Well I'm finally making chips on my brand new Tormach.

I tried to order one of just about every item on their website.

Tormach shipped the items they had in stock right away. The base was not in stock at the time I ordered, so I had to wait for that.

What I got was a very impressive array of brand new equipment, a great deal for the money. Everything comes carefully crated and well treated with rust preventive.

When the base arrived, I assembled everything. The instructions for the base are for the old model, the new model has changes made to it, so they don't all make sense. Most of it is pretty simple, though, and a quick phone call cleared up my confusion.

Assembly went well, and all the holes on everything lined up where they should. I will say that I was very happy to have the use of a Hi-Lo to put everything together. This is not a wimpy little machine. I could have done it without the lift truck, but it would have taken some ingenuity and a lot of caution.

There was a problem with a circuit board on my new machine. On initial application of power, it made a little crackling noise, and emitted a small wisp of smoke. "Not a Good Thing", I thought. Tormach sent me a replacement board the same day. Turned out the failure also smoked the computer I bought. I didn't want to ask them to send me another computer on faith as well, so I didn't ask them to ship me a replacement computer until they got the one that smoked back. I shipped it back, and the day they got it back, they shipped me another one.

In the interim, while I had the new board installed, but was between computers, I verified the part of the documentation where they state that laptop computers aren't suitable for running the software. Even with all features stripped, and configured for non-ACPI, the laptop still has a timing glitch at around one second itervals that interferes with the pulse train. So I never used it for doing anything other than jogging around and verifying that the machinery works.

I did a few measurements and verified that the machine seems to be as accurate as they claim. X and Y movements stop from rapid traverse with more accuracy than I can measure with my dial indicator. Z stops dead on every time when approached from the same direction. When approached from the other direction, there is about 2-1/2 thousandths difference. This difference can be attributed to the stiction required to keep the axis stationary against gravity when the machine is off (my interpretation). I might put a counterweight or spring on it someday so that I can loosen the gib on that axis a little. In the meantime, all my machining will be coming down from the top anyway, so it's not a concern.

The table shows a .002" gradual bow, highest in the middle, across the X axis. Not a concern for me since everything will always be on a tooling plate anyway, and I will facemill that.

The first job I have for the thing involves making a quantity of round plates, of 1/4" aluminum stock, about 4" OD, with a 2" ID, and 150 holes arrayed around it of .152" diameter. This is probably the only thing I will ever make more than one piece of on this machine. But it will be a great break-in test for sure.

Since I need to make around 400 of these, I decided to try to design a setup that minimizes tool changes and stock removal. So naturally my first job on the mill involves putting material on it that is bigger than the table! I ordered a piece of 1" aluminum stock to use for a tooling plate, and a whole bunch of 1/4" stock, 12" x 32". This will allow me to make six plates per sheet.

This means that the chip guard that comes with the machine, that bolts to the table, will probably never get installed. I whipped up a removable guard to stick on the front of the machine out of some Lexan left over from another project to keep 90% of the chips and coolant inside the machine.

The first chips I cut with the machine were to make the tooling plate. 1/2" holes aligned with the T-Slots. The machine drove a 1/2" bit through that aluminum with no pilot hole, flinging chips clear across the shop. Then I remembered never to use book feeds and speeds on aluminum! I needed to hold the plate down with bolts sitting below the surface, so I countebored the holes with an end mill. My first circular pockets came out marvelously. I plastered the table with some nasty lube we have around to prevent rust, and bolted the tooling plate to it.

My plan was to bolt the 1/4" plates to the machine, drill the small holes, then mill out the ID and OD. Not wanting to catch a piece of material and fling it, I decided to bolt every piece down that would end up loose after the milling operation. So I needed to drill and tap numerous holes in the tooling plate. Drilling the holes went without incident. It was with great trepidation that I mounted up my brand new, $130 quarter/twenty thread mill and pushed the button to thread mill the holes. Never tried that before, and even though it looked OK cutting air, sooner or later you have to either cut metal or break the tool.

