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Journeys End for Tormach number 2
Hi All.
Well its been a long journey for this 1100. China to Las Vegas only to turn around and head back to the coast and back on board, to 'down under' NZ, trucks to Wellington and and finally up my driveway. On the go for over two months.
I have been using 1100 number one for seven years now and it was a difficult decision deciding which way to go for NC mill number 2. I thought long and hard about a Hurco, Milltronics, Sharp, Haas, etc, but finally the scales tipped in favour of another Tormach. If I lived on the flat, or had more space, or was dong more production work...or was younger, the scales might have tipped in favour of a full Industrial type machine, but the Tormach won out in my situation..
You might have noticed from previous posts I do Moldmaking, prototypes and sort runs of Parts.
Keen.
Re: Journeys End for Tormach number 2
Congrats on your second child! You must be one proud Father :-). I too went through the same thought process as you and picked up a second Tormach vs. another model. There was no need to repeat the learning curve of another manufacturer's machine (and potentially a different spare parts/support cost equation). I produce various prototypes for food processing and packaging development work as part of my consulting portfolio. After analyzing our capacity vs. actual future motivations and typical part dimensions I couldn't justify going another way. A drawn out analysis process had me settle on a 770 as my second machine because the intricate work I do with titanium alloys (requiring small carbide EM's) was made much more efficiently due to the higher base spindle speed capability of the 770. Basically, I now use my 1100 for mostly parts comprised of stainless steel and tool steels and the 770 runs the titanium and aluminum exclusively. The added rigidity of the 1100 is missed sometimes though, but the world is full of compromises :-). Hopefully the undulations of the boat ride have lulled your new mill into a state of optimal tram!
Re: Journeys End for Tormach number 2
Quote:
Originally Posted by
pickled
Congrats on your second child! You must be one proud Father :-). I too went through the same thought process as you and picked up a second Tormach vs. another model. There was no need to repeat the learning curve of another manufacturer's machine (and potentially a different spare parts/support cost equation). I produce various prototypes for food processing and packaging development work as part of my consulting portfolio. After analyzing our capacity vs. actual future motivations and typical part dimensions I couldn't justify going another way. A drawn out analysis process had me settle on a 770 as my second machine because the intricate work I do with titanium alloys (requiring small carbide EM's) was made much more efficiently due to the higher base spindle speed capability of the 770. Basically, I now use my 1100 for mostly parts comprised of stainless steel and tool steels and the 770 runs the titanium and aluminum exclusively. The added rigidity of the 1100 is missed sometimes though, but the world is full of compromises :-). Hopefully the undulations of the boat ride have lulled your new mill into a state of optimal tram!
Hi pickled. Yeah that was another reason - having two different machines is a very inefficient learning curve. Have two the same builds on the knowledge, confidence and experience base. Interesting your comments on the 770. The only difference in the bearing layout that I can see from the drawings is a spacer between the bearing pairs on the 770. Does anyone have any more knowledge on this. I am planning to install another pulley set and increase the revs to about 9,000 rpm on my 1100. But I want to upgrade the bearing design first, as I have on my first Tormach.
Keen
Re: Journeys End for Tormach number 2
Your tormach has gone far! vegas to here was a day
Would like to note I have same bolt embeds in floor for winch anchor bracket :) and would have used if needed.
I have read the 770 spindle is balanced for the higher speed operation.
Is that what you are doing is using a 770 spindle ?
Otherwise I have no experience with this subject.
The tool holders all work with new machine what a plus!!!
I have a fortune in those !
md
Re: Journeys End for Tormach number 2
Keen, other than that bearing spacing there was definitely some balancing performed on the pulley/rotational assemblies and even the TTS-R8 adaptor collet differed from my Series II 1100 (2 grooves vs. 1). I do believe that as long as you can benchmark your vibration, and pay careful attention to balancing rotating parts, your plan for swapping a pulley should be quite feasible. I have a fluke 805 vibration monitoring set-up that I have used to keep an eye on my equipment. It is a good trouble shooting tool. Some time next year I'm going to upgrade my series II to a series III and do some additional optimization work/tweaking. From a maintenance and performance stand-point I really can't complain about what I have now, but there is always something left on the table by an OEM. As others have mentioned my first modification will be to bang out some stainless way covers just to provide enhanced protection of those lovely sliding surfaces and ball screws!
