, RhinoCam and Deskproto at competitive prices, and a good price on Rhino. *
  • IMService is a great seller of various CAD CAM software including DeskCNC and Vector, he has demo downloads. **
  • Dolphin is CAD and CAM, and offers a free CAD program for 2D drawings**
  • Northland Multisoft has some inexpensive CAD/CAM programs
• Control
  • Mach 2 and 3 control software. Runs in Windows XP/2000 and can be used with the latest Taig controller. An exceptional program.*
  • TurboCNC is a machine control program that seems to be much better than the stock MPS2000 program, and it's only $20! DAK Engineering has a lot of other fun stuff as well! *
  • KCam4 An inexpensive machine control program.
  • CNC Zeus is another control program.
• CAD and/or CAM and Control
  • DanCad software
  • Quickstep software - it appears to be free? Let me know if you test it out.
  • Master CNC Utilities a control and coding program
  • CAM-BAM Control and CAM
• Utilities, Verification, and Misc. Software
  • OGLE: The OpenGLExtractor, for capturing Open GL 3D data as an 3D file that can be opened with a CAD program.
  • Online Raster to Vector File Conversion which is an implementation of:
  • Auto-Trace Bitmap to Vector conversion freeware
  • Marvin Klotz's Utilities are a collection of home shop oriented computer programs.
  • CNC simulator, while a little funky to get running, is a really good free NC code verification program
  • Celtic Knot Generator, not real cad/cam but the program will output .dxf files and it's just plain cool! *
  • WinTopo a free bitmap to vector conversion program, that will output a .dxf file. *
  • This is odd, but cool, open source CAD product designs...
  • Involute and Cycloidal Gear-Wheel GCode Generator Looks useful.
  • Scan2CNC which allows you to scan a line drawing and convert that to G-Code
  • Single Stroke Engraving Fonts *
  • NCPlot's Free Single Stroke Engraving Conversion.
  • Cutviewer is a powerful CAM toolpath verification program.
    

Hardware

• Dan Mauch's Camtronics is a great source for DIY CAD-CAM
• Stepperworld is a great supplier of machine control hardware, from steppers to boards.
• Xylotex sells machine controllers and has excellent support, Jeff is a frequent contributor to the Taig yahoogroup. I use a Xylotex controller on one of my Taig mills and it performs flawlessly. *
• CNC on a Budget has some cool products for the DIY CNC machine
• IMService sells controllers and steppers and systems.
• CNC Electronics has parts for larger CNC mills.
• GeckoDrive CNC stepper drives.
• Mill Fixtures for CNC wax milling
• Homebrew Touch Probe
• Ohmikron Corp has Breakout Boards and a slew of excellent articles on CNC.
• Jameco Electronics, Xylotex kept sending me to their site for all the components I needed, so why not a link?

General Machining Information, Links and Instruction

Resources:

• The Metal Web News The ideal place to start searching for metalworking ideas and suppliers on the web.
• Metalworking.com Has links, as well as a dropbox full of projects, tips, articles etc.
• Nuts and Bits has a bunch of fun projects, the curtain rods are a great example of using form tools on a small lathe.
• eFunda has scads of engineering resources and links.
• Bioanalytical Chemistry Research at The Evergreen State College has a great page of technical notes, including a java based tap drill calculator.
• Long Island Indicator Service has an excellent site on repair and use of various indicators.
• Ernie's Massive Metal Links List has links to all sorts of metalworking pages.
• Steve Bachanek has an excellent page that distills interesting posts from a variety of mailing lists
• Precision Twist Drill has everything you need to know about drills.
• New England Model Engineering Society has excellent articles. Join them if you live in the area.
• Engineer's Edge has some great engineering data
• Carbide Depot has a good technical resource page
• Michael Horgan Has some great information and a good toolbit grinding chart you can print out.
• The Horology Website is the source for information and links about horology, clocks, and tools.
• Watchmaking has some excellent information.
• Wikipedia Metalworking , if you have time consider participating in writing entries.
• Hanita Cutting Tools has some great reference material up...
• Here is a great collection of metalworking links.
• Pat's Metalworking Links
• Tabletop Machine Wiki
• The Shaper Book Page, great info for you shaper nuts.

Instruction:

• U.S. Army Fundimentals of Machine Tools online for free. Link broken, here is a copy, complain to your congressman.
• Fox Valley Technical College Machine Tool Technician Program. An excellent set of pages!
• Michigan Tech Manufacturing Education
• Virtual Machine Shop
• A Neat site with manufacturing videos.
• Franjo Metal Spinning has some great info on metal spinning.
• Mit's Precision Machine Design class.
• Nick Real's Pages at Cerritos College, Metalworking video and more!
• Harvey Mudd College has some great machining videos.
• "Be Kind to Your Collets", ER16 collet information

Miscellaneous Mechanical Links

• David Macmillan has web pages devoted to "Delightful Machines", and runs the Rolling Ball Sculpture mailing list. An intellectual-mechanical feast for the brain!
• Matt Keveney has a great page with animations of various steam engines
• The Gears Show is starting up this year in Portland, Oregon, to replace the PRIME show.
• Varmint Al has wonderful pages on gunsmithing with his 7x10 mini lathe.
• Here is another page showing how to fit the Taig 4 jaw to a 7x10 minilathe
• The Ornamental Turning Group has some neat designs for home built Ornamental Turning equipment.
• The Society of Ornamental Turners is dedicated to the art of Ornamental Turning.
• Modell & Metallbau - a good German (in german, but you can find the designs easily) site about making 2 designs of home made metal lathes
• Fuel Injection Enterprises Wouldn't you know, I have a motorhead neighbor next door who runs this fuel injection testing business as well as racing a nitromethane dragster...
• Make Square Holes in Aluminum Sheet Metal, an article I had published in Make Magazine.
• Max's Little Robot Shop has loads of info for homebrew robot making.
• Nick's Airgun Tinkering Blog I put up a a whole bunch of projects here.

