As you may have noticed, this page is about my Taig mini mill that I got in December 2002. It's probably the most important tool / machine that I own now. Before I got the
mill, I had already built and competed with 3 different bots (Kris, Hooloovoo, and Kris v2) at 3 different competitions (HSRC, HoN, LTRC). After LTRC, I decided that my bots would win more and look cooler with the acquisition of a mill. I was half right (guess which half =P). To start off, I did a little research on mills, seeing as I had no prior
machining experience. After I had learned a little bit about how they work, I started the search for the right one. At first I considered some of the cheap Harbor Freight ones, but they were a little too cheap for me. Eric,
from Team Nar owned one of the Taig micro lathes, and it looked like very good quality in the pictures I had seen of it. This got me interested in the Taig company, and after checking out their website,
I became hooked on their micro mill. I eventually bought it sometime in November from Carter Tools for $551. It arrived a few weeks before christmas. Once the two boxes arrived
(weighing around 70lbs each), I set upon opening them as fast as I could... and taking pictures along the way :) As you'll notice in the third picture on this page, the Taig packing guys went a little overboard on the newspapers. Yes, that huge pile of newspapers somehow fit into the two boxes.
In the first box I opened was the head / spindle /  whatever you want to call it and the motor. In the second box was the table. I assembled it in about 10 minutes (only a few bolts to tighten), and then recruited my dad to help me lug it out into the garage. This wasn't as easy as it sounds since the mill weighs in the neighborhood of 130lbs and is rather top heavy. Eventually we got it out there, and everyone lived happily ever after.
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As you may have noticed, this page is about my Taig mini mill that I got in December 2002. It's probably the most important tool / machine that I own now. Before I got the
mill, I had already built and competed with 3 different bots (Kris, Hooloovoo, and Kris v2) at 3 different competitions (HSRC, HoN, LTRC). After LTRC, I decided that my bots would win more and look cooler with the acquisition of a mill. I was half right (guess which half =P). To start off, I did a little research on mills, seeing as I had no prior
machining experience. After I had learned a little bit about how they work, I started the search for the right one. At first I considered some of the cheap Harbor Freight ones, but they were a little too cheap for me. Eric,
from Team Nar owned one of the Taig micro lathes, and it looked like very good quality in the pictures I had seen of it. This got me interested in the Taig company, and after checking out their website,
I became hooked on their micro mill. I eventually bought it sometime in November from Carter Tools for $551. It arrived a few weeks before christmas. Once the two boxes arrived
(weighing around 70lbs each), I set upon opening them as fast as I could... and taking pictures along the way :) As you'll notice in the third picture on this page, the Taig packing guys went a little overboard on the newspapers. Yes, that huge pile of newspapers somehow fit into the two boxes.
In the first box I opened was the head / spindle / 
whatever you want to call it and the motor. In the second box was the table. I assembled it in about 10 minutes (only a few bolts to tighten), and then recruited my dad to help me lug it out into the garage. This wasn't as easy as it sounds since the mill weighs in the neighborhood of 130lbs and is rather top heavy. Eventually we got it out there, and everyone lived happily ever after.