[spumco]

Cliff

non-Tormach owner here who owns & loves my ITTP. Yes, I'm switching from R8/TTS to BT30 soon(ish).

I purchased a 10k cartridge spindle and have a few details to work out (new spindle motor, new PDB, bore the head for the spindle, etc.) but I should be starting work on the conversion soon.

Primary reason is that I want better process reliability than TTS affords so I can run with less attention. Despite having drawbar torque up to about 35-40ft-lbs I get tool pull-out with 3/8" & 1/2" end mills. Even with extremely short gauge length stub end mills, dry collet, and clean tool holder shanks. While its rare, the minute chatter or squealing starts I know the toolholder has probably moved.

I can mill aluminum all day long with no issue, but as I'm doing more steel work recently I find I have to be extremely conservative with my cuts to avoid any chatter. I simply can't trust the TTS with my particular mill on paying work. For personal stuff, fine - but when I don't have any extra customer stock I can't take a chance.

Your video demonstrating the reduction in friction due to vibration was very useful - very similar to a concrete vibrator. One of those can cause peanut butter consistency concrete to flow like water.

And thank you for the videos, very informative and much appreciated.

-Ralph

[keen]

Thanks for that Ralph, most apprecieated.

"Primary reason is that I want better process reliability than TTS affords so I can run with less attention." Are you running a toolchanger ...or manual changes and just want to eliminate TTS shifting ?

(assuming you are not running one ) For doing your paying work, what are your thoughts on a toolchanger (I am making a video on this subject currently).

Cliff

[spumco]

Cliff,

Yes to both - I want a toolchanger to speed up production work, and I want to eliminate TTS pull-out. A BT30 spindle is the first step.

Not running a tool changer right now, but building/buying one is also in the near future after the spindle & motor are installed and sorted out. Right now I'm doing manual tool changes with a home-brew power draw bar.

The work I've been doing - so far - seems to require many tool changes. I've been trying to maximize productivity with multi-part fixtures, but it drives me nuts to have an expensive part-making robot slave who can't put down the fork and pick up the spoon without me.

As far as reliability goes, I have had a few jobs with longer (>5 minutes) roughing operations where it'd be nice to go do something else like clean the shop or whatever. But due to previous pull-out events I simply can't walk away from the machine if I'm cutting steel. Aluminum - fine. But not steel unless I've programmed extremely conservative tool paths with small (low pressure) tools. Even then I'm standing within arm's reach to feed-hold at the first sign of squealing. I've tried the old "let it run, see if it works itself out" method - no dice.

So - even if I never get a toolchanger, I still want to eliminate tool pull-out without resorting to frustratingly slow machining times.

Take this with a large grain of salt: I'm extremely new at machining & CNC, so I'm not any sort of expert on what is needed to do efficient production work. I just happen to be a new-ish hobby guy with a fantastic mentor who's been throwing his overflow work at me.

-Ralph

[jdclark]

Pretty basic question- If you don't mind changing the tools by hand, the TTS is fine. But if you plan on an automatic tool changer system, the BT 30 is essential.

[mountaindew]

Pretty basic question- If you don't mind changing the tools by hand, the TTS is fine. But if you plan on an automatic tool changer system, the BT 30 is essential.

With a check for around $5000.00 sent to Tormach you to can have auto tool change with TTS or bt30 depending on spindle
About half the price for the machine alone!