[nitewatchman]

I would like to pull the trigger on the Tormach Enclosure for the 1100. Would appreciate feedback from anyone that has bought one.

Questions:

1) Are you pleased with it?

2) Does it rattle as the spindle goes through it's harmonic ranges?

3) The door tracks look a little "basic", do they work okay?

4) Can the top center cover be modified to work with an ATC/PDB? Primary need is to control dust from Ductile Iron machining.

5) Are the ATC components on the back of the column accessible after removing the rear cover trough?

6) Are the lights effective mounted in the top covers?

7) Are the lights wired to the main control switch?

8) Is it substantial enough to mount a handling device for the 8" fourth axis?

9) Any issues or problems?

10) After using it would you buy it again?

Thanks

nitewatchman

[Steve Seebold]

I would like to pull the trigger on the Tormach Enclosure for the 1100. Would appreciate feedback from anyone that has bought one.

Questions:

1) Are you pleased with it?

2) Does it rattle as the spindle goes through it's harmonic ranges?

3) The door tracks look a little "basic", do they work okay?

4) Can the top center cover be modified to work with an ATC/PDB? Primary need is to control dust from Ductile Iron machining.

5) Are the ATC components on the back of the column accessible after removing the rear cover trough?

6) Are the lights effective mounted in the top covers?

7) Are the lights wired to the main control switch?

8) Is it substantial enough to mount a handling device for the 8" fourth axis?

9) Any issues or problems?

10) After using it would you buy it again?

Thanks

nitewatchman

I got the first enclosure sold. I ordered it on June 4 and it arrived 3 or 4 days later. Now is where the problem has arisen. Right after I ordered the enclosure, we put out house up for sale. It seems my wife has always had a wild idea that she wants an ocean view. Well, she found one. We closed escrow yesterday and we should have the keys on Monday.

The new place is really cool. If you look to the North, you can see Signal Hill, that's about 35 miles away. To the West, I can see Catalina and San Clemente Islands. Catalina is about 30 miles away and San Clemente Island is about 55 miles out in the Ocean. To the South you can see the tip of Point Loma.

I'm glad I didn't assemble the enclosure right away because I would have had to take it apart to get it out of the garage.

I'll have the machine moved on Monday, August 25, and I'll assemble the enclosure after that. My wife can hardly wait for that day. She is so tired of having aluminum chips in the house. So am I.

After I get in the new place and get settled, I'm going to add a 4th axis to my machine. The question will be, do I add the 6 or the 8 inch table. When I had my Haas, I bought it with a 5C 4th axis and I was glad I did. There were a couple of times when if I didn't have the 4th axis, I wouldn't have had anything to do.

When I get back up running I'll post some pictures of my new set up.

I have reached a point where I am down to only one paying customer. I'll be 70 in October and I just don't want to work that hard any more. When I get the machine up and running again, if I don't have work from this customer, I'll either make RC boat parts, or I'll take some boats to a local lake and spend the day making a lot of noise.

[tmarks11]

It seems my wife has always had a wild idea that she wants an ocean view. ...

And you had the wild idea of a separate shop?

Looks like it is working out for both of you.

But moving is no fun. And moving with loads of machinery is pure hell. My last move (coast to coast) I had one 26' uhaul with nothing but tools and machinery in it.

[hanermo]

One U-haul ?
I needed 5 full sized trucks (one was house contents).

[Steve Seebold]

And you had the wild idea of a separate shop?

Looks like it is working out for both of you.

But moving is no fun. And moving with loads of machinery is pure hell. My last move (coast to coast) I had one 26' uhaul with nothing but tools and machinery in it.

It's going to work out for both of us. I get the whole 2 car garage and she gets her ocean view.

I found a guy who will move the machine for $400.00. For that price, I'm not going to mess with it. I can handle the benches, but I want help with the machine.

