CNC Mill Proposal Autumn'17

#1

Tormach 770

spec sheet
https://www.tormach.com/uploads/1097/tormach_pcnc770specsheetv2_FORWEB-pdf.html

Travel X/Y/Z: 355mm x 190mm x 336mm
spindle speed 1hp, 10,000 rpm
hand-scraped ways
Base model is $6850 with manual oiler

Costed with vise, tool holder and Z calibration kit, chip pan + stand, enclosure, path pilot software (much better than mach 3), shuttle dial, manual oiling system and machine oil:

-with no other options: $10,344

-with 4th axis and tail stock: $11,858
-with power draw bar (needs a compressor): $11,711
-with both: $13,500

fog buster mist coolant system add on is $395, flood is a bit more I think.

Tormach 440

spec sheet
https://www.tormach.com/uploads/943/tormach_pcnc440specsheet_2016FORWEB-pdf.html

Travel X/Y/Z: 250mm x 158mm x 250mm (same size as Joe’s yellow mill)
spindle 3/4hp, 10,000 rpm
hand scraped ways
base model is $4,950

with stand, chip pan, enclosure, 4" vise, tool holder and Z calibration kit, path pilot software, machine oil, shuttle dial:

-with no other options: $9,432

-with power drawbar: $10,127
-no 4th axis option

##Sieg KX3
specs:
http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Machines-Accessories/CNC-Milling-Machines/Sieg-KX3-CNC-Hobby-Mill/Sieg-KX3-Hobby-CNC-Mill

travel X/Y/Z: 295mm x 150mm x 275mm
spindle 1hp, 5,000 rpm
base price £5,415.49 inc vat

with mach 3, vise, and machine stand:
£6,065.68 inc vat

with 4th axis options:
4" rotary axis: £6,480.57 inc vat
6" rotary axis: £6,675,51 inc vat

no tail stock available for the 4th axis (we’d need one)

a guy on youtube got a deal on his 4th axis, making it free, might be able to bargain with them?

no power drawbar options
no Z-calibration system

collets and toolholders will be extra

delivery is £65

1 Like
CNC Mill Proposal Autumn'17, working thread
Future machining tools
#2

I’ve extracted the above post and made it into a wiki page.

#3

Start the campaign…

#4

This could be a candidate for a pledge drive too. Some people might be willing to stump up a decent amount of money if it means the difference between a base model and a ton of accessories (power drawbar, 4th axis etc)

#5

We have a less fancy option within budget. But a 770 would be more than worth it in my opinion.

I’m up for a pledge drive for the add-ons. We’d still need to cough up quite a big lump sum. Is part-financing still an option?

#6

We have some budget that has been set aside for a long time, somewhere around 5K (ish) Any costs above that need to be either agreed in general, or more likely raised from pledges :slight_smile:

#7

Ok so options are

Sieg KX3: around £5K
Tormach 770: around £10-12k

#8

(apologies for kack-handed thread merging there, thought I’d already posted the segue post)

#9

I just had a look over Sieg KX3 vs Tormach 440 vs 770.

I think the KX3 feels “of a piece” with Makerspace so far. It seems to mark the inflection point for good quality, can do real work. It has suppliers, support and stock in the UK. (Though the quick search I did got a price more like £6k). Tormachs may be even more impressive, but it’s probably diminishing returns at this point.

But but but, the 150mm y-axis worries me. This dimension is small on all these machines as the mill end has to cantilever out, so the Tormachs don’t change it dramatically, but I wonder about the 190mm the 770 gets you.

#10

it’s £5,500 but the stand is £300 extra and mach3 is £178

My main concern is I see is the lack of power drawbar and reliable pre-calibrated tool holders. It’s a potential problem, we will strip the threads on drawbars regularly, and a tool could be loaded incorrectly. Best case it falls out, worst case Z is off and it eats into it’s own table. Fitting tormach’s drawbar to other mills is do-able though, but we’d still pay a high price for that.

you also get less X travel than the 770, but the 4th axis option is much much cheaper (£400 for the small one)

#11

This guy DIY’d it for $200 in 2012

An option maybe

#12

You’d still need to pay $700 for the drawbar, plus shipping.

The base tormach is $6800, which works out to £5100. Seems like if we’re going to start shipping options out, we’ll pay close to the same for the 770. The only thing you get free on the sieg compared to the 770 is the chip pan.

#13

Chip pan can easily be fabricated

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#14

We’re definitely at the point where we need to start writing a proposal with costed options.

3 Likes
#15

+1 for this one, yes.

#16

Alright! I already costed the tormachs, I’ll look into the seig. We’ll need toolholder, collets and a vise etc

@lewisss did seig or tormach get back to you about sponsorship or shipping costs?

#17

Not yet …
Will chase …
Only emailed tormach , do you want me to do seig as well

#18

Might as well give it a go
The uk distributor is arceurotrade. it appears the machine was designed in the uk so there might be a direct uk contact

#19

I don’t have admin controls, maybe we should break this off into a “let’s buy a CNC mill” thread?

#20

A post was split to a new topic: CNC Mill Proposal Autumn’17