[al010964]

Hi All,

It appears that my thread, regarding a particular part supplier has been removed. Not sure of the reason for this, and upon doing some further research it appears that at least one similar recent thread also has been removed that discusses the same supplier. I was particularly careful in ensuring that my post was factual I am going to assume that it crossed a line somewhere; for which I have sort further information from the moderators; and apologise for in advance. As my intent was to open up a transparent dialog with the supplier as after 76 emails it was clear to me that I wasn’t making ground.

However I have decided to re-post my original post after anonymizing the company, as I personally believe that the makers in this space that buy this equipment have a right to know about problems that have arisen so that they can ask pertinent questions when making significant purchasing decisions in this case almost $4k after delivery and taxes etc. As we all know that the tooling costs for the Tormach machines is a significant factor as it is for all machines, and being an informed purchaser I believe is a noble cause.

Several people have been in contact with me about issues that they have had with ‘said’ company so this is not a random event. I feel strongly that erasing history so others can make the same mistake devalues the foundation of these forums which is to help others. If this information was available when I was researching modular tooling plates I would have made a very different decision.

I would like this thread to survive (for the above reason’s) be so I *kindly* request that anyone adding to the discussion be careful not to mention names, and people looking to purchase a modular plate can be informed about possible issues or they can PM me if they have any questions.

However to avoid any confusion I will be clear that these issues do' NOT relate to any product from NYCNC or SMW.

Cheers,
Adrian

[al010964]

Re-Post removing any company identifying information

Hi All,

I thought that I would a blurb on my purchase of a mounting solution for my Tormach 770.

I would also like to point out that I have a Tormach 770 and not the 1100 and this is to provide anyone making the same purchase I made with for the 770 fair warnings of the issues that I encountered, as this purchase has been less than satisfying experience.

My order was placed on the 12 of April 17, and then a small order place for some loose bit and pieces a few days latter; total order was in ballpark +$3k exc freight, the bulk of which was the Modular tooling plate at circa $2K. I won’t go into all the details and the delays of trying to get the parts shipped, and the constant emails trying to get it part shipped at my expense, as I was trying to get the main plate for a project etc etc. But the shipping date ended up being the 7th of June, after much anguish.

This was a big delay, and I found it extremely frustrating that I could never get a definitive time line from the company. And I wasn’t able to get it part shipped …. Anyway I was annoyed but my stuff was on it’s way; and that frustration had ended….. or so I thought.

The package arrived beautifully packed , no damage at all. Obviously the main idea of purchasing this System is so that you have a base plate, and then setup all your sub-plates e.g. Vice, 4th Axis, Tail Stock and it kind of all bolts together and is more or less self-aligning. This is where things are not as it should have been.


1st issue - now the main base plate is supposed to be the premium product, to my amazement the alignment pins fall outside the 770 keyways… so you have one pin in the keyway and the other falls short by about an inch, which kind of defeats the purpose. Disappointingly when this was raised with the company, the issue was known about.. but (a) I was not advised in any of the email conversations prior to purchase and (b) They had several fixes that while less than ideal, were acceptable to me, but nothing was supplied with the shipment, and they just off loaded a +$2K plate that they knew wouldn’t align with a 770. :nono:

Second Issue - 4th Axis Tilt Plate and 4th Axis Tail stock don’t fit … the slots are, short – The response from the company was just grind my alignment pins back, now we aren’t just talking about shaving a corner of here we and there we are talking about grinding 1/3 -1/2 of the pin away to make them fit. This was unacceptable to me and I am still waiting for the fix, and apparently I am getting some ‘custom’ pins made.

Third issue – the correct screws are missing for the Modular Angle plate, not a big issue but annoying, particularly when their first solution was for me to turn my own fastners.

Fourth Issue – Several items that I ordered were missing from the kit namely a locating pin kit and some longer pins, again not a major issue and should have been easily fixed.

So after a few emails back and forth with the company, they have said they will get some fixes out to me – I am not over joyed, but they said they would fix it! Asked the obvious question; When ! … to which the normal answer of soon was supplied, that was the 29th June.

It has now been over 7 weeks and I still don’t have a shipping date to getting the fixes to a product that shouldn’t have been this far out … we are talking about machining company here, that is advertising a reasonably high tolerance product here.

This has been without a doubt the most frustrating purchase that I have ever made, and being in Australia I purchase 90% of my gear out of the States. I have sent over 76 emails to the company over the life of this purchase, and no doubt will send many more before I get this finalised.

I have been extremely patient - But up until this point I have been deeply disappointed, obviously 76 emails covers a lot of ground which hasn’t been detailed here. The other support email address didn’t produce any results as probably 1/3 of my emails have been sent to that address as well.

I have tried to keep this objective and too the facts, but I think that any Tormach 770 owner needs to be aware of these issues if they are considering this line. Generally you can judge a company of how it faces a challenge, I await to see how it responds . As I know that these forums get read by the company, and my emails direct to the company about these technical issues are falling on deaf ears.