Well, the threadmilling operation went without a hitch. For about the first ten holes. Then, the machine stopped. For some reason the spindle dirve VFD faulted out, luckily the fault contact stopped the software from driving the axes, and everything stopped with the tool still in the hole. [Edit: there is no fault contact, I guess I heard the spindle drive slowing down and hit the stop button. No more spindle faults since I calibrated it.] I carefully used MDI to run back to the center of the hole, withdrew the tool, and noted that it was still intact. I went through the manual and fiddled with the adjustments, putting them where the book shows, and tapped the last few holes by hand. On the next few operations, I adjusted the drive using my experience with other drives (I do this for a living), and haven't seen any more faults, but it will be awhile before I am satisfied that it won't happen again.

I drilled and tapped a few 1/2-13 holes into the tooling plate for mounting clamps. No guts after the drive incident (I'll do other operations for a while before doing any threadmilling), I hand tapped those.

So I clamped four of the 1/4" plates onto my tooling plate, drilled clearance holes over the tapped holes in my tooling plate, chased the threads, and bolted it down. It took some experimenting and the purchase of the proper drill bits, but yesterday the machine drilled 900 holes of .152" diameter through 1.1" of aluminum, all without a hitch! By the end I was making about 10 seconds per hole, less than promised by the drill bit literature, but sounding better than a single pass to depth.

Anyway, so far the machine has been totally awesome. If I were inclined to whine, I would complain that there is quite a bit of assembly to do. I'm glad I didn't decide to retrofit or build one myself, there is quite enough work to do putting everything together, if your purpose is to start making things. But I'm a machine builder anyway, so assembly is hobby tinkering for me. And, the circuit board popped on initial power-up. But it was replaced with absolutely no hassle and no delay. And the computer I bought was replaced as well, no hassle and no delay. The drive fault might be because I am running the machine on 208 volts rather than 220, and hadn't perfectly adjusted it on the first try. It has run high RPM and low RPM for hours since I re-adjusted it with no further problems, so as of now I can't fault the design or manufacture.

Bottom line so far: These people run their business like I would run it. They produce a product that has a combination of capability and price that I couldn't find anywhere else. They stand behind their product, no hassles, no BS. They are competent, honest, and helpful. I wish every company was like that to deal with! The money I paid for this machine was mine, not an employer's. And I am well satisfied with the quality of the equipment so far.

After this project I will be mounting my 4th axis and trying to bust tools with it.

Any questions anyone might have, I will answer if I can. And if anyone wants to see mine in operation, I will gladly show it off (Detroit area).

--97T--

Great write up 97T! Thanks for posting. I just ordered mine a couple days ago and can't wait to get it. Quick question for you. Are you using any programing software other than the conversational software included with the machine? I was thinking of using MasterCam because of the complex profiles I will be making. Any experience with that at all?

Rob

Rob,

I never played with Mastercam much myself.

I've used Surfcam in the past. I have a buddy who does CNC for a living, he brought over a laptop with Surfcam on it. We downloaded a post off the web and used it to generate some of the toolpaths. It seems to work pretty well, but I'm not too much of an expert on it.

We added some text to the post to retract Z on tool changes, otherwise the thing would do a linear move from wherever it was left to the first position. And the Surfcam chip break drilling cycle doesn't output the G-code for the built in chip break cycle, it outputs discrete steps, so it does a linear move from the safe Z height to the next hole at the retract Z level, ignoring the safe Z. In the short time we had it there, I couldn't figure out how to put in a custom cycle in the Surfcam post processor, so I just made sure the toolpaths missed my clamps in order to get the drilling done.

We did it the way I always used to -- measure the table, then draw it up and position it in Surfcam exactly as it is in the machine, with lines showing the travel area. Everything referenced to X0, Y0. Then draw in the workpiece exactly where it's going to be clamped down. That way the only coordinate offsets you ever have to worry about for 2D work will be the tooling offsets. After I get done with this little job I will face off the tooling plate and mill slots in it and drill & tap holes for positioning the vise, then that will go into my default drawing too. Should make for very quick set-ups, since almost everything I do will get made exactly once. Or twice, until I get a better feel for speeds and feeds. (Don't use the default aluminum material settings unless you want a rude surprise!)

Anyway, all in all, it works well. Just use a USB memory stick to transfer the program into the control computer and make sure to copy it onto the hard disk before you run it. I'm gaining experience with it as I go.

