[Gerry Sweetland]

Hi fellas,
I am going to purchase the PCNC 770. I would like to use the wooden stand I have for my mill/drill.
The top is 30" deep and 20" wide. I have attached a photo of the stand.
I will probably replace the furniture glides for something a bit more vibration isolating. Do you think I should put some heavy gauge steel sheet (11 gauge or so?) on the top surface over the MDF? I'm concerned that I will have problems leveling the machine on the stand (Tram wise, etc.)?

While looking thru the posts here it seems like I saw someone post a photo of their 770 on a wood base. I can't seem to find that now.

I don't think I need liquid cooling, I am just going to use the machine for hobby type stuff, would like to build a 9 cylinder radial engine from Ageless Engines, as well as air powered steam engine models. I am retired now but I was a special product engineer for the last 9 years and have been using SolidWorks for the last 6 years or so. Part of my plan for the radial engine is to model it as I build it.

Thanks for any advice or input you can give, it is appreciated.
Gerry

[cheetahcnc]

I look at the stand for a nice piece of equipment like I do tires on a vehicle. It is all there is between the machine and the ground. More metal = more weight + more stability and dampening. There are plenty of uses for a stand like yours in a shop besides under a Tormach. You could include it as a feature if you intend to sell your current mill, though you haven't specified the future of your mill.

[concombrefrais]

Hey,

You may refer to the picture of my 770, you can see it here, on post 20:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/tormac...red_770_a.html

Not a great stand, yours looks much better. But it is sturdy. If I had to do it again I would widen the base quite a lot for added rigidity and stability But it works fine. I can shim it if I want, it is not so difficult to slightly tilt (and not really dangerous either, even though it sounds like it!). You can also just slide wooden wedge like shims and hammer it, it works too.

You can find on the tormach web site the dimension of the base and machine in general, very useful. Let me know if you cant find it I will look for you then. Let me know also if you have other question about the 770.

Christian

[Magnum164]

I second the widening the base. While wood can be sturdy enough, I started a boring operation and even though it ran for a few seconds it really shook the machine and stand. Can't remember what was wrong, but I just remember it acted like the boring head wasn't balanced right might have been out of tram as well. But it was enough to make me realize I was glad I had it on a good base. The wider the feet the better.

[Gerry Sweetland]

I look at the stand for a nice piece of equipment like I do tires on a vehicle. It is all there is between the machine and the ground. More metal = more weight + more stability and dampening. There are plenty of uses for a stand like yours in a shop besides under a Tormach. You could include it as a feature if you intend to sell your current mill, though you haven't specified the future of your mill.

Yes, I understand what you are saying. It is a nice machine to put on a wooden stand. I just need to weigh out my options and choose the best way to spend my money. I would like to get the 770 and the TTS CNC Operator's Set tooling package, the Tormach controller and SprutCam. As well as few other odds and ends from Tormach and still keep the total price under 9-10 thousand dollars. I'm right around 9 thousand dollars now so another ~thousand might not hurt if I make the stand an equal priority as the the other items in my list.
Thanks for your input

Hey,

You may refer to the picture of my 770, you can see it here, on post 20:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/tormac...red_770_a.html

Not a great stand, yours looks much better. But it is sturdy. If I had to do it again I would widen the base quite a lot for added rigidity and stability But it works fine. I can shim it if I want, it is not so difficult to slightly tilt (and not really dangerous either, even though it sounds like it!). You can also just slide wooden wedge like shims and hammer it, it works too.

You can find on the tormach web site the dimension of the base and machine in general, very useful. Let me know if you cant find it I will look for you then. Let me know also if you have other question about the 770.

Christian

Cristian, thanks for the link to your photo. That was the one I saw! Nice cozy clean shop you have.
And thanks for the offer to send me the Tormach machine drawings. I have those downloaded from Tormach.
And, thanks for the offer to answer any other questions I may have about the 770. I will probably take you up on that :-)

I second the widening the base. While wood can be sturdy enough, I started a boring operation and even though it ran for a few seconds it really shook the machine and stand. Can't remember what was wrong, but I just remember it acted like the boring head wasn't balanced right might have been out of tram as well. But it was enough to make me realize I was glad I had it on a good base. The wider the feet the better.

So Magnum164, you must have the Tormach machine stand. Like I mentioned above in my response to Cheeta, I need to do some thinking and number crunching. Thanks for your input.

Thanks again to all for their advice and thoughts.
Maybe in about a month or so I'll be able to post a report on my new Tormach!
Gerry

[concombrefrais]

Hey Gerry,

If you want to save money, you may want to consider buying your TTS tool from:

Quick Change Tooling

or

Smithy

They are most likely of similar quality. However they do not have the groove for future tool changer, which may be a down side in case they ever make one for the 770.

Christian

[MichaelHenry]

They are most likely of similar quality. However they do not have the groove for future tool changer, which may be a down side in case they ever make one for the 770.

Christian

Has anyone actually compared toolholder quality from Tormach and those other two vendors?

There are some things I just can't afford to save money on and good tool holders is one of them.

Mike

[Magnum164]

So Magnum164, you must have the Tormach machine stand. Like I mentioned above in my response to Cheeta, I need to do some thinking and number crunching. Thanks for your input.

Yep.. Of course I can't cut wood worth a darn so i had to buy one.

[cheetahcnc]

Yep.. Of course I can't cut wood worth a darn so i had to buy one.

Nice setup you have :cheers:

[concombrefrais]

Concerning the relative quality of the tormach and novakon TTS, here is what I found:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/novako...kon-200_a.html

Look at post #3.

Christian