CNC Mills

I am considering replacing my CNC Mill. Would like 18\" to 24\" on X, 8\" to 12\" on Y and a Square Column with a seperate Z Axis and spindle quill. Any experience or strong opinions?

nitewatchman

Well decision made and money paid.

I decided to buy a Tormach PCNC 1100 Mill with the Deluxe Stand, 8\" 4th Axis and 4 Jaw Chuck. There is a group of very pricey jewerly required to round out the purchase.

Received notification that all 2150# of it had shipped this afternoon in three crates and 10 UPS Boxes. Estimated arrival in Birmingham is on Wednesday.

Now to get the old mill on eBay.

nitewatchman

Post pics when you get the new toy setup.  

Cool.  I have an old beater Tormach with about those same add-ons and it still works great.  Makes box-cams a snap

Has your experience with the Tormach been okay?

Yeah, it\'s been a very good machine.  You can\'t plow through metal like it\'s a HAAS or split tenths, but it\'s done everything I\'ve ever asked of it.  I\'m at least the 3rd owner of this one and it\'s not had an easy life, but still works well.  Tormach has good support even for older machines and while their upgrades and tooling aren\'t the cheapest around they are well thought out and integrated.

If you don\'t plan to get the ATC, Maritool makes a nice ER-20 holder (C3/4-ER20-2.0) that works with the TTS system and is ~$50 versus $75 for the Tormach one.  The TTS setup is worth it if you change tools much at all.  McMaster carries the recommended coolant and way oils as well in their generic lines.

Thanks for the feedback, almost everything I could find on the 1100 was positive.

We got mine this morning from Estes Freight and had to work it down a very steep long driveway, it drops 30 feet in about a 110 foot run. We then assembled the deluxe base and lifted the machine on it without dumping it on the ground although the possiblility presents itself a time or two.

Tonight my son and I have it up and running a part program we use to make a part for Amtrak (late on 100 pieces now). G-Code is a little different and required a little tweaking but works.

Most frustrating thing is that Tormach announced the 1100 Series 3 for sale at noon yesterday. It features PolyPhase Steppers that are nearly as quite as Servos, and twice as accurate as Microstep Drives and motors, price went up $1000 also.

Have not added the fourth axis drives and hardware yet. This might wait untill we have a job for it.

nitewatchman

[quote name=\"nitewatchman\"]Thanks for the feedback, almost everything I could find on the 1100 was positive.

We got mine this morning from Estes Freight and had to work it down a very steep long driveway, it drops 30 feet in about a 110 foot run. We then assembled the deluxe base and lifted the machine on it without dumping it on the ground although the possiblility presents itself a time or two.

Tonight my son and I have it up and running a part program we use to make a part for Amtrak (late on 100 pieces now). G-Code is a little different and required a little tweaking but works.

Most frustrating thing is that Tormach announced the 1100 Series 3 for sale at noon yesterday. It features PolyPhase Steppers that are nearly as quite as Servos, and twice as accurate as Microstep Drives and motors, price went up $1000 also.

Have not added the fourth axis drives and hardware yet. This might wait untill we have a job for it.

nitewatchman[/quote]
Word is you can upgrade yours to the PolyPhase steppers & drives for less than $1000, so they say, which would be a win if you wanted those. You don\'t get the rest of the new features (tool tray & control panel or whatever), but they\'re treating us good as regards a motor upgrade.  I\'m contemplating it as a z-brake stepper (mine didn\'t even have that) is close to $300 by itself.

You\'ll want a shop crane or helper to get the 8\" RT up and down from the table...

Shop Crane for sure, table plus 4-jaw chuck is more than I can handle.

I did get a response from Trmach to my expression of discontent and they did say just that. They were apparently concerned with the public perception and have decided to sell a \"PolyPhase Retro-fit Kit\" (doesn\'t exist yet) at or near cost. Kit will have drives, motors, a mounting rack to install the drives on the machine back plane and a wiring kit. The A-Axis drive will stay the same.

Would like to see a Series 3 to see if the claims are true. The low noise and higher accuracy appeal to me since a closed loop servo machine in this prices range isn\'t going to happen.

nitewatchman

Craigslist is a good place to look, I picked up a Fryer VB-40 for 8k with 8\" and 6\" kurt vises, Cat40 tool cart full of tooling lots of HS steel and carbide. I love it but I think I will love it more with a mach3 retrofit and a 4th axis. It is 40x 20y and 23z with a 10hp 6k spindle but it weighs 9500lbs but smooth and fast.