I expect a lot of the steps would be similar for Mastercam, but I don't know if you will be able to find a post that works, or if you know how to modify one so that it does work.

I know how hard the waiting is!

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

--97T--

Hello NinerSevenTango

Congratulations on purchasing your New Tormach CNC Mill. Have a couple questions.



There was a problem with a circuit board on my new machine. On initial application of power, it made a little crackling noise, and emitted a small wisp of smoke. "Not a Good Thing", I thought.


Which circuit board was it that let go? The Parallel Port Breakout Board? Did you find any reason for it to crispy crittered? When this happens with a New Machine, you have got to wonder is it a wiring problem? Did you look the other way when powering it up the second time?



I did a few measurements and verified that the machine seems to be as accurate as they claim. X and Y movements stop from rapid traverse with more accuracy than I can measure with my dial indicator. Z stops dead on every time when approached from the same direction. When approached from the other direction, there is about 2-1/2 thousandths difference. This difference can be attributed to the stiction required to keep the axis stationary against gravity when the machine is off (my interpretation). I might put a counterweight or spring on it someday so that I can loosen the gib on that axis a little. In the meantime, all my machining will be coming down from the top anyway, so it's not a concern.


2-1/2 thousandths is more than the inspection sheet suggests. I wonder if you might have some looseness in your Z Ball Screw Bearings? If you installed a Counter Balance how much do you think the Z Axis Gib could be loosened up?



The first job I have for the thing involves making a quantity of round plates, of 1/4" aluminum stock, about 4" OD, with a 2" ID, and 150 holes arrayed around it of .152" diameter. This is probably the only thing I will ever make more than one piece of on this machine. But it will be a great break-in test for sure.

If you don't mined me asking, what are all the aluminum plates for?



I ordered a piece of 1" aluminum stock to use for a tooling plate, and a whole bunch of 1/4" stock, 12" x 32". This will allow me to make six plates per sheet.


How are you locating the Tooling Plate so that it goes back onto the Mill Table in the same position once it has been removed?


Sounds like you are very happy with your New Tormach CNC Mill. I am saving up for one and hope to be ordering soon. Can't wait. Thanks for the help with my questions.

Regards
Willy

Hello NinerSevenTango

Congratulations on purchasing your New Tormach CNC Mill. Have a couple questions.

Thanks, Willy.


Which circuit board was it that let go? The Parallel Port Breakout Board? Did you find any reason for it to crispy crittered? When this happens with a New Machine, you have got to wonder is it a wiring problem? Did you look the other way when powering it up the second time?

Yes, it was the parallel port breakout board. I think it fried because there was a trace on the circuit board a little too close to a fuse clip. Ordinarily it would be all right but mine must have gotten vibrated a little much in shipping, allowing it to wear through the insulation. The replacement board has been redesigned so nothing like that can ever happen. Look the other way? No, I watched closely the second time! I work with high voltage, high power electronics, and this one is pretty tame by comparison. Besides, I had a pretty good idea the second one couldn't do what the first one did.


2-1/2 thousandths is more than the inspection sheet suggests. I wonder if you might have some looseness in your Z Ball Screw Bearings? If you installed a Counter Balance how much do you think the Z Axis Gib could be loosened up?

Yes, I can tighten the bearing preload to take some of that out, and I bought the spanner wrenches to to that. On the other hand, I don't want to over do it on the preload, because I know what will happen then. So my thinking was that if I can neutrally balance the assembly, it should glide like the other two axes, and I should be able to relax the gib without having to overtighten the bearings. I predict that when the gravity load is taken off, the thing will become as accurate as the other two axes. If not, only then I will start cranking on the bearing mount.

I did the math, and I'm uncertain as to whether to use a compressed air system and a cylinder instead of a dead weight. There wouldn't be much cost difference, and the air system would be more compact and not add inertia to the system. Inertia complicates the drive algorithm a little (but so does stiction!). Looks like a 2" cylinder and a 5 gallon air tank at around 60 psi would work. On the other hand, the dead weight is dead simple, and only has two or three roller bearings and a cable to ever fail or wear out. I'll let all that roll around in my head for awhile before I decide what to do. Usually the simpler solution is better. If I can come up with an elegantly simple solution, and it works like I hope it will, I'll share it here.

For now the thing works just fine the way it is. It's getting quite a workout for break in, having peck drilled around 1000 holes so far. That's a lot of up and down motion!


If you don't mined me asking, what are all the aluminum plates for?

The aluminum plates are to be used as locators to hold small pins. 150 of these pins will be put into a plate, then the plate gets put into an induction hardening machine. The machine raises the plate full of pins up to an inductor, the inductor is energized with high frequency at high power, and the pins all turn orange hot within seconds, after which they are quenched with a water based solution to quickly cool them down again. The result -- each pin is hardened exactly half way down. The pins end up in a transmission. Our customer puts three of them into a plate, and rivets the soft end over to permanently affix them. The hardened end drives another plate for some purpose or other.


How are you locating the Tooling Plate so that it goes back onto the Mill Table in the same position once it has been removed?

I intend to leave the tooling plate in place. If it gets moved, I'll have to use an edge finder, and move the model in my drawing, I guess.


Sounds like you are very happy with your New Tormach CNC Mill. I am saving up for one and hope to be ordering soon. Can't wait. Thanks for the help with my questions.

So far I am having a lot of fun with it. I'm working on creeping up on maximum feeds and speeds, and trying to remember all the little tricks I taught myself 5 years ago when I had a HAAS. I'm not a machinist by trade, and experienced machinists know a lot of tricks and tips that I have to stumble upon the hard way. But the learning is the fun part for me. I hope you get to order yours soon, I know you'll be impressed.

--97T--

Hi NinerSevenTango

Thanks for the help with my questions. If you ever take any Videos I would love to see them.

Regards
Willy

I'm learning about my new Tormach while learning about machining. My previous experience is with a 2D laser cutter where feedrate and beam power are the only variables you play with. (Well, not entirely true. I'm making it sound as if the laser cutter is easy. Actually, now it's "known." I need to that level of understanding with the Tormach.)

I've been playing with hand-written G-code to force me to understand what's going on. (No <xyz>CAM for me yet.) I created a 1-inch-radius hemispherical hole in a wooden 2x4 as a test, and then, satisfied, moved on to a piece of HDPE. All of the z values and circle dimensions came from an Excel spreadsheet. Only one miscoding, which was visible as a small defect on the hole's surface. That was easy to diagnose.

It was with this test that I discovered that the computer-controlled spindle speed needed calibration (section 9.5.6 in the manual) because the machine wouldn't take S4500 when routing the wood. It's an easy procedure, but adjusting the appropriate potentiometer had no effect on the observed S1/S2 overvoltage. I set S2500 and saw that the voltage, now lower, actually did respond to the potentiometer position, and so I just turned it down many turns before commanding S4500 again.

I've learned about "surface feet per minute" and "chip load."

For my second project, I decided to make a poor-man's touch probe from a microswitch. (Purely for educational purposes--to practice parameter programming. I'll get a commercial probe later.) So I took a piece of 1/2" round aluminum stock and made a small fork-like shape to hold the switch in one of the 1/2" TTS tool holders. That was when the first crash happened.

I ruined just the switch holder that I was making. I had been controlling the machine entirely through the G-code window. One missing decimal point, and . . . oops! That cut went much too low, chopping off one "tine" of the fork instead of thinning it.

So next time I'll create an entire G-code file and run it through a simulator.

The second crash happened when I was making a second switch holder. This time the workpiece came loose. I'm embarassed to admit what I had been doing! I left the 6-foot long piece of round stock hanging off of one end of the vise, machining an end. While cutting a pocket, the piece came loose, pivoting, and rising up into the end mill. That square-end mill ain't square no more. Time to take a break--and order more end mills.

This crazy approach is fine when building with wooden 2x4s! And of course, with a laser cutter, you just cut shapes from a piece of plywood, saving the remaining plywood for the next project. Not so here.

I think I'll make a pair of 1/2" round-stock holders for the vise, before the third attempt at the probe's switch holder. My experience making a hemispherical hole in wood and HDPE will let me make a circular trough in some square aluminum stock using several passes of a 1/4" ball-end mill.

Kerry