Machine Shop, Tool and Material Suppliers

• MSC has an enormous free catalog of metalworking supplies (an ideal place to buy toolbits etc. for the Taig) and they don't mind at all selling to the home machinist.
• ENCO is owned by MSC and has more bargain (cheap) oriented items
• Online Metals I am now affiliated with Online Metals. I think it's less expensive to buy metal from local suppliers or scrap yards rather than by mail, however if you need some metal that you can't find locally, try them out. (Disclaimer: I receive a commission for each sale coming from this website).
• Sparro has some neat little tools, and a good website
  
• Surplus Center has motors and other mechanical items.
• Reid Tool Supply is a great place for some hard to find machine shop supplies.
• If you are down in Roseburg, Oregon, HPS, my favorite used tool dealer is located near the airport. Tell them I sent you.
• Discount Tools seem to have good prices.
• ClockDoctor has taps and dies for WW collets, WW Collets and other good small watchmakers lathe accessories
• American Carbide seems to have good prices, anyone have any experience with them?
• Bits & Bits makes engraving cutters, wax milling cutters, end mills and has diamond drag engraving bits. Paul is a great guy and runs an excellent company. A must for all wax carving and jewelry work on the Taig CNC mill.
• Crown Cutters has small tooling as well.
• 2L Has some engraving tools.
• Stock Drive Products finally has an online store, with prices, useful products great for making small machines.
• David Eiman sells WW lathe collets and watch related items.
• Little Machine Shop sells small accessories for import Minilathes and Mills, some will fit the Taig products.
• Small Parts has hard to find mechanical items.
• US Shop Tools has low prices, haven't used them myself.
• Martin Model and Pattern sells models, castings and will make castings for you.
• Brownell's Gunsmithing Supplies (lots of hard to find tools even for non-gunsmithing...)
• Bal-Tec Precision Balls
• McMaster Carr has everything you need for machining and projects. Really.
• Amazon Industrial and Scientific is a good place to look for parts and equipment in one place, online.

Mailing Lists, Web Based Discussion Groups, Usenet Groups

Every day there are more and more machine shop related forums being created on the web. Here are a few of the longer lasting and busier ones. For specific machines it is always a good idea to check yahoogroups for dedicated forums.

• Taigtools Yahoogroup dedicated to the Taig.
  
• CAD CAM EDM DRO Yahoogroup, if you have an interest in CNC machines, subscribe to the list!
• 7x10 Yahoogroup for 7x10 minilathe users.
• Atlas Craftsman Yahoogroup for users of Atlas and AA lathes, Mills and Shapers.
• 9x20 Lathe Yahoogroup for 9x20 lathe users.
• MaxNc Yahoogroup for users of MaxNc machines and software.
• Sherline Yahoogroup for Sherline users, lots of good info for Taig sized lathes and mills.
• The Modeleng List is a worldwide mailing list about model engineering.
• Ganoksin.com is the site for the excellent and useful Orchid mailing list, the best place to exchange information on jewelry making on the web
• Chaski.org has great message boards on machining topics
• FAQ for rec.crafts.metalworking, the best and most useful Usenet Newsgroup.
• Practical Machinist Machine Shop Forum is another good web based group
• CNC Zone is a forum for different CNC software and platforms.
• The Home Shop Machinist & Machinist's Workshop BBS from the Home Shop Machinist magazine.
• Pipe Maker's Forums
• The Tinker's Guild Paintball Tech Forum
  
  

Books and Magazines

• Powell's Bookstore has an incredible selection of new and used technical and metalworking books.
• Lindsay's sells reprints and new books on metalworking and engine building, as well as such arcane stuff as Tesla coils and root beer making. A catalog that will convince your friends you've gone insane! Also the root cause of many a home shop machinist's poverty.
• Village Press publishes Home Shop Machinist, Projects in Metal and Live Steam magazines, as well as publishing various anthologies of articles from past issues.
• TEE publishing carries many excellent books on Model Engineering
• Guy Lautard publishes his own excellent books, including the "Machinist's Bedside Reader" series.
• Machining Books available through Amazon.com
• Machine Shop Trade Secrets, a great new book of tips for the machinist.
• Machine Shop Essentials: Questions and Answers, a good basic machining text.
• Smartflix, rents technical videos, including metalworking videos, formerly known as Technical Video Rental...

Links to my non-metalworking pages, email, etc.

• E-mail Me About This Page.
• Contact Information
• Who Is Nick Carter and Why Does He Sell Lathes?
• Nick And Felice's Homepage
• Nick And Felice's Jewelry on Etsy.com
• Nick's Blog
• Nick's Airgun Tinkering Blog
• Felice's Blog

All information contained on this page and all pages located on cartertools.com, or other server space used by Nicholas Carter, copyright Nicholas Carter* 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008. No part or the entirety of these pages may be reproduced without the permission of Nicholas Carter. (*except works and pictures by other contributors who retain their copyright )