[ControlzGUY]

Hello,

Just wondering if anybody knows the story behind Torcam CNC machines, where they were made, years of production and so on? I did some searching and cam up empty, anybody familiar with them?

Thanks

[lcvette]

Do you mean Tormach?

[DSpeck]

No, he meant Torcam. They apparently did, among other things, updates of high school shops' CNC machines. I bought a benchtop CNC lathe (Meccanica Cortini H105) that had been updated to run from a Torcam control box, rather than the original proprietary control. It was basically a power supply, 3 stepper drivers (X, Z and tool turret), and a breakout board. It was a breakout board that communicated with a (probably ISA bus) card installed in a computer. I didn't get the computer, so I switched out the BOB for a C10 from CNC4PC, and got it moving. I kept the Torcam drivers for now, although I want to put something more modern in there.

They were located in Woodbridge Ontario, but were taken over or sold the company in the late 90's, I think. I don't know a lot more, as they have been gone a long time, so there is not much more available on the net. Their small CNC machines come up on ebay or Kijiji from time to time, and seem like they were sturdily built, judging by the pictures - never seen a Torcam machine IRL, myself.