[silverdrgn]

Hello all, I have been doing some reading and have come accross two names that sprout my interest when looking for a first buy on a CNC machine. I have found Taig and Tormach to be the two names of choice. I dont know which is the better buy from what I am looking to do. I would like to mill some chess pieces as well as car parts like knobs, shifters, trim and other things. I would also like to use my CNC machine to finish off some gun kits like the M911 kit that is sold etc... I studied some in college on machining but I cannot afford a Haas or Mazak so wanted to start with something I can afford. Will the Tormach PCNC 1100 suffice? Seems like the Tormach is a turnkey setup while the Taigs I have seen lack a complete setup. Any help/ (personal advice) is greatly appreicated. I plan to work with materials like cast iron, steel, aluminum, and Poly's.

Range of travel on the Tormach seems great for the price = 18" x 9.5" x 16.25" (X,Y,Z) is there other machines that are comparable? Thanks again

[david021688]

hello, I think the Z axis is a little longer ,do you think about it

[UUU]

What you propose machining sounds adventurous for a Taig.

[smallblock]

Hello all, I have been doing some reading and have come accross two names that sprout my interest when looking for a first buy on a CNC machine. I have found Taig and Tormach to be the two names of choice. I dont know which is the better buy from what I am looking to do. I would like to mill some chess pieces as well as car parts like knobs, shifters, trim and other things. I would also like to use my CNC machine to finish off some gun kits like the M911 kit that is sold etc... I studied some in college on machining but I cannot afford a Haas or Mazak so wanted to start with something I can afford. Will the Tormach PCNC 1100 suffice? Seems like the Tormach is a turnkey setup while the Taigs I have seen lack a complete setup. Any help/ (personal advice) is greatly appreicated. I plan to work with materials like cast iron, steel, aluminum, and Poly's.

Range of travel on the Tormach seems great for the price = 18" x 9.5" x 16.25" (X,Y,Z) is there other machines that are comparable? Thanks again

There's a big difference between Taig and Tormach in size and price- I think Taig will be too small for your application. Tormach would handle all your milling, but you need a lathe too. Take a look at the Patriot
SHOPMASTER USA | CNC Machine and Tooling
It has nearly the same milling capacity as the Tormach plus a big lathe as well. Priced about mid way between Taig and Tormch.

[awerby]

and they do come as turn-key CNC mills, even with an optional rotary 4th axis. If your parts fit in its work envelope, then it would probably do a good job on them, although if they're too big to fit, then obviously it's not the right choice for you. The Tormach is considerably bigger, and it will take a heavier cut, using a bigger tool. But its stock spindle is slower, so the Taig would have the edge on highly-detailed parts until you add the optional high-speed spindle.

The Shopmaster is an interesting alternative, but it's in an entirely different weight-class, as well as price category. I'm more familiar with the older models than the new Patriot, so I'd let people who are using it speak to its pros and cons.

Andrew Werby
ComputerSculpture.com — Home Page for Discount Hardware & Software

[silverdrgn]

Thank you kindly for all your responses so far. It has helped me alot knowing that I would also need a lathe to perform operations as well. I though that the Tormach would handle all my needs. So far it seems like the tormach and the shopmaster are key. I will do more reading on the shopmaster, and continue to do more reading on the tormach to see if there are any additional items I need to buy to get started and running. I posted for a mentor in my area but have gotten no responses so far. Going to use youtube links found here to check out some tutorials, this may help answer some other newb questions I may have. Any more info anyone else wants to post would be very much appreciated. Thanks again everyone!

[Steve Seebold]

Silverdrgn,

I am a ex-owner of a real CNC shop. I had a FADAL 3016 and a Haas TM1. I sold my shop in January 2008 due to some major health issues.

In July 2011, I took delivery of my Tormach PCNC1100 Series II. I have found that the Tormach will do everything my FADAL or Haas would do, it just takes a little longer.

My FADAL had a 10,000 RPM, 22 horsepower spindle and the Haas had 7.5 horsepower and 6,000 RPM. The Tormach has 1.5 horsepower, so naturally you can't take a cut with it like I could with the FADAL or the Haas.

I do the same type of work with the Toemach, but like I said, it just takes a little longer.

One BIG advantage the Tormach has over the other 2 machines is it didn't cost $75,000.00.

You mentioned Mazak. I worked in a shop that had 2 Mazak mills.

I looked at Mazak before I bought my FADAL in 2001, and for the price of the Mazak, I could have bought 4 factory remanufactured FADALs.

I am in San Clemente, CA. If you'd like to see my machine, send me a PM and we can set something up.

[Steve Seebold]

Since my last post, I have had a couple of jobs that were some kind of hardened steel. When I asked what kind of steel it is or how hard it is, my answer was "if I tell you I'll have to shoot you". I don't know what kind of steel it was, but my estimate is that were in the 50 to 55 rockwell range and my PCNC1100 cut them just fine.

[jimglass]

I have heard nothing but good thinks about Tormach.

I have seen them running at the CNC Workshop. They had a Tormach with a
toolchager. There was a medium sized bed mill at the CNC workshop that looked like a great machine for the home machinist. It was made in China and I do not recall the name.

Tormach is comming out with a lathe.

Myself, I build my own CNC machines or retrofit existing CNC machines and run them in my shop.

Hopefully I'll be at the CNC Workshop again in a couple of weeks in Ann Arbor
Michigan.
Jim

[wizard]

Here I'm talking physical size and how you would fit them in a mill. Get an idea of the working envelope required and go from there.

The Taig is a very good light mill thus the comments you often see about the machine. It is notable that Taig hardware shows up all over the place even if their name isn't glued to the front. Howevever all machines have their limits and I have to wonder if the Taig might be a bit small for your needs.

You should also consider looking at the Little Machine Shop and the mills they carry. I've seen them running at Cabin fever and was impressed with the value considering the price. These are smaller than the Tormach and do have a smaller working envelope than might be needed in your case.

If you intend to look at the Tormach you might as well consider CNC conversions of a Bridgeport clone and used CNC bed mills. The Chinese import bed mills are also worth a look for CnC conversion.

As others have pointed out you may (will) also need a lathe to attack some of those projects. It doesn't stop there either, plan on a bench grinder, belt sander and maybe even a band saw or two. Plus an endless number of hand tools and instruments.

[Doug Laser]

That's true, why you don't consider to buy a cnc router from china mainland. there are also some good quality machine as your review.The price is also lower than others . Laser Engraver - Engraving Laser Cutting Machine, Vinyl cutter, Cutting plotter by Redsail

[Maglin]

My vote is to go for the Tormach. Converting a mill takes time and their is a learning curve. The Tormach will do what you need for the 1911's. I don't think the Tiag is up to the task for doing steel and SS.