[LazyMan]

Anyone have an 8L yet? There's basically no YouTube videos yet. Seen Saunders have one in January and never updated about it and titan got one but no videos yet about it.

[mountaindew]

I posted a few notes about 8l on a thread in the 15l forum, search there, I will try to answer any questions. . Also I posted short videos on instagram.
In short the 8l is a precision collet lathe. I have used small collet threading lathes that cost 25k$ and this machine would do about the same.

I think smw shipped their 8l to titans to use.

[jamma]

I just got the final pieces of mine and put it together this past weekend. Tidy little package. Haven't spent enough time on it to offer much in the way of a review, but it seems like a good machine for what it is. Mine is a small garage workshop with limited space and power, hence the 8L was a good fit for me. I look forward to either gang tooling or an automatic tool turret upgrade in the future.

[mountaindew]

Jamma er
Good choice getting touchscreen console. I didn't and then they were out of stock. It Will help save on movements. Open, close doors, start, stop, jog, measure type and set tool offsets. I'm always busy when running or setting up my 8l.

my overall user notes

Good quality 5c collets will reduce some runout frustration on longer profiles.
Coolant gets in collet spindle area. I remove collet, clean when done for day. This keeps it working optimum.
Can be fussy to align tool post holder.
I use cam for code so i have little experience with conversational.
Super easy to run when setup. Can take time to define tools and set offsets but is very accurate when done with care.

[jamma]

Thanks, Mountaindew. Are you using F360 for CAM? Does the 15L post processor work? Got any feed/speed advice? I plan to build tool libraries for aluminum, brass, and steel and CAM templates for common operations for each material, too. I'll post them when I get them dialed in -- might take a while as my shop time is scarce these days. I really think such things should be more commonly shared; why reinvent the wheel?

PS: Have you tried a stopper of some sort in the hollow of the collet closer (in the left compartment/bay) to minimize the coolant seepage?

[mountaindew]

I started with sprutcam a couple years before fusion was available. I use the 15l post for SprutCAM but it required me to flip everything to get correct x axis g code . Not hard to do in sprutcam with experience but it is not a normal standard either. Just took some time to figure out all the correct settings. I dont know about fusion and how to trick it into posting code with positive x axis numbers. I would bet there is a way to do it and use the fusion 15l post. Not clear why tormach made the x axis direction different than 15l or most industry standard cnc lathes. This confused me from day one.

Accurate, complete tool definitions are required to get good accurate code for part profiles. There was a learning curve in sprutcam to get that part sorted out. Little more to it then setting up end mills and drills for a mill or router.

Feeds and speeds a kind of subjective and can vary widely. Tool size, insert profile, insert type, diameter of material, ...... List of variables. Is long.
I dont have a lot of experience either so I am all over the place with numbers and experimenting all the time. I try for good chip breaking. Making 1" or less curls. Long chips turn into birds nests and are in general a pain. Then a finish skim pass to improve the finish.

The precision spindle surface the collet locks against is my main concern with coolant over the long term . I noticed without regular cleaning just changing a 5c collet becomes kind of sticky and not as precise or smooth when clamping material. Much of the precision in this lathe is on the ground surfaces for the collets.
Not a big concern. Most all tools require some sort of care or special attention to make them last and perform better.