I would hate to admit to any followers how much time I've spent on this topic of what to purchase, Tormach 1100MX vs.HAAS, SYIL, AutoMate, StarFire, Bolton vs. Matthews precision ets. etc My decision to eliminate all but 2 machines boils down to the new Tormach 1100MX versus a HASS Mini mill. My estimations are that Tormachs' free shipping is a way to put a BIG zero in MY bottom line cost in the door to making chips expense column. Purchasing a new HAAS Mini mill, depending on where you live, trucking and rigging would be $2.5K -3.5K . Remember you also have to pay for a HAAS tech. to come to your shop to set-up your new mill, which may involve a Hotel stay, Airline ticket and going rate on his/her labor, or your warranty maybe void.Cost $$$??? and I'm still not even close to making chips.Don't forget possible phase converter and remember we need tooling.
My estimate to your first chip is about 45K Since Tormach has not released the new pricing for 2019 my guess is that the HAAS Mini mill would cost you roughly 18K inc.tax more than the Tormach 1100MX to first chip. One thing I'm very sure about is, Tormach is not trying to compete with HAAS, when we do this comparison we have to compare apples to apples, and this is definitely apples to oranges. If I had 45K to spend on a CNC mill, I would never even consider a Tormach they are 2 VERY different machines. If I had a max budget of 27K I would start my research looking at a HAAS, and quickly move on to a Tormach. Tormach has a lot of people a heck of a lot smarter than me,and I'll bet the 1st. question they asked the developing department was, "Are we trying to compete with HAAS or are we trying to make the best product at our price point" with the answer to that question they sharpened their pencils and went to work developing the 1100MX. which I think is going to be the best CNC Mill in it's class hands down.