[keen]

Hi folks.

I dismantled my new 1100 X,Y and table assembly late last year to check it out, and thought a video on that might be a useful resource for those considering doing the same.

Happy viewing! Keen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EchELgqGz-c

[bevinp]

Hi Keen,
Why did you disassemble the 1100, and what series is it?
Bevin

[keen]

Hi Keen,
Why did you disassemble the 1100, and what series is it?
Bevin

Hi Bevan - It is series 3, new last year.

Well the answer to your question is a long story. But in short it was partly to check the build and assembly quality.

I have dismantled and rebuilt several machine tools over the years. Many years ago I bought a worn out Colchester Triumph lathe and stripped it completely, then rebuild it including re machining the bed and all other slideways etc in my workshop, to eventually return it back to an accurate machine tool. Over the years I have also dismantled and reassembled and rebuild Chinese and American machine tools and equipment and developed a fascination for machine design and construction including factory assembly and QC. In recent years I have learned the hard way that assembly quality ex many aahh...low cost manufacturers can be very poor. I have some horror stories that would fill a few pages. I wont bore you with all these long winded details here, but it would be hard to understand my decision to dismantle without some sort of a brief background.

My findings for the 1100?...well again in short, I think for the price, Tormach do a very good job of the difficult task of QC from a distance. I greatly appreciate the huge efforts that Greg Jackson and his colleagues made, and the team at Tormach continue to make.

Keen

[JohnToner]

Keen,

Thanks for a great and informative video. Also, it's good to hear that Tormach isn't all that bad. I know machines in this price range can't be built in Europe or the USA though I don't fully understand why the cost of casting a chunk of iron should be dependent on where it's cast. I'm guessing any needed machining would be automated., Certainly assembly, setup, testing, and overall Q.C. would be significantly more expensive in Western countries than in counties that really just throw the machines together. Alternatively, for a few extra yuan, and with no EPA, OSHA, or affirmative action to contend with, the Chinese should be able to make quality yet cost effective machines

[keen]

Keen,

Thanks for a great and informative video. Also, it's good to hear that Tormach isn't all that bad. I know machines in this price range can't be built in Europe or the USA though I don't fully understand why the cost of casting a chunk of iron should be dependent on where it's cast. I'm guessing any needed machining would be automated., Certainly assembly, setup, testing, and overall Q.C. would be significantly more expensive in Western countries than in counties that really just throw the machines together. Alternatively, for a few extra yuan, and with no EPA, OSHA, or affirmative action to contend with, the Chinese should be able to make quality yet cost effective machines

Hi JT. Thanks for your appreciation. If I had the video information myself before starting it would have allowed better planning and a much quicker process...so I felt I should share.

China has been able to easily beat the world at manufacturing for many reasons, many of them completely unfair. It has been painful to watch over the years many western machine tool manufacturers fold in the face of impossibly tough competition from China. I have heard many tales of Chinese government electricity, raw material and start up subsidies. Add to that labour rates at a fraction of the west, and as you point out, the lack of many labour constraints. I take my hat off to Haas and the few others that have so far survived. Machine tool manufacturing in the UK has been absolutely decimated. The only way I could survive as Tool and Die maker in NZ myself, was to embrace "if you cant beat them, join them". But it has been a hard pill to swallow.

Anyway given that this has been allowed to happen, the upside is machine tools and engineering equipment is now ridiculously affordable.

Keen