[zaebis]

Folks,

Finally got around to write up on my Torus Pro servo model mill that I received a few weeks ago. I had a warehouse to receive it for me and picked it up to move into its permanent place in my garage.
My first impressions are that ... this thing is BIG. Being used to NM135 it is like comparing a unicycle vs a space shuttle. Just the table itself looks menacing.

My comments are;

First of all packaging. I think the way it is now (3 boxes) is just right! I was able to transport it all to my garage in a standard 5 x 8 UHaul trailer (2 trips of course 2 small boxes followed by 1 large box). Any car capable of 3500 lbs towing can do it.

I offloaded all boxes from the trailer to the garage floor with a standard 2T engine hoist (aka shop crane) just fine. Big box I had to break down inside the trailer so that I only hookup the machine as engine hoist will not reach up that high to hook up the whole box. Also overall height of a trailer + big box will not fit through garage door so the offloading has to be done outside and then a hoist with machine lowered but still hanging can be rolled in inside garage by 2 people no problem. The only thing to keep in mind offloading the mill from the trailer by way of engine hoist is that the trailer must be supported on the back (I used a trolley jack) so that as the mill starts to get up in the air it will have a tendency to slide towards the very end of the trailer (way behind trailer axel) and will actually start lifting up your car's butt.

Machine hooks up for lifting very well thanks to 2 eye hooks in front and a hole in a column that can be used to stick 1.5" strong pipe or square tube through and used as a spreader for straps. I used standard 4000 lbs cargo straps to hook it up to the hoist as they provide better flexibility than chains, much cheaper and easily adjustable in length by racheting them making the pitch/tipping of the mill (being lifted) just right and "flatfooted" for mounting on the stand.

There is a couple of things I would like to add with respect to mill preparation for offloading. First is that top servo/stepper (the one on Z axis) I think should be taken out for transportation and hoisting. It can be assembled after the mill is on the stand. It sticks out too much and is in the way of engine hoist boom making it vulnerable for damage if the mill starts to tip being hoisted. It also takes up much needed height to clear as engine hoist can reach up only so high. And secondly loose wires from disconnected X servo/stepper (and a few other wires) are left too long/too loose for transportation making those dangle when machine is hoisted and possibly tuck under the machine as it is being lowered on the stand. I think any loose wires that can reach underneath the machine need to be zipped/taped so that they are not vulnerable for tucking damage.
Now regarding machine hoisting and mounting on the stand.

Stand width is good as it is. A number of people commented on the forum that it should be made wide enough for a standard pallet jack to pass. Fair enough. One thing to keep in mind is that once it is made wider most engine hoist legs will not pass on either side of the stand (e.g. around the stand) making it impossible to roll the hoist far enough to lower the mill squarely onto the stand without artificially lifting the stand on the pads (which will be subsequently removed) so that hoist legs slide underneath the stand instead. The clearance needed for engine hoists to slide underneath the stand is 7.5" for pretty much any 2T hoist on the market. But here comes another problem. Once the stand is padded/lifted up that high, most engine hoists (at least 2T models) will no longer reach up that high to clear artificially high stand to pass the mill over the stand given the current height of the stand. In view of that I propose to widen the stand for a standard pallet jack, lower the stand by 3-4" in height and making the adjustable legs beefier and increasing the range of their adjustment by 3-4". This will solve all the problems. Pallet jack can then be used (good), engine hoist can slide underneath the stand by simply adjusting the legs height (no fiddling with padding). Overall height of the stand will be reasonable for engine hoist to lift and pass the mill over it. And lastly people will be able to adjust the height of the stand (and consequently the table of the mill) by 3-4" more which will address tall/short operator issues.

to be continued...

[zaebis]

Placing the mill on the stand was quite trivial thanks to the engine hoist. Just need to ensure that the legs of the hoist pass around or under the stand ahead of time. Coolant system and a shroud are quite trivial as well. I connected 220V power from the house dryer circuit which I found to be the easiest way to go in my case.

A few observations;

- I find that coolant pump connection is a little finicky as it requires too much manual wiring operations and once connected inextricably links the machine to a stand. I think a simple snap on connector can easily eliminate any wiring (and potential problems) necessity.

- A coolant valve (yellow plastic one) that is on the flex hose is quite flimsy and broke off after a few turns. I replaced it with more solid Home Depot valve (see pic).

Novakon support has been excellent the whole time and streamlined me along the way with no hiccups.


I finally started up the mill and did a few air cuts. Looking quite good. It comes all preconfigured just switch on and start working. That table and a head are really moving!

I will be hooking up a wireless keyboard and a touchscreen monitor with a swinging arm shortly. Also have an MPG (I would recommend it for servo models as you will want both fine and fast travel control since table moves fast!) to connect to Mach3.

to be continued...

[zaebis]

a pic here...

[MRM RCModels]

Nice! Welcome to the club. Default rapids are set to 500 IPM. It damn scary moving at that speed. Only had one crash so far; wasn't pretty; eek: