Advice needed on buying a new or used Tormach CNC Mill

[alek95]

At the bare minimum you need:

1 vise
A couple ER collet holders
A few end mill holders
Nice to have a drill chuck or two
Collet set
Nice to have is also a face mill

You need an indicator for aligning the vise and also sometimes you need it for finding the center of a bore

1-2-3 block set is really valuable. You're gonna want that

Caliper. Can't do without that if you don't have one.

Edgefinder or two (those can break)

Rubber mallet.

Allen key set.

Deburring tools.

Lots of stuff I'm forgetting. Machinists scale, refractometer, etc.

Then just buy additional things as you need them.

 

[Cole2534]

Haimer in a dedicated holder- $600

 

[BT Fabrication]

Haimer is a good thing,

also find a local cutting tool rep, always good things to call on, mine used to be an operator himself so he knows his stuff.

 

[triumph406]

Yep. That's the auction I was talking about. If I recall correctly, there was also a Mori Seiki horizontal that went for 12k at that auction. There were also 2 colchester harrison mills that went for way more than everything else there and I saw that they didn't actually sell and the auctioneers were selling them on ebay a month later. The original owner of that shop was there too to buy back some of his stuff since he sold the shop some years back I was told.

I think different auction

It was on Orangethorpe west of the 57

I worked for the owner of the building at the time, and had to keep a tail on the owner of the shop because he was trying to get an injunction to stop the auction as it was going on. Slippery f'k from Australia.That was the owner of the shop

The guy I worked for was a slippery f'k from Orange County

 

[alek95]

@AmericanMaker

Any updates?

Did you get the machine making parts?

 

[AmericanMaker]

@AmericanMaker

Any updates?

Did you get the machine making parts?

@alek95 not yet, but I'm slowly getting there. The VMC is under power and air and running. I'm waiting on a tool order to arrive (ER tool holders, pull studs, end mills, drills, reamers, etc.) as well as coolant.

I'm new to this and I'm getting familiar with the Fanuc control. I learned how to back up the control. I entered a few small programs in MDI mode and did some dry runs. I'm still trying to figure out how to get my Fusion 360 posts off the compact flash memory card into the Fanuc's memory to run them, as well as how to run programs directly from the memory card itself.

Also, I was up in Ohio this past week at Saunders Machine Works for a CNC training class which was super helpful. Hopefully the tooling will be delivered early this week and I can run the parts I created in that class. My goal is to be flinging chips without any crashes this coming weekend.

 

[LOTT]

We almost always ran DNC off the flash drive, there wasn't much memory on the machine and it was easier to make changes.

 

[AmericanMaker]

We almost always ran DNC off the flash drive, there wasn't much memory on the machine and it was easier to make changes.

@LOTT, that's what I hope to do. I tried last weekend before I went up to Ohio, but the controller does not show the memory card under the device list. I think there is a parameter I need to enable. I know the memory card works, because I was able to back up the controller to it.

Apparently Fanuc has a Windows-based software called "Fanuc Memory Card Program Edit Tool" (part number A08B-9010-J700/ZZ11) for $25.00. It's puts a .BIN file on the memory card that acts like Fanuc Memory. With it you can edit GCode on the card, watch code while it running the program, and start the code wherever you want. I'm ordering that on Monday.

 

[LOTT]

@LOTT, that's what I hope to do. I tried last weekend before I went up to Ohio, but the controller does not show the memory card under the device list. I think there is a parameter I need to enable. I know the memory card works, because I was able to back up the controller to it.

Apparently Fanuc has a Windows-based software called "Fanuc Memory Card Program Edit Tool" (part number A08B-9010-J700/ZZ11) for $25.00. It's puts a .BIN file on the memory card that acts like Fanuc Memory. With it you can edit GCode on the card, watch code while it running the program, and start the code wherever you want. I'm ordering that on Monday.

There's a requirement on the card type, if I remember correctly it couldn't be over a certain size.

I don't know if we had that software, but it would show the code and start mid-program.

