[WhippyBoy]

Hello all,

I'm new here and have been reading around trying to get a sense of what CNC machine I need and would greatly appreciate the advice from the CNC vets here. I'll be running the CNC out of my garage workshop and primarily using it to produce prototypes and short runs on products to test the market. My budget is up to $20,000 but needs to include all tooling and accessories. I want to stay away from Chinese companies because of reliability and support issues. I've been reading some of the threads on the Tormach and it seems like a good fit but concerned that the 1.5hp motor will not be able to pump out enough products when I go to do my short runs. (will be doing firearm parts and accessories, e.g. lowers, stocks, etc).

Is there anyone here (experience with the Tormach or any other machine within my budget) who can provide some much needed advice or personal experience?

[DareBee]

I will let others speak about the machines.
I will say that you will need at least 5G in tooling to start running multiple parts in a VMC

[allinmach]

Hello all,

I'm new here and have been reading around trying to get a sense of what CNC machine I need and would greatly appreciate the advice from the CNC vets here. I'll be running the CNC out of my garage workshop and primarily using it to produce prototypes and short runs on products to test the market. My budget is up to $20,000 but needs to include all tooling and accessories. I want to stay away from Chinese companies because of reliability and support issues. I've been reading some of the threads on the Tormach and it seems like a good fit but concerned that the 1.5hp motor will not be able to pump out enough products when I go to do my short runs. (will be doing firearm parts and accessories, e.g. lowers, stocks, etc).

Is there anyone here (experience with the Tormach or any other machine within my budget) who can provide some much needed advice or personal experience?

Hello taozeo,

If a 6000RPM,2HP AC spindle motor will fix your task ,take a look at Novakon if you have time , Torus Pro | Novakon
I can assure you of their very good customer service and the qualified machine .
PS: their PDB will be available on their next shipment of mills very soon after the Cabin Fever Expo.
I bet the ATC will be coming soon as well .

Regards

[bjones]

warning allinmach is just a shill, likely an employee of novakon. speaks pretty good english for someone from china, eh ray?

[wwendorf]

Hello all,

I'm new here and have been reading around trying to get a sense of what CNC machine I need and would greatly appreciate the advice from the CNC vets here. I'll be running the CNC out of my garage workshop and primarily using it to produce prototypes and short runs on products to test the market. My budget is up to $20,000 but needs to include all tooling and accessories. I want to stay away from Chinese companies because of reliability and support issues. I've been reading some of the threads on the Tormach and it seems like a good fit but concerned that the 1.5hp motor will not be able to pump out enough products when I go to do my short runs. (will be doing firearm parts and accessories, e.g. lowers, stocks, etc).

Is there anyone here (experience with the Tormach or any other machine within my budget) who can provide some much needed advice or personal experience?

The Tormach 770 or 1100 will work great for you. I have a 770 (didn't have the room for an 1100 without getting rid of too many other toys). They are fast machines and do excellent work, also very accurate. I've had no problem keeping .0005 tolerance on my parts. I also do all my production on my 770. A friend of mine was doing some of my work on his Haas, and in all honesty, his machine was only a couple of minutes faster than the speed I can run it on my machine, and my 770 cost me $116k LESS than his.

I'll take the Tormach for my needs any day of the week. I've heard good things about the Novakon too, but to date, they don't have a readily available power draw bar or tool changer. I got both with my Tormach. No way I'd not have an ATC as it's a huge timesaver.

Hope that helps, and if you want to ask me questions, PM me your number and I'll call you.

Thanks,
Wade

[AiR_GuNNeR]

warning allinmach is just a shill, likely an employee of novakon. speaks pretty good english for someone from china, eh ray?

I can't speak for allinmach, but I can speak for the Novakon mill. The next generation Novakon has all servo controls, including servo spindle motor if I recall. I can't recall the name of the new model, but they are supposed to have it at the York PA show. It's worth looking into as a comparison to other offerings.

[allinmach]

warning allinmach is just a shill, likely an employee of novakon. speaks pretty good english for someone from china, eh ray?

Bjones, it dones't matter too much if i am a "shill " or not.
is it Not correct that i suggest people to see the machine in personal before they take the money out of their pocket? I believe a serious research before payment won't hurt people.
Also , what i said is the trueth . Of course , you can believe it or not before you open eyes to their mills .

PS: I can tell you that your conclusion is thoroughly Wrong since it came out of my "pretty good" English .

Thanks

[victorofga]

i fyou want production then you need a haas mill..
well that sligthly more than 20K...

under 20 counting on tooling and some decent cadcam you dont have too many chance to picking..

grizzly also has cnc.. a kneemill retrofitted..

G0499 10" X 54" 3-Axis CNC Milling Machine

[WhippyBoy]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I wish I could afford a Haas! A minimill would be awesome...

[tail stock]

read the complains at novakon.com very unhappy customers

[WhippyBoy]

i fyou want production then you need a haas mill..
well that sligthly more than 20K...

under 20 counting on tooling and some decent cadcam you dont have too many chance to picking..

grizzly also has cnc.. a kneemill retrofitted..

G0499 10" X 54" 3-Axis CNC Milling Machine

For the price of this Grizzly, I can pick up a brand new Haas TM1. Haas seems to be top dog in the CNC Mill world.

[greenie71]

I have a Haas TM2 and I can tell you it is a great machine. $20 K is tough for a good mill though. We have @ $32K invested with tooling and everything else. But it has a 10 tool ATC and it makes all the difference. Maybe get a good mill and check some auctions for CAT- 40 tooling. Usually you can find decent deals there.