[brow318]

I have been digging through the forum as a new member for the last few weeks. I am in the process of buying a mill for CNC on aluminum 6061 and stainless every once in a while. More than likely 95% of the work will be aluminum.

The Tormach comes at a price of dollars, work envelope and speed. The 770 spindle has 10K rpm but lower torque. The 1100 has a little more torque and their is a spindle attachment for smaller mills (router like attachment). Might be an issue on stainless but maybe not enough to make it a big deal since it's not my primary material. The 1100 costs more but has 30+% more work envelope and more torque. Also room for 4th axis. The other benefit of Tormach is it's a far better engineered solution than I am going to come up with for sure. Not to mention their is support and a warranty option. Alot to like.

The other options is to convert a mill/drill. I originally started with the idea of the G0704 but have been looking closer at the 45 clone mills. The Precision Matthews, Bolton, and MTW Canada machines all look like good choices as a base. Spindle speed would be an issue on all of these so that would mean a spindle upgrade at some point.

For those who have done the conversion would you do it again? Are you happy with the results? Beyond purchase of mill what should I allow for budget of CNC conversion? What would you do different?

I think I would be happy with either option. I am not concerned with the time to complete a conversion if it can be done within a reasonable time. I don't want to look back and see that I took a great deal of time and the cost savings was minimal compared to a purchase.

For those who have responded to private messages, thanks for your help and I will look forward to sharing my journey along the way.

Thanks for the feedback....K

[gd.marsh]

Welcome Brow ..

If you already have a business with customers .. buy the Tormach & be done with it. Yes, they have certain limitations, but seem to be very capable machines, well engineered, & with good support. If you're looking for a hobby .. converting a mill is practically one in itself.

I've been working on my conversion since March 2010 although most do it in much less time. I've stretched the envelope a bit with my machine which has created lots of work that doesn't have to be done for a functioning cnc mill. On top of that, I do get very busy at times with my 'real life' & go through seasons where I don't get much garage time.

You will probably spend as much or more on the conversion as you do the mill depending on which mill you buy & how fancy you want your machine to be. There's lots of 'bells & whistles' that can be added to a conversion. Belt drive for spindle, Power draw bar for quick change tooling, Oiling system, Enclosure, ATC, Touch screen, and several more that some have included in their build.

Unless you're already a machinist & have most of the tools you'll need, plan on spending a bundle on tooling as well. However, a reasonable investment will get you started & you can spread the rest out over time.

I would do it all over again because I'm really enjoying the build itself. I've always had a love for machinery, and designing & building my conversion has been incredibly educational & just plain fun!

This is my thread if your interested: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bencht...onversion.html

gd.marsh

[TiagoSantos]

I agree - if you need a machine in any sort of reasonable time frame, just buy one that works if I could afford it, I'd have bought a tormach. A conversion will take a while, unless you have a lot more free time than the average person! I've been working on mine for about a year now and I'm just almost at the point where the thing will work properly. If I didn't have a day job, I figure I could do it again in a couple of weeks, if I had planned everything right and had the parts on hand, but that's not very realistic.. Even the most well planned conversions I've seen, where guys have modelled their whole machine in CAD, designed the full conversion and ordered all the parts at once, have still taken many months of unexpected changes, tweaks and problem solving.

The conversion SHOULD be cheaper, but it depends on how resourceful and frugal you can be! If you figure 2000 for a mill, 1500 for steppers, drivers, BOB, enclosure, wiring, etc.. 500-600 for a good motor and VFD.. 300 for ballscrews and ball nuts, a few hundred more for bearings, aluminum and steel stock for motor and bearing mounts, etc. I think 5000 is a realistic budget for a nice conversion, maybe a bit less if you find the right deals.. So you would save a few thousand compared to say a Tormach, but it depends on how you value your time if you take it as a learning experience and enjoy the process, it's free! If you could be making money instead, I guarantee the tormach will be cheaper!

[jid2]

I think I have between $7-8k in mine. Haven't done a recent total. There's another $5-6k in tooling with all the TTS and carbide cutters, plus all the basic setup and measuring tools. I had not planned for my conversion to be as comprehensive as it ended up. At first I was only going to add the basic conversion. But once into using the machine I realized I want an enclosure a faster spindle and the PDB. The gearhead is really a joke. 1970 rpm just doesn't cut it as they say.

[brow318]

This is great feedback. As much as I would enjoy doing the conversion I can see it taking some time. The goal is to build parts and some side revenue to offset cost of mill.

I may need to post a thread in Tormachnsectionnand get some feedback on 770 vs 1100. Hard to give up workspace on 1100 for the faster spindle on the 770. I know they have an option for a speeder or attached spindle on 1100. The speeder is not currently for sale and attached spindle is only going to be good for items with little to no side load.

Thanks...Kevin

[jid2]

770 makes sense if you do plastic and aluminum with tools 1/4 or smaller, otherwise its 1100 for sure.

[Blakea1790]

I ran across your post and thought I would give me two cents as a Tormach 1100 owner. I purchased a 1100 series 1 about a year ago, updated it to a series 3 and could not be happier with the Tormach. I have a small business which I do part time and probably run my mill 15 to 20 hours a week depending on my work load. I am a Journeyman Machinist and run Haas and Fanuc controlled machines at my "real job" and have been very impressed with the Tormachs performance. I have also been very happy and grateful to tormach for the support they gave me even though I was the second owner of the Mill.
I can only speak from experience with Tormach, never took on the challenge of retrofitting a mill. I'm attaching some pics of my companion spindle I use for light Aluminum Machining and engraving.

[brow318]

Thanks for the note Blake. I actually ordered a Tormach 1100 yesterday.

Working on getting power and space in the shop. Should be delivered next week.

I may hit you up later in the lessons learned with the router and attachment.

Kevin

[Blakea1790]

Congrats on your new Mill Kevin. I can assure you that you will not be dissapointed. For the size of the Mill you just cant beat it.