Anyone remember their Taig mill settings in Mach3 for steps per unit? I'm just configuring my Taig mill with Mach3 and the default was 2000. From the Mach3 docs, I calculate 20 (TPI) multiplied by 2000 which is 200 (typical resolution of modern steppers) times 10 (typical microsteps). This gives 40,000. This seems quite a difference. Is 40,000 even close? BTW, I've got a Gecko G540.

Yep 40,000 is correct

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Enjoy your Taig and if you need anything just ask.....Some Knowledgeable guys here

Thanks for the reply - and the welcome too! The most trouble I had with the Taig mill was getting it out of the box. They obviously think highly of their product to pack it so well.

Mach3 is the steepest learning curve. Next step is to set up the toolpaths in Lazycam and see if I can cut some sections out of brass plate to form spokes for clock gears.

The way I managed to figure out the steps per unit (or at least let Mach3 do it) was to go into the settings tab at the top of the screen. There is an axis calibration at the bottom left of this screen.

The way I did it was to click on 'Set Steps Per Unit' and leave the default at the X-Axis. Click Ok. Initially use a small figure like 1 or 2. Measure how far the X-axis travels, then put this into the box shown and click ok again. This should automatically set the steps per unit. When you're more comfortable choosing a bigger figure then 1 or 2 you will get more accuracy the longer the x-axis travels.

After the steps per unit is calculated, go into the 'Config' & 'Motor tuning', and configure all the axis with the same value.

I dont know if it's because I have set mine up as metric (millimeters). My value is set at around 1568

I start at 40,000 steps per inch, then i use the calibration part of mach 3, after that i like to check it with a program that cuts a 1 inch by 1 inch square with an 1/8" bit i then measure the square for exact size, i then go back into the calibration part, tell it to move 1.125 inches on the axis when it is done moving the axis and asks how much did it move, I enter 1.125 + or - the error in the 1 inch square, example : if the 1 inch square is actually 1.011 on the x side, when calibrating the x stepper and it asks how much it moved i will enter 1.125 + .011 which is 1.136, I have achieved the most accurate setup using this method.

Using the calculations which come too 40,000 steps will get you ballpark but no 2 steppers, lead screws or machines are exactly alike.