I am considering building the Tormach DIY stand that is shown at http://www.tormach.com/Product_DYI_StandImages.html. I would be mounting an IH CNC mill on this stand so it is possible I might have to change the dimensions a little. I have been putting off doing this but the cost of microdrop and fog buster type systems that cannot possibly work as well as flood is forcing the change. I lack the tooling to build a stand out of steel and given the quality the writeup I am tempted to build this stand. Has anyone here built one? What is your opinion of it? Any gotcha's to watch out for? Is the wood holding up? Any leaks?

Thanks

If you are a member of the Tormach Yahoo group you can see pictures of my DIY stand here:

http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/tormach1100/photos/browse/e32a

I can't cut too straight with a circular saw so I got my father to cut the plywood (after my mom did the measuring for him :) .) It all went together pretty good and I'm surprised at how rigid it ended up being. I attempted to cover it with bondo like Greg recommends, but I just couldn't get it to spread right. I ended up just painting the sides and I covered the top with two coats of epoxy garage floor paint. So far I haven't had any leaks after about a year or so of usage...

The only real problem I had was trying to bend the top sheet of plywood to fit the braces underneath. I'm not sure what I could have done to soften it and make it bend easier, but I think I should have at least let it sit in place for several days to see if it would start to sag. Maybe set a weight on top? In trying to force it to take the shape I wanted it did start to crack on one side. I just let that one side stay where it was once the cracking started and it's been fine...

I may have sprung for the actual Tormach stand had it been around when I bought my mill, but I'm pretty happy with the way mine came out. I still need to finish the doors and put them on the front one of these days. I want to try mounting some of that corregated plastic sheeting that Home Depot sells along the sides to keep the splashing to a minimum. Will probably try to rig something on the front as well - just might want to add an external E-Stop button first.

Dave

Dave - The stand looks nice. It is great to hear the stand has worked well for you. I feel less hesitant to go that route now. I didn't realize the base was bent. For some reason I just figured it was two pieces. Thanks for sharing.

I didn't realize the base was bent. For some reason I just figured it was two pieces.


Hmmm.. maybe that was my problem then!! :)

It would have been three pieces, but maybe I was supposed to cut it... :confused:

I have built the wood stand, by modified it by welding a support structure for the mill out of 2x2 and 2x3 1/4 inch thick tube. I covered the wood with fiberglas resin and painted it with expoxy after using Bondo to fillet the corners. I used a kitchen sink strainer basket for the drain and plumbed it with normal sink drain plastic. I have used it with no problems for a year now.

see2nen

hey guys, how about some pics of these stands.

Hi Guys

Yes, I would also be very interested in some Pictures of the Tormach Stand. One area I am particularly interested in is the Coolant Drain layout.

The frame for my Stand will be built out of Square Tubing and the body will be made out of Sheet Metal. I have a good idea of the size and shape I want so now I am trying to figure out the Coolant System. Where to locate the Coolant Tank, how big it should be and how to keep the Swarf out of it? I am thinking of using a tray that has some baffles in it to try and prevent the Swarf from getting back to the Tank. This Tray would be removable for cleaning similar to the Chip Drawer on the Tormach Stand. How fine should the screen be at the Drain? If it's to fine than it is going to get plug all the time. To coarse and it lets too much metal by. How big is the drain on the Tormach Stand? How big are the holes in it? Better get back to designing. Thank you for the help.

Willy

Someone in a recent post in a different thread metioned using a sump for seperating the chips. The chips and coolant wash into a sump, the chips fall to the bottom as the coolant runs out the top into the main tank. Have an easy to remove container in the sump for dumping the chips out and fish those that got past out of the main tank once in a while. Sounded like a pretty smart idea.

Willy,

Sorry I'm too busy with work to take pictures right now, but here is some basic information.

The screen is very fine and it is about 6" x 12" or so. When it starts to get plugged, you just vacuum it with a wet vac or spray it off. It keeps a lot of stuff out of the coolant tank. The fineness of the screen to my eye looks like it will trap a lot of stuff that would stay in suspension and get recirculated if it didn't get trapped. You might not want to blow fine particles like that onto your work. So use a nice large area and a fine screen.

The chip drawer can have baffles or not. The whole idea of it is to let the return flow spread out over a large area. That slows the flow down, allowing stuff to settle out of solution. Again, that keeps a lot more stuff out of the sump tank.

The sump tank should be 10 gallons minimum. With a big baffle in it so that whatever makes it in there will settle out before going to the side with the pump in it.

--97T--

Would you guys with the DIY stand recommend this method of wood/glue/plywood construction for building a similar coolant table for a lighter mill? In particular, are there any vibration/rigidity issuess with this sort of table design, and does the hollow box design ever resonate with the cutting noise?

Cheers.

Well, I've learnt the hard way - the stand is solid as a rock, but also a fantastic musical instrument :( At certain speeds, my steppers cause the whole table to resonate - I guess I'm going to have to sort out some decent anti-vibration mounts for my machine.

digits,

Check the posts that Terry Mayhugh has made to the Yahoo Tormach group as well as the photos he has uploaded there. He's done a lot of little things to make the mill easier to use including noise control.

Mike

digits,

Check the posts that Terry Mayhugh has made to the Yahoo Tormach group as well as the photos he has uploaded there. He's done a lot of little things to make the mill easier to use including noise control.

Mike

Cheers Mike - will do :)