PM728VT Conversion vs Tormach

[Boswell]

Koenbro, that is a very nice enclosure! Well Done.

 

[koenbro]

Thank you Boswell. To address one final question: The whole enclosure sits inside a frame made from 1.5x1.5x1/16 Alu angle that is glued to the granite countertop with 3M marine glue. There is a bit of flood coolant that can drop off when I open but otherwise is a tight enclosure. I moved away from flood because it was so weird to touch the vise and everything else. Using koolmist now.

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[koenbro]

The choice really comes down to how much your time is worth and what your hobby is. If your hobby is working on machinery and your time is counted as 0, then the conversion is the obvious choice. If your hobby is something else and you just need a tool for your hobby, then you should count your time to be spent on the conversion the same as you make in your employment, at least. If you're retired, then what you would be making if you were still working. That will tilt the decision way in favor of the Tormach, I suspect. You might also see what you can find on the used market. If you are patient you may be able to find a used 770 or 1100 Tormach for what you would have to give for a new 440, possibly with some tooling thrown in. I bought my 1100 used quite some time ago and got it and the tooling with it for a considerable discount. I would also warn you that the time it will take to do the conversion will likely be more than you think.

Agree with acknowledging the tradeoff of time vs money. I started out without ever having seen or used a mill; did not know the basic terminology, things like gibbs etc. So the conversion of the PM was an excellent education. Am now able to mill aluminum, and have even started my first project in steel (jaws for the vise). A turnkey solution like a Tormach would have been less struggle and less accelerated learning, plus smoothly integrated systems (ATC, PDB). It comes down to a personal preference. As I don't do production, having the stuff up and running immediately was not an issue. The ATC is the one thing I am unlikely to be able to solve on the PM; the Priest PDB is far from optimal for that.

I however strongly disagree with the advice that a complete novice should look on the used market. Not sure if OP is a newb, but I surely was. There is zero chance I could have evaluated a clapped out Bridgeport and make an adequate decision to buy or not; would have been unable to accurately price and would have immediately revealed my ignorance so could have been taken by a less scrupulous seller. Now I could eval a BP, not an industrial VMC, but a regular mill, even a CNC conversion of one. Not many in my area, and don't need to "upgrade" and don't have room anyways.

I am in that boat now btw, as I do not have a lathe, and want to buy one, but know literally nothing about them, so will be unable to eval a used one, and I do not want to buy a Craftman junker to "learn," then upgrade. So if you are a novice, my advice is stay away from used. If you are in an area where there are many used items, and you get someone to advise, maybe.

 

[cjtoombs]

Well, we can agree to disagree. If you do your research and adjust the price you're willing to pay accordingly, I think buying used for newbies is fine, that's how I started out. Will you get burned? Maybe, but that's why you adjust the price you're willing to give accordingly. I suspect there are quite a number of members here who have bought their first machine used. Also, there are a lot of folks on here, including me, who have made a lot of parts on one of those "Craftsman junkers" you seem to have so much distain for. There are probably quite a number who have had problems with new machines as well, considering the variable quality available in Chinese machines.

 

[koenbro]

Sorry for the infelicitous choice of words re: Craftsman.