[tmarks11]

One option that is helpful: if you have a sunbelt rental nearby, you can rent a hydraulic drop-deck trailer, which makes it easier to get machinery on and off with a pallet jack. At $80-100 per day, it is money well spent.

https://www.sunbeltrentals.com/equip...l/1413/0240150

[nitewatchman]

Hey guys, appreciate adventures in moving but could you open another thread to discuss?

thanks

nitewatchman

[tmarks11]

sorry.

back OT, you are probably out of luck until Steve unpacks his, as he is probably the only early adopter here on the zone who has bought one yet.

wrt to the 4th axis, since this thing is just 16 gauge sheet metal with no structural steel involved, no way I would hang an 80-90# rotary table from it.

[nitewatchman]

wrt to the 4th axis, since this thing is just 16 gauge sheet metal with no structural steel involved, no way I would hang an 80-90# rotary table from it.

Yeah, you are probably right.

The thought of leaning into the enclosure to place the dead weight of the 4th axis makes my back hurt. Could use an engine hoist but that is also a little unwieldy.

Was really hoping someone had first hand knowledge of the installed box.

nitewatchman

[BAMCNC.COM]

I believe that artisan dice on YouTube would know all that.

[tmarks11]

good suggestion. He has a forum on his site, ask away!

Forum

[nitewatchman]

Order Tormach Enclosure and Auto Lubricator this morning. Should be here Monday or so.

Guess I will get to answer my own questions.

Need enclosure to manage dust from Ductile Iron Castings. May also connect to a dust collector nearby.

nitewatchman

[BAMCNC.COM]

Dust collector would be a good idea - Makes me want to start doing Carbon Fiber now

[FuriousGeorge]

I got the enclosure a few days ago and have just finished assembling it. I haven’t done much heavy use with it, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

1) Are you pleased with it?
For the most part, yes. It is a solid enclosure with some well thought out aspects. Some parts of it do feel rather cheaply/ fastly cobbled together. The electrical shield is poorly designed for two reasons. It covers the screws holes on the troughs, so the back wall panel must be put on before it (contrary to the instructions). It also has nothing attaching it to the mill on the right side, so it will bend and hang down if not supported by putting an additional hole there. Other than this, I am happy. It was a bit of a struggle making every piece fit together, but I think this is to be expected from a sheet metal enclosure. I did have to drill a few clearance holes a bit bigger/ bend some of the metal a bit.

Attachment 246530


2) Does it rattle as the spindle goes through it's harmonic ranges?

While I haven’t used it much, I’m going to say no. I did some moderately heavy test cuts in aluminum at various RPMs and nothing made it rattle. I was very afraid the doors would shake like crazy, but so far so good.

3) The door tracks look a little "basic", do they work okay?
They are a little basic. They get the job done, but not very elegantly. There are tracks on the bottom to keep the doors in place, but I may end modifying these in the future. It seems like a relatively easy job to put some rollers on there.

4) Can the top center cover be modified to work with an ATC/PDB? Primary need is to control dust from Ductile Iron machining.

Top center already works with the ATC/PDB, there is a hole in the top for the cable carrier to stick thru. To make it really dust proof you may have to make some small modifications. There are several holes in the top where dust could get thru- nothing a bit of duct tape couldn’t fix.

5) Are the ATC components on the back of the column accessible after removing the rear cover trough?
Yes, they are completely accessible. It’s actually easier to access them than with the old side walls. I actually cut my trough in half with a band saw so that I could leave them accessible.

6) Are the lights effective mounted in the top covers?
Yes, lights work great.

7) Are the lights wired to the main control switch?
No. Each light has its own 110 V chord. I plugged them all into a single power strip and now have an extra switch to turn on in the morning.

8) Is it substantial enough to mount a handling device for the 8" fourth axis?
No, I wouldn’t trust sheet metal for this. I had to put a vice on today and it was definitely harder now the front sticks out more. For a 100+ lb 4th axis I would definitely consider giving up my man-card and using an engine hoist.

9) Any issues or problems?

Aside from what I’ve already mentioned, no. I skipped the butyl tape for sealing. It seems pretty good to me without it and silicone caulk would be much easier to apply if I need sealing in the future.

10) After using it would you buy it again?
I would definitely buy it again. It would cost me more to design my own, and it probably wouldn’t be as good.

[nitewatchman]

Thanks so much for answering my questions, I appreciate your time.

