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IndustryArena Forum > MetalWorking Machines > Tormach Personal CNC Mill > Tormach Slant Lathe > Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
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    5

    Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    Would love to see more action and reviews on the board. I would like this lathe to be a good unit, but I'm not feeling safe until We get some more happy users. Any Ideas as to the number of units out in the field at this time?

    Any of the people that are running them care to share some more feedback and videos?

    Thanks!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
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    318

    Re: Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    So far I am happy with mine. There are some things I do not like but overall the experience has been more on the good side. I will try and film some jobs to post on here..

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Posts
    1424

    Re: Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    Quote Originally Posted by compunerdy View Post
    There are some things I do not like but overall the experience has been more on the good side
    Anything new you have noticed that you didn't post on your other thread?
    Tim
    Tormach 1100-3, Grizzly G0709 lathe, Clausing 8520 mill, SolidWorks, HSMWorks.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Posts
    1424

    Re: Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    I see that Tormach just posted 3 new SPL15 videos:

    Tormach 15L Slant-PRO Lathe Demonstration #1 - YouTube
    Tormach 15L Slant-PRO Lathe Demonstration #2 - YouTube
    Tormach 15L Slant-PRO Lathe Demonstration #3 - YouTube

    They have dveloped a series of cut screens at the beginning of these videos, sort of like they did with the mill, but focused on the lathe.

    I was hoping they would show the enclosure or the turret in these, but no such luck.
    Tim
    Tormach 1100-3, Grizzly G0709 lathe, Clausing 8520 mill, SolidWorks, HSMWorks.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Posts
    3063

    Re: Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    Looks like the full enclosure won't be available until year's end at best and at least a few of us are waiting for that and/or the turret version (which won't be sold without the full enclosure) to be available before buying.

    That said, I wouldn't mind a few other reviews either. Tormach probably still provides contact info for their customers that are will to discuss or demo their mills and probably their lathes as well. It could be worth checking that out.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    179

    Re: Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    I've had mine sitting un-powered in my shop since June. In terms of quality, the functionally-important parts that matter seem to be pretty well done, and the cosmetic/non-functional parts seem to be rather poorly done in certain areas. The serial number on my machine is in the 20s. I'm hoping to get it powered up next month (need to run a new circuit to it) but I too have been waiting on the turret and enclosure to become available for sale. I don't see the point in investing in a QCTP or gang plate if I eventually go for the turret and enclosure like I'm planning to do. I wish they'd get it done already, or at least give us some kind of an update. It's been a while.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
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    318

    Re: Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    I also really want the enclosure and tool changer but I will be using my QCTP as well.. there is no way the changer will hold enough tools so it will get the most used ones and the QCTP will hold any others I need.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
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    1424

    Re: Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    Quote Originally Posted by sanddrag View Post
    ...cosmetic/non-functional parts seem to be rather poorly done in certain areas...
    It is a machine tool, after all. The cosmetics will be even worse once you start spraying coolant through it.

    I am sure that the rough edges will be fixed by the time the Series III rolls around... maybe the enclosure will be released by then too. Look how long it took them to release an ATC and enclosure for the 1100...
    Tim
    Tormach 1100-3, Grizzly G0709 lathe, Clausing 8520 mill, SolidWorks, HSMWorks.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
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    318

    Re: Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    The conversational is cool but I find myself wishing it was Mach a lot. no wireless, no screen saver, no easy single click to tell the machine you changed the tool, no memory on the MDI line, cant move in 2 directions at once with keyboard, etc..

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Posts
    102

    Re: Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    I'm happy with mine. I had a few bugs in the beginning but I just ran a 50 piece job and am holding pretty good tolerances. I have a prototype air closer and it really makes life nice. I am running gang tooling and like it. I would still buy the turret/enclosure when available. I've also been playing around with a bar puller which is really nice. You can't run anything over 3' though until you get some kind of support for the stock.

  11. #11
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    Sep 2009
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    318

    Re: Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    Would love to see some pics of your air closer setup. Is it a Tormach prototype or one you made?

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
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    102

    Re: Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    It's Tormach's closer.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
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    318

    Re: Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    I got a update on my comments above.. I guess it would help if I looked into things more before running my mouth lol

    “The conversational is cool but I find myself wishing it was Mach a lot. no wireless, no screen saver, no easy single click to tell the machine you changed the tool, no memory on the MDI line, cant move in 2 directions at once with keyboard, etc..”

    Wireless is there and supported via USB WiFi dongle: Tormach PN 34705. You won’t be able to surf the internet, but you can use the machine as network-attached storage for your CAD/CAM computer. Details on how to set this up are in the manual.

