[zephyr9900]

Presented wihthout comment (other than maybe an "I told you so" about not reacting the disengagement force through the spindle bearings. ) It is a very nice implementation. OK, presented with comment...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kxw9d6kI7A

(sorry about the quote--it was the only way I could stop frakkin' CNCZone from embedding the video...)

Randy

[PoppaBear10]

Wow, looks very simular to my design........ but it is smaller, and I think the swing out feature is nice.

scott

[jalessi]

It looks like a very clean and functional design.
Ill bet Tormach owners will be very happy.

Bravo

[300sniper]

i like it. that is something i could use.

[zephyr9900]

Scott, be assured I intend no disrespect for your drawbar design. But the "floating" design of the Tormach disengager does hearken back to my concern about keeping the spindle bearings out of the loop of compressing the Belleville washers (apparently a concern that Tormach shared...)

At this point I'm just wondering if the design is retrofittable to the existing spindle, or if it requires swapping in a new spindle with the collar.

Randy

[philbur]

The reaction collar is probable a replacement part for the pulley retaining nut.

Phil

At this point I'm just wondering if the design is retrofittable to the existing spindle, or if it requires swapping in a new spindle with the collar.
Randy

[rowbare]

That is a nice clean-looking setup. Now if they applied it to their BT30 spindle cartridge...

[sharpshooter90]

Wow, looks very simular to my design........ but it is smaller, and I think the swing out feature is nice.

scott

Originally Posted by sharpshooter90
It could be in hibernation mode due to the economy or a victim of " tunnel vision". As a product, I visualize the Tormach as a high end home garage machine. Designed for the semi-professional who wants to be able to produce things to a higher tolerance than those low priced bench mill conversions or old used Bridgeports. With a realistically delivered and running price around 12-15K, it is 1/2 of a Haas machine. I don't visualize it as the kind of machine you would find if you walked into a big commercial shop run by experienced pros. Therefore the ATC is really a luxury item for this one man garage band- not a necessity. When times are good, people tend to spend on convenience items like the Starbucks drive up window. But this is 2008, and people are now making coffee at home and taking it to work in an old fashioned thermos. The other issue with the idea is that it is machine specific, so the designer is not only at the mercy of the economy, but also the fortunes of Tormach, which according to some other posts here, are uncertain. If the ATC designer is doing it as a commercial venture, he may be better off to make it a universal design that could be adapted to the myriad machines on the market. On the other hand, he might just be doing it for the enjoyment of seeing if it works.

I'll quote my own post from 3 months ago.
My money says the ATC never hits the market. It's going to be too expensive and the market too limited for any sort of large volume production. Scott is fighting too many obstacles in this project. The economy is a major factor, but even in good times this is a limited and machine specific product, so the price has got to be high- I'll bet over 4K once he factors in a reasonable cost for the development. The real beta test will not happen until he has a few in the field, then will come the second round of mods and expenses. Even if he gets past those hurdles and has a steady stream of orders, the big jolt is yet to come. Because he has posted all this stuff on the forum, the design is now public domain. That means one of his customers may be an enterprising Chinaman who will ship the device off to Shanghai and within a few months have a copy on the market for 1/2 the price.
I was jumped on for those posts from many months back and called a naysayer etc. Now that they have their own " un-copy" how close was I on the price?

[philbur]

I thought the thread was about Tormach's new powered drawbar. Very spiffy it is to.

Did I miss something.

Phil

[PoppaBear10]

No Phil, you didnt, he never has anything good to say. He is one of those guys who has no talent himself, so he dogs those that do, or have the guts to put something forward.
I still am waiting to see anything he has done, to date nothing.......

scott

[philbur]

Anybody here any rumours on price?

Phil

[jdclark]

No Phil, you didnt, he never has anything good to say. He is one of those guys who has no talent himself, so he dogs those that do, or have the guts to put something forward.
I still am waiting to see anything he has done, to date nothing.......

scott

I don't know about his machinist skills, but he certainly predicted the outcome of this project- maybe he should change his name to Nostrodamus.
PS- he has actually posted quite a few projects on this forum

[PoppaBear10]

what project? mine? mine is sold to another OEM.......
I havent seen his ATC, can you point me to it?

scott

[R.DesJardin]

Anybody here any rumours on price?

Phil

This is something I've be waiting for and will add to my machine. Cost is just how long it will take to work into the budget.
Thanks Tormach!

[PoppaBear10]

like to see their price as well.

scott

[benji2505]

A pneumatic drawbar mechanism that replaces a mechanical one. Not hooked up to the machine- or PC-control. To my mind not very impressive.

Probably the marketing dept. just told that they had to publish something and they came up with this. I've seen something similar on youtube already.

How much would one be willing to pay to automate the 2-3 manual revolutions of the drawbar? Does the buyer already have a dry air access or is that investment on top?

It does not (hardly) accelerate the tool change process and it does definitely not automate it. It is probably just a first step on a long journey to an ATC.

Benji

[pete from TN]

They have shown their hand in a new product that is gonna be hopefully coming out for this machine. It is an elegant design, it allows the use of the tormach tooling or any r-8 as well with it's swing away design. It is electronically controlled so getting it computer controlled is very simple. The system is apparently able to retain the collet under normal machining operations safely enough to be potentially for sale from Tormach. It is fast, quiet, and just plain works!! It also does not make access to the motor and belts assembly difficult which is a good design feature. You are right that it is probably the start of a journey towards a tormach toolchanger which is in itself pretty cool. So I really do not understand your disapproval? I do not even own a Tormach machine and I am impressed by it, apparently I am not the only one either...peace man

[benji2505]

I am not disapproving this development or the design.

I am only questioning the "value added".

Benji

[pete from TN]

really gonna come down to how much does this baby cost? If it is inexpensive and you can take your toolchanges to a couple seconds and no manual labor involved than it is a big value. If it is very expensive and out of the reach of most of the owners of the machine then there is obviously no added value. I for one would like to have one but since I own an RF45 cnc I will have to make my own. It is only of value to you if you do a lot of machining and have many toolchanges or you just like the idea of having a power drawbar because it is cooler than no power drawbar!!

[Don Clement]

When times are good, people tend to spend on convenience items like the Starbucks drive up window. But this is 2008, and people are now making coffee at home and taking it to work in an old fashioned thermos.

I solved the expensive Starbucks addiction by giving up caffeine totally. Leaves way more to spend on machinery and tools.