Deciding on the right CNC for my home shop

E

ElTejano

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Hello all, I am at a crossroads in my machining life here. I think time has come that I take the plunge and go the CNC route. I design and manufacture tools in my trade and I do fairly good but my capabilities are limited with what I am working with which is a small Grizzly lathe and a gear head HF mill drill.

The Mill drill has taken some serious abuse through the years. Its about 7 or 8 years old and I am amazed it still runs.

All this brings me here asking for help. I have looked and looked and pretty much narrowed my choices to the Tormach or a used Haas Minimill. I understand that the Haas is much larger and requires a lot more to set it up and the space requirements are substantial in comparison to the Tormach.

I am afraid I will outgrow the Tormach in no time when I go into full production, but when things crank up I can always upgrade.

My question is this, what kind of work load can the Tormach handle. Is it best suited for aluminum and lower operating hours? Is it wise to just put all my chips in and get the Haas? I dont want to outsource any of my work becaue I can just put all that money into the CNC.

Decisions, decisions.

Does anyone have experience with a Tormach and has experienced the limitations or benefits you have of it? I would be forever grateful with input on this.

Leo
 
Take a look at John Grimsmo's page on Youtube. He is a custom knifemaker, and uses a Tormach to make most of his stuff. He cuts mostly Ti, and tool steel. The Tormachs seem like nice machines, though I don't have one personally. If it were me, and I had the money/space/power, I think I would go for the Haas, especially if I was considering running it as a business. Of course, you could probably purchase 2 Tormachs for the price of a Haas.
 
I'm not sure what your building but you really dont require a heavy machine to do work with a cnc mill. it does not hog out metal in slow deep heavy load passes it works better and faster taking small cuts at high cutter speeds and feeds. it's faster and less wear and tear on the machine and the tooling.
I know nothing about a tormach but i have a zx45 converted to cnc that really handles steel very well. I would not concider it for production due to it probably will wear a lot faster than a name brand machine but the power and rigidity needed is there.
steve
 
Thanks guys. I will definitely check out those videos and do more research and browse through more posts on here.

When I get the cnc, it will probably be running constantly. I am leaning towards the Tormach to start off and then but the Haas with the money the Tormach makes me. I sure would love to see a Tormach in action and inspect one myself. I really do not like buying something I didnt see in person and see it working myself.
 
I have had my PCNC 1100 since July 2011, and given the chance to do it over again, I would jump at the chance.

I have done a lot of work with my machine. I run it 40 to 70 hours per week, and it has never given me a minute of problem.

I have learned its limitations and I live within those parameters.

Here's a picture of what I have in my garage.

TORMACH 3.JPG
 
I did a search for "tormach" in bing.com then clicked on videos on the top of the screen and there are 13,000 videos to watch.
steve
 
Yes, I saw a ton of videos. But, just like a car or anything that will set me back at least 10 large, I want to check it out myself. Maybe I can fly up to Wisconsin and visit their HQ. I travel a lot and a quick trip to WI would not be a big deal.
 
Steve Seebold said:
I have had my PCNC 1100 since July 2011, and given the chance to do it over again, I would jump at the chance.

I have done a lot of work with my machine. I run it 40 to 70 hours per week, and it has never given me a minute of problem.

I have learned its limitations and I live within those parameters.

Here's a picture of what I have in my garage.
Click to expand...

Sure looks nice. Do you have the power draw bar on yours?
 
I have a Tormach 770, and could have bought the 1100, but didn't care for the mass of size or space it took up. I have a four car garage but had a place earmarked for the machine and the 1100 would have taken the entire space.

Some considerations; Tormach states itself on their website (and you can call and speak with Rory in tech support if you like), that these machines are not meant for production. They are serious hobby machines for prototyping and product creation. And familiarizing you with SprutCam, Alibre and Mach3 gives you a great perspective on how products are designed, manufactured and perfected. HOWEVER, once you have it down, turning over your "finished" idea to a real machine shop is the way to go. They can bang out a product that takes your Tormach 5 minutes to do in 30 seconds.

I am not saying you cannot produce on the machine, I am stating it is not designed for large or medium scale production. It is designed for small runs etc. You can contact them regarding this point. However, Tormach maintains a group of people willing to let you see the machine in action. And if you are in my area, you are welcome to come over and see the machine's capabilities. I love playing around with it, in manual mode and CNC mode.

Tormach is a great machine for what it does, great. However, if you are considering going into production on a product and have the cash or line of credit to pull down a serious machine, you should do just that. However, capital spent on heavy equipment like this is difficult to amortize over a short period of time. I do protyping for fun, and it is great therapy for me, given my real job these days. However, I am realistic in my capabilities, and my machines abilities.

Once I complete and master the product, I have the G-code and blueprints for the product design and creation. And more importantly, I know it works. Reach out to me and I'll help where I can...

Cheers~
 
One option to consider is taking one of Tormach's classes. They are usually at the Tormach HQ, but if you really want to lay hands on one before you buy, it may be worth it.

/http://www.tormach.com/workshops.html

Looks like all the recent workshops are full, next open one is in May.
 
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