Originally Posted by Willyb  Interested in any additional thoughts you have on using the tormach Stand? |
I have only been doing dry machining of acrylic so far (still on the learning curve, and acrylic is pretty forgiving) so I can't speak to the coolant containment.
The stand is sturdy and well made. It does need some attention to sound control. The three compartment doors have quite a bit of slop in the latches, and should have felt disks on the corners to eliminate vibration against the stand. The large backsplash and coolant tray panels resonate at some frequencies also.
The assembly procedure requires you to put the mill on the stand, then assemble the sheet metal around it. Although Tormach says you can put the mill right up against a wall, leave yourself room to walk/squeeze behind the stand. Otherwise you will never get the rear of the backsplash bolted together. Likewise, the base of the mill is too close to the front chip tray flange. A couple more screws I wasn't able to install. I did use silicone caulk on all the mating edges of the chip tray and backsplash, so at least where there are not screws, it's kind of glued together...
The front of the table splashguard frame interferes with the vise handle. (I'm used to putting a vise handle almost straight out and spinning it in kind of an orbital motion until the slack is taken up.) I am using a 3/4" ratcheting box-end wrench on the Tormach vise. I actually like it better than a standard vise handle, it turns out.
Best regards,
Randy