I should of bought a Tormach

[sin_arms]

Roughly a year ago I was on the fence about buying a Tormach lathe or a Smithy Automate lathe. After going back and forth many time I finally decided to go with the Smithy based on it having an industrial controller and servos. That was a huge mistake because this thing has been a pile of junk. Here is a video review of that lathe and my experience with Smithy/Automate



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[bigngreen]

Man I'm glad I'm not buying till next spring, I'm doing the same work and was convinced one of the Automate lathes would work out but really wanted to see your review.
Looks like a Tormach may be a better solution, I'm in BFE Montana and can't have poor support, I have no issues being my own service but gotta have good support and parts which clearly isn't Automates strong point.

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[300sniper]

Why in the world aren't you chambering and doing other barrel work on your Lynx?

[sin_arms]

Why in the world aren't you chambering and doing other barrel work on your Lynx?

Just picked it up a few months ago and haven't had time to really sit down with it and get stuff going. I will be doing that shortly

[sin_arms]

Man I'm glad I'm not buying till next spring, I'm doing the same work and was convinced one of the Automate lathes would work out but really wanted to see your review.
Looks like a Tormach may be a better solution, I'm in BFE Montana and can't have poor support, I have no issues being my own service but gotta have good support and parts which clearly isn't Automates strong point.

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It could of been the perfect machine but yeah with the support issues there is pretty much no support. I've heard this from a few other people that have seen my review.

[300sniper]

Just picked it up a few months ago and haven't had time to really sit down with it and get stuff going. I will be doing that shortly

Gotcha. Makes sense.

[MichaelHenry]

However, it’s not picture perfect as the hoopla would have you believe and I have issues they are ignoring.

From my perceptive it is a series of compromises & learning to live with them. I knew this when I made my decision and I had some experience with it having purchased a 1100. However, with the lathe it has been a little more than expected, and in my opinion the engineering behind it is a mess!

What issues have you had and sorts of engineering problems do you see? I also have the Tormach lathe and am curious to see how much our experiences converge or diverge.

[coffeetek]

What issues have you had and sorts of engineering problems do you see? I also have the Tormach lathe and am curious to see how much our experiences converge or diverge.

I would love to hear it too before I drop $17k on Tormach Lathe... I have quote payment queued but still thinking it over...

[coffeetek]

Yeah I still have my regrets with the Tormach but I still haven’t found a substitution. If I just had 3-phase power I would have gotten a used commercial machine.

Just sharing my experience & thoughts ...

Thank you and I appreciate you posting this. I have not known about any of this and before plunking down so much cash I want to go into it with eyes open knowing what major problems are. None of this was known from all my reading. Its probably not going to stop me from buying but I like to get to terms with it.

However I have also came to conclusion that there is no alternative available that can be used in normal home shop. I have no 3-phase power or huge space available which pretty much limits my options to Tormach only.

[newman55598]

Why not buy a phase converter and a used machine for less money?

[coffeetek]

Why not buy a phase converter and a used machine for less money?

Space...

[newman55598]

There was just a milltronics t14 lathe that sold on eBay for 2250.00. Plus a phase perfect. You would be less then 6000


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[sin_arms]

Well I have some good news (hopefully) Smithy is swapping out my machine with a different model with full warranty. I will be getting an FL300 II , completely different machine but it will do everything I want. Should be getting it delivered monday.

[tmarks11]

Well I have some good news (hopefully) Smithy is swapping out my machine with a different model with full warranty. I will be getting an FL300 II , completely different machine but it will do everything I want. Should be getting it delivered monday.

Well that is awesome news. The two guys with FL300 on this board have seemed to like their machines.

[brianbonedoc]

Well that is awesome news. The two guys with FL300 on this board have seemed to like their machines.

^^^^ Yes I Do ^^^^

When you compare the SPL15 to the FL300, they really are the SAME price when you add in all the nickel and dime stuff Tormach makes you buy separately.
The FL300 enclosure - doesn't leak, period. coolant gets thrown all over the inside of the machine - but I have yet to see a drop on the floor. The turret indexes so fast you can barely see it.
1000ipm rapids make your heart skip a beat, but once you trust it - your parts come out fast. Even if you dont add live tooling, the FL300 can do full C axis. It's designed so well that when coolant drips down the draw tube- it has tray that feeds it right back to the tank. So those problems w/ the SPL15 leaking coolant through the draw tube are already solved.

The FL300 - is really an industrial grade machine. The servos are so fast and smooth. A big plus is you dont have to calibrate the X axis everytime to boot up the machine, like on the SPL15. Some folks have had up to 0.050 difference in their X axis each time they home their machines. On the Fl300 - you just home the machine, then make parts. While the Siemens 808d controller isn't as user friendly as PathPilot, it is rock solid. It doesn't make mistakes, only the user does. Although, I do love PathPilot and have installed it on my novakon mill.

[tmarks11]

^Even if you dont add live tooling, the FL300 can do full C axis

Does that mean that it comes with the 808D advanced controller? I believe the basic 808D controller can't handle the live axis, at least from what KadeSmith had posted.

[brianbonedoc]

The std 808d is what comes w the lathe- but It actually does do C axis- it can control 4 axes at once. That means X, Z, and C, plus a spindle. Programming is tricky but I found a mill-turn post for fusion that sorta works-ish

[bigngreen]

Well I have some good news (hopefully) Smithy is swapping out my machine with a different model with full warranty. I will be getting an FL300 II , completely different machine but it will do everything I want. Should be getting it delivered monday.

Very much looking forward to how this new one functions!! They sure seem a solid looking machine online, everything I see I like with the exception of your situation. I've really looked at the Haas but I just don't need or can push that much power, a 5 HP machine would-be perfect!!

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[tmarks11]

Very much looking forward to how this new one functions!! They sure seem a solid looking machine online, everything I see I like with the exception of your situation.

Sin_Arms first machine was not a FL-300, and was not manufactured by the same company. Hopefully his second machine treats him much better.

Maybe Smithy should narrow their product line a bit to exclude the previous manufacturer.

[brianbonedoc]

tmarks - if you are interested - I just posted a quick vid of the C axis working:

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/smithy...ml#post2010376