    No screen saver – correct. The screen savers were causing problems with response time on wake up so we disabled them. If you’re not using the machine for more than an hour or so it would be a good idea to power down anyway. I find that people tend to leave their computers on for days at a time, which is not the best practice.

    Single click to indicate tool change is the Cycle Start button if the tool change is requested during a part program. Is that what you mean? Or do you want a tool DRO? Typing ‘T2’ in the MDI line seems like not much more work than typing ‘2’ in the tool DRO.

    MDI memory is supported. Just like Mach, you use the up/down arrow keys while the MDI line has focus.

    Two button jogging should be in place on our next software release.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
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    318

    Re: Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    Here are some other updates that I am sure they do not mind me sharing..

    As Menzzer stated they are working on the Air closer and currently waiting on some parts..

    For the enclosure/tool changer.. Enclosure is in production – no firm date yet on when they will be here. The turrets are here and ready to go, but can’t sell them without the enclosure. Sorry to be so elusive on a firm date, but we’ve learned the hard way that when we promise something and then a last minute hiccup comes along people get much more upset than when we give very conservative estimates (or no estimates at all).

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
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    1543

    Re: Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    My GT-27 is for sale - 12k - Not sure how that compares to the Tormach as far as price, but know it's around 6x the machine.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
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    1424

    Re: Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    Quote Originally Posted by BAMCNC.COM View Post
    My GT-27 is for sale - 12k
    Don't you have two of those? Do we get to chose which one we buy for $12k?

    Iowa is a bit too far away for me... here in the PNW, good, reasonably priced used machinery is difficult to find.
    Tim
    Tormach 1100-3, Grizzly G0709 lathe, Clausing 8520 mill, SolidWorks, HSMWorks.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    253

    Re: Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    I've had mine ( #46 ) for a month or so now. Basically for the $ it's a good solid piece of iron. I ran a set of jam nuts with a fine 1" internal thread and the threading and tolerances were very consistent. I had to run off a few pieces for fixtures and the conversation mode makes this productive as long as the part geometry fits into the conversational set ( meaning forward facing features ). I had to make some one-off mandrils and spacers; I don't think it would have been faster on a manual lathe. There's an issues that you would have with any open loop machine:

    If you need tight tolerances you need to re-check and tweak your tool offsets between power cycles. The tool gets it's zero references from micro switches which can be off from one reset to the next. I was using a boring bar up on the gang plate and external tool on the QCTP, so I found what worked was to cut a test piece with an arbitrary external and internal diameter, put some Dykem on them and touch tools off by jogging them in at .0001 steps with the jogging dial, then adjust the offsets in the tool table. This sounds a little overkill, but really just takes about 10 - 15 minutes. Once the tools are dialed in they are *very* accurate, but then I decided to spend the extra bucks and go with Dorian.

    I got this machine because I know that Tormach will support it and bring some great solutions going forward.

    My main complaint at this point is with SprutCAM8. There was no post processor that I know of for their lathe XZ. The sample I got from Tormach just isn't *there* yet. I have a software engineering background so last week I decided to use the Sprut post processor generation tool and get into it. It's *almost* working, but the problem is with SprutCAM. Clearly these guys are bunch of Russian math geniuses and have gotten all the heavy stuff ( 5 axis milling ) done, but poor old lathe XZ has some serious bugs - just look at the approach tool path of a drilling op. It looks like they haven't touched this code since whenever, so it makes for some very messy logic in the post processor to clean these things up. My $.02

    @compunerdy: Thanks for the update on MDI memory! I was running out of scratch paper.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    318

    Re: Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    My biggest gripe at this point is sprut as well.. It just works so much less efficient on the lathe than it does for the mill. I am sure there is some learning curve there but you cant even set speeds and feeds per tool. It constantly changes my setting between mm/inch, programs tools to crash into the part on tool change, etc..

    The reason I could not get the MDI to work is the keyboard I am using does not have the 4 arrow keys by themselves.. only the numpad ones. On Mach either set will work but not on the lathe.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
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    1543

    Re: Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    Tmarks - haha the OLD one, in this playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...usKCeR7kBZABWb

    been getting PMs on both lathe and mill, but is the PM system broken?

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Posts
    1543

    Re: Wanting to buy but waiting for more reviews or buzz

    Lots of PM's on the lathe, but no replies. I don't think my PM's are working, I go to the sent folder and it's messages from last year? Message me on YouTube or Instagram or something, I know they work.

    Instagram
    https://www.youtube.com/user/TacticalKeychains

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