 

[LOTT]

My memory stinks, but I just found the DNC instructions that were laminated and stuck to the machine.
___________________
Run Program from PMCIA Card
1. Turn MODE knob to Remote.
2. Press PROG hard key until you see NEXT in the soft keys.
3. Press the right arrow soft key until you see DNC-CD.
4. Press DNC-CD soft key.
5. Locate “FILE NAME”, use PG DN if needed.
6. Type file “NO.” and press DNC-ST soft key.
7. Press PROG hard key to change screen to current program.
8. Press SIN BLK hard key for single block mode.
9. Press CYCLE START until you see the program, verify.

Set Rapid and Feed low until you
have verified tool and work offsets!

 

[AmericanMaker]

My memory stinks, but I just found the DNC instructions that were laminated and stuck to the machine.
___________________
Run Program from PMCIA Card
1. Turn MODE knob to Remote.
2. Press PROG hard key until you see NEXT in the soft keys.
3. Press the right arrow soft key until you see DNC-CD.
4. Press DNC-CD soft key.
5. Locate “FILE NAME”, use PG DN if needed.
6. Type file “NO.” and press DNC-ST soft key.
7. Press PROG hard key to change screen to current program.
8. Press SIN BLK hard key for single block mode.
9. Press CYCLE START until you see the program, verify.

Set Rapid and Feed low until you
have verified tool and work offsets!

@LOTT, that's awesome, thank you! I'm going to try that right now. I'll let you know what happens.

 

[LOTT]

@LOTT, that's awesome, thank you! I'm going to try that right now. I'll let you know what happens.

Sure thing. Also, the program name has to be a certain way, maybe only numbers? As in no leading "O". And there can't be any spaces in your program, which is just a tweak to your post processor.

 

[AmericanMaker]

@LOTT, I finally got a DNC program to load. The steps were a little different on my controller, but it loads and I see the gcode. So that's a step in the right direction.

I do get an "Illegal Inch/Metric Conversion" when I try to run it. Could be all the spaces in the sample code I downloaded. I'll create a test simple part in Fusion 360 and post that.

However, I just got a low lubricant alarm, so I shut it down. The Sharp manual calls for Vactra No. 2 (ISO 68). All I have is ISO 46. So I guess I'll have to wait until I get some ISO 68. I'll post here on how I make out after I get the oil squared away.

Thanks again!

 

[cyanidekid]

I just read through this thread, and one thing stands out, you are one stubborn bastard. it took folks bashing you over the head for a week to consider a real machine, lol! well, at least you did, and congrats on the Sharp, I wish you good luck and success.

NOW, will you stop wasting your time and money on that complete jackass Saunders? insufferable. ... I won't finish that...

and as has been said, production is a different world, if you have never worked in that environment, be prepared to shift to prototype work, as you may hate it, but then again you might not. cheers!

 

[AmericanMaker]

@Doug, the Tormach's are great machines depending on what you need to do.

When I was up in Ohio last week for Saunders Machine Works CNC training class (which I highly recommend for folks new to Fusion 360 and CNC milling), they had 3 Tormach's (a 770, 1100 and 1100MX) and Haas VF-2SS running. We all made the same parts. I ran mine on the Haas, and several other chose the Tormach's. The Tormach's produced nice looking parts, but they were significantly slower, and you could hear them being pushed close to their limits at times.

At first I was considering buying a fully loaded 1100MX, but spending close to $40k on a 1,600 pound hobby machine seemed like a bad decision considering my personal goals, seeing some great used VMC on the market, as well as all the comments on this thread.

I won't bash Tormach's! They are great hobby machine that can produce really nice parts. I suppose they could be great for proof of concept prototypes and light production work, if you don't have tight timelines.

 

[AmericanMaker]

@LOTT, I finally got a DNC program to run off the memory card on the Sharp!
I modeled a simple part in Fusion and found a Fanuc post processor.
I also had to learn how to set the WCS and tool offsets on the Fanuc controller.
It was a dry run with no tools and imaginary offsets, but I could see it following the toolpaths!
I can't wait for my tooling to arrive so I can make something on my new mill!