Tormach ver IH ver Syil 4

[dpaish]

Greetings,
After about 3 weeks of researching for a small CNC hobby mill, I have narrowed my search to the IH, Syil 4 or Tormach. The only reason I am considering the Syil because Syil Canada is in the same city as me. However, I would much prefer a 1000pd mill verses a 400 pd (?) mill machine.

My purpose is for knife making, handle profiling, jig making and inlays. Each of these machines will do that without much effort. However, I am looking to maybe take on larger projects in the future. I know, in the mill world, bigger is better!

Has there been a side-by-side review of these mills? What are the pos and cons of each? I've purchased a CNC plasma cutting system 5 years ago from one of these small companies in the past that turned into a nightmare of troubleshooting and re-build. Hence my request for knowledge.

Thanks in advance....I am going to post this on the Tormach and Syil forums also.

Your input will be much appreciated.

Dennis

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[mal97]

I seriously considered all three. I think there all good in their own way and seem to have many happy users.

I personally chose the Tormach because:

1) It was the least expensive machine whose table travels fit in my needed work envelope. This is very important to consider. The table travels Syil (of the X3) would have worked for 80% of what I wanted to do, but not 100%. Only the IH and Tormach mills would have done everything I wanted.

2) I wanted a VFD, with the Tormach I got one and didn't need to pay extra.

3) I liked Tormach's website, professional documentation and its coherent and well thought out line of accessories and software. Plus every Tormach mill comes a spec test sheet filled out at the factory, which is a little something extra I can appreciate.


So for me I could have been happy with any of these 3 mills, but for my purposes the Tormach represented the best value for my work envelope. I have no regrets. I still might purchase a Syil X3 for my basement shop, just because its size is manageable.

[MichaelHenry]

Tormach will put you in contact with local owners that are willing to demo their mills - maybe Syil and IH offer the same service.

I bought Tormach 18 months ago for pretty much the same reasons that mal97 did. Tormach is a few hours drive from so I was able to drive over and see a mill run in their office, which was a deal closer for me.

IH wasn't as polished then so I might give them more of a chance now but only if I could see one run. I really liked how well Tormach's web site was organised and IH suffers by comparison in that area. That may seem a bit silly, but professionalism of the web page suggested a professional level of tech support and I've been really please with Tormach there.

Mike

[highspeedmazak]

You need to research this very well the x4 isnt bad but wont compare to the tormach and as for the IH well you need to read the write up I did a while back on these three machines that will give you a better idea of what to expect. Good luck.

[tmarks11]

I really liked how well Tormach's web site was organised and IH suffers by comparison in that area.

It does seem unbelieveable that IH can't spend just a little time (or a little money to pay someone for a little of their time) to actually create a website to showcase their product. IH is from most reports (except for mazaks...) selling a well designed, high quality product.... but you wouldn't really know that from their website.

Both IH and Syilamerica should take lessons from Tormach on how to design a website to sell machines. I think both probably loose alot of sales to Tormach because potential buyers can't see past the inadequate sales pitch on their website.

Many of the pictures on the IH website are actally of the previous version of their mill, and they don't even have a picture of the stand that they are currently selling with their mill.

[highspeedmazak]

Well I have a Tormach at home and durring the day run various machines mazaks and more and will definitly say going with the tormach is a very good idea this machine is no mazak but i can do anythine in it that can be done in a mazak just slower ofcourse. For an at home machine it is great. Built strong clean and tight and hey if you work with it and learn it well you can definitl hold tenths I have. Their site does not do it justice it is alot more then they claim and they care. You wont go wrong with a new tormach. I have been useing solidworks to build my parts then bobcad for code and then to the machine with no problems at all. I will say that you need to build a good strong base to mount it on well I did and then built an enclosure so I have no limitations on coolant or stability. Well good luck. My thoughts on the others well x3 or x4 looks good if their size fits except I am not sure if they have cooling fans or not and as for the IH well I am no fan of parts made out of soft metals on any machine and they are nice sized machines but the way they are built is no favor to me.

[dnelso]

I am a happy owner of a IH mill. I have been running it 5 days a week for 3 years and have not had any problems with it. Not so sure what your reference is with soft metal. I also looked at tormach when i was looking at mills. It just didn't fit my needs. It was a little small and had steeper motors and the rapids were not fast enough for the 3d machining i do. No reason to bash it. It just wasn't for me.
Dave