Tormach or not?

[bosmos_j]

1/10th the spindle power of a Haas mini mill (0.56kW vs. 5.6). So, double your cost, 10x the power. Seems about right. They definitely have a place in our market. You will probably outgrow it 10x faster too.

 

[Cole2534]

a lot of shit spoken here. The OP asked about a very small machine. I just purchased one. I would way rather have the TM1 to the Tormach 440 but the price is well over double even when the little guy is decked out. The size of the TM1 isn’t close to what I can fit in my shop. I hope to be able to automate some small part, short run specialty work I’d way rather surf on the computer for an hour than stand at my Bridgeport for 10 minutes. I may have to eat my words as this is my first start with a CNC and the pathpilot software seems approachable to me. The pre-sales service I got from Tormach was fantastic and as I assemble this thing, the engineering is kinda cool. They aim for a niche and it is a niche which I seemed to have fallen into. I have a 800 lb toy that may serve several needs. A “real shop“ likely wouldn’t appreciate the IKEA like: ”some assembly required“. I am having fun.

Tormach is known for that, I hear they're knocking on Brother's door for market share.

 

[NC Rick]

Also, if this works out I can have one of my guys operating it instead of me.
the Brother tap&drill would be awesome. I don’t know how to use this stuff and I’m an old guy. I’ll see what I can learn. No rigging, no electrical special stuff. I already have 4 VFDs running and am technically out of floor space before even setting this machine (ok toy) in place.