Cheers
Adrian

[daniellyall]

Strange people would think you were meaning J s

[al010964]

Strange people would think you were meaning J s

Hopefully my coment in the first post in BOLD covers that, as I wanted to be very clear, it was NOT from him. I hate the fact that I had to even mention his orgs NYCNC and SMW but I know that he carry's a line of modular plates and wanted to ensure there was no inference that any of the issues I had relate to his product.

I have never purchased from him, never met him but will probably buy from him in the future. I personally think what he has done with his YouTube channel and the maker community in general has been fantastic.

Cheers,
Adrian

[daniellyall]

Yer there would be more chances of J S grabbing a moving end mill than selling something that does not fit as advertised, There was nothing in your last removed post to indicate that you meant him.

[MichaelHenry]

It appears that my thread, regarding a particular part supplier has been removed. Not sure of the reason for this, and upon doing some further research it appears that at least one similar recent thread also has been removed that discusses the same supplier. I was particularly careful in ensuring that my post was factual I am going to assume that it crossed a line somewhere; for which I have sort further information from the moderators; and apologise for in advance. As my intent was to open up a transparent dialog with the supplier as after 76 emails it was clear to me that I wasn’t making ground.

It's a shame that site management feels it necessary to censor honest opinions here. Maybe it has something to do with ad revenue or Friendly Lawyers. The least they could do is have the balls to explain why a thread has been locked or "disappeared". Hopefully parties seeking tooling plates for this class of machine in future will have the sense to PM you or one of the others that has expressed an opinion in this or similar threads.

[al010964]

Hi All,

Thought I would post a quick update, for those that got to read the last thread prior to it being deleted you would have seen a message from 'said' supplier who advised (my parts) were ready to go and would ship the next day .... i.e. the Monday a week a go.

So have waited patiently for yet another week - Well the parts still haven't shipped ! so now it is 8 weeks and 5 days since they said that they would fix their defective product and still, I have not been supplied a fix to a product that shouldn't have needed one!

To be transparent I did receive an email from them on Wed the 23rd saying that they needed to drive them to the post office ..... !

I was hoping that this thread would bring some attention to their customer service or lack their of, but it seems they they are not phased... possibly due to the fact that the real history of prior events has manged to be cleaned up, behind the scenes.

Starting to get pretty frustrated, as have never outed a company like this before .... normally just take it on the chin, but this is absolute :bs: but I have never had this magnitude of a problem either.

I think I might just chuck the 78 emails to my Bank (as my evidence that I have tried to sort the problem out) and then advise them, 'the goods not as described' and let them sort it out.

An Unhappy Customer

Adrian

[MichaelHenry]

Looks like nothing has changed then. I suppose there is no chance of having the bank reverse the charges? There are other fixture tooling vendors out there, like

Stevens Engineering Inc. Home

[al010964]

Thanks Michael,

Didn't know about this company and looking at the web site they have some pretty cool gear ! might look at their angle block as looks smaller than the one I have and as I have the 770 I have limits on my height.

Thanks for the post,

Adrian

[MichaelHenry]

I'm pretty sure that there are other manufacturers out there that sell fixture plates. Thought I'd bookmarked a few but can't find them now. Pierson makes some interesting small pallet systems but I don't think that they sell table-sized plates.

[tosatool1]

I just wanted to share with this thread that all of Adrians issues have been resolved. This was a particularly difficult order with multiple custom accessories and shipped around the world. 1 of over 200 orders this year my company has filled. Please feel free to contact us directly with any questions or concerns. Tosa Tool | Manufacturing Solutions for Small to Medium Sized Businesses

[al010964]

Hi All,

Saw the thread was bumped so thought I would give an update.

Issues still not resolved, are the fourth axis and tail stock for the 770. In short they don’t fit the key’s. A fix was apparently sent but never received.

I did get some alignment pin’s for the main modular table, having now had a good look at them. Looking at the finish i don’t believe they were ground and I have some slop in one of them, in the bed key way when I finally installed on the weekend.

I did manage to finally get the other parts that I ordered, and was sent a free sample of something which I unfortunately already had as a peace offering. But really what I wanted was all the bits to work and they do not!

This was not a custom order, it was all items listed on the web site. And for anyone to say that the world is good in my book is just talking :bs:

I have quite frankly just given up and will probably get the parts broached to fix the issue, being what I asked for - i.e. the correct fitting plates isn’t going to happen. And if the fix is the same quality as the fix for the main plate it won’t be worth even fitting.

I don’t expect any further developments, as I am not chasing this supplier anymore.

Cheers,
.adrian

[tosatool1]

Dear Adrian,
We will reship the key way blocks to you if you have not found them in the shipment box. It is possible they fell out. Jerri assumed you found them as you never replied to her again. We apologize for the trouble you have had with your order. Please continue to communicate with us about your troubles before you post online.