Estes will deliver mine tomorrow between 12 and 4. The machine is clear and cleaned up ready for it this weekend.

I am not real happy about giving up the manual panel, might try to relocate it to the front. This would get the e-stop out where it should have been from the start.

Looking forward to getting it mounted and running.

nitewatchman

[mountaindew]

Yeah, you are probably right.

The thought of leaning into the enclosure to place the dead weight of the 4th axis makes my back hurt. Could use an engine hoist but that is also a little unwieldy.

Was really hoping someone had first hand knowledge of the installed box.

nitewatchman

Guess I will have to get my little trolley hoist finished and post some pictures. might help if description don't
Anyway. an idea and what I will use is 1-5/8 super strut from home depot electrical department "green prefinished"
I would mount one inside enclosure and another sandwiched outside spanning to sheet metal bends.
make a simple trolley and clevis for the super-strut interior profile "not made to lift a car but more then enough for a 4th axis"
then small rigging as required for moving your devices. In the end then super strut will both reinforce enclosure and provide the lift point.

I have the material and plan to do a trolley hoist out of the super-strut profile mounted to shop ceiling wood joists with all thread rods.
With same small trolley and clevis to move things from 80lbs to 400 lbs around my shop.
Should be small and not even noticeable up near ceiling and no great big beams that most people think of when it comes to these things.

just an idea
md

[rowbare]

You could add a skeleton frame out of 1x1 steel tubing. I imagine two uprights on each side that frame the cutouts joined by a pair of tubes across the top and braced as needed. That would be strong enough to support a lifting device plus vice or 4th axis.

bob

[FuriousGeorge]

Thanks so much for answering my questions, I appreciate your time.

Estes will deliver mine tomorrow between 12 and 4. The machine is clear and cleaned up ready for it this weekend.

I am not real happy about giving up the manual panel, might try to relocate it to the front. This would get the e-stop out where it should have been from the start.

Looking forward to getting it mounted and running.

nitewatchman

No problem.

I felt the exact same way about the control panel, so I skipped the relocation. I had already bought an external e-stop (30790 - Integrated Remote E-stop Kit) so I could have it out where it should have been from the start and I REALLY didn't want to give up my load meter.

Unless you're buying an enclosure to run some high pressure coolant I don't really see the need (if you already have an external e-stop, of course) to relocate the front panel. Replacing my shower curtain enclosure with sheet metal isn't going to magically fill the electrical panel with water.

[nitewatchman]

No problem.

I felt the exact same way about the control panel, so I skipped the relocation. I had already bought an external e-stop (30790 - Integrated Remote E-stop Kit) so I could have it out where it should have been from the start and I REALLY didn't want to give up my load meter.

I agree, although my machine started life as a Series 2, I have the Series 3 panel mounted with the Horsepower Meter mounted. Some of our operations live and die by that meter. One of our castings has a very deep 5/8" hole that must be sized accurately and concentric to a bore below it. We cut the hole by plunging with a long 5/8" diameter three flute end mill. We push this cutter to the limits of horsepower available at the required spindle speed. Starts in the green, moves to the yellow and when it starts hitting the red the cutter is dull and will stall soon. Time to change. Works well with my inexperienced sons.

Received the enclosure today, the truck line managed to tie the door rods into a bow knot. Will start assembly tomorrow. Think that I will be adding a Touch Screen hardened monitor, relocating the panel, adding the Autolube Pump and Leveling Casters during the process.

nitewatchman

[SCzEngrgGroup]

3) The door tracks look a little "basic", do they work okay?
They are a little basic. They get the job done, but not very elegantly. There are tracks on the bottom to keep the doors in place, but I may end modifying these in the future. It seems like a relatively easy job to put some rollers on there.

When I saw this enclosure at Cabin Fever last April, (Andy indicated it was a pre-production prototype that would see some changes before production) the one part that seemed rather cheezy was the door "guides" - The doors were hung on eye-bolts running over a steel rod. It was anything but smooth, and made the doors difficult to open and close. I had the impression they were going to improve this. Did they change it?

Regards,
Ray L.