Questions about the 770

[al010964]

Hi All,

I am looking to purchase the Tormach 770 + 4th axis, as a high end hobby mill for building parts for model airplanes. It will mainly be used to mill carbon fibre plate approx 3/32 and parts out of aluminium block.

The questions that I have are:

o) Does it come in a 240 V option ? if so what are the amps required ? as I am concerned that I need to go to 3 phase for 20 amps in Australia.

o) Are you able to mill small aluminium parts say 5 inch's cubed without running a flood coolant system ? unfortunately I am limited on space.

o) What Do you recommend the automatic manual / oiler?

o) Is there significant advantage to running the touch screen over a normal screen ?

o) I am also looking at the available controllers ? as I would like the unit to work out of the box... any recommendations about either Mach3 or EMC2

Apologies in advance for the laundry list of questions.

p.s. anyone have one of these machines in OZ ?

Thank in Advance,
Adrian

[philbur]

OK I'll have a go.

1) Don't know. IIRC the spec says 115V. Seems like they don't see an international market for the 770. You may need a transformer. Talk to Tormach.

2) Milling without flood coolant isn't a problem. Mist coolant is a good compromise.

3) If you run 20 hour 3D profiling programs then get the auto-oiler. Manual oiling for normal operation is more than adequate. You need to pull the handle once every 4 hours.

4) A touch screen is not even remotely necessary.

5) Mach3 is easily the default controller. If you don't know if you need EMC2 then you don't need EMC2.

Phil

[al010964]

Thanks Phil,

Appreciate your wisdom, I have spoken with the guys that bring these into Australia and they advised that my concerns re power are not going to be a problem which is great. 20Amp in Australia is can be difficult to drag into a housing unit in Australia.


Interestingly I have heard that these machines have problems with running on earth leakage circuits ... does anyone know the story behind that ?

Cheers,
Adrian

[philbur]

Thanks Phil,

Appreciate your wisdom

That's a bit strong, anyway!

If I were you I would email Tormach about the ELC issue, I remember reading a document written by them on the subject. Then talk to a local electrician about the best way to solve the power supply issue.

Phil

[concombrefrais]

Yes it may not work on a ELC outlet. It didn't here for me in the US, it kept triggering it. When I talked to Tormach about it they told me it was the spindle drive that was triggering it. But it may depend on the sensitivity of your ELC so you may not have a problem with in Australia. By the way, I agree with all Philbur said. I myself do not use coolant at all on mine. The only problem is that you need a way to blow the chips away, especially with aluminum. You can use compressed air, it works well. You can even use a simple solenoid valve to control the air blast with your gcode: MillIMods

You should like the 770 very much. The only possible limitation I see is the size, in case you need to make large part or you need to make fixture to make several small one at a time. I am myself very happy with my machine.
Christian

[MichaelHenry]

Yes it may not work on a ELC outlet. It didn't here for me in the US, it kept triggering it. When I talked to Tormach about it they told me it was the spindle drive that was triggering it. But it may depend on the sensitivity of your ELC so you may not have a problem with in Australia. By the way, I agree with all Philbur said. I myself do not use coolant at all on mine. The only problem is that you need a way to blow the chips away, especially with aluminum. You can use compressed air, it works well. You can even use a simple solenoid valve to control the air blast with your gcode: MillIMods

You should like the 770 very much. The only possible limitation I see is the size, in case you need to make large part or you need to make fixture to make several small one at a time. I am myself very happy with my machine.
Christian

Is ELC the same thing as GFCI here in America? If so, you might well have a problem running a VFD on a circuit equipped with that device. Something to do with feedback from the VFD triggering the GFCI.

Mike

[Magnum164]

o) Are you able to mill small aluminium parts say 5 inch's cubed without running a flood coolant system ? unfortunately I am limited on space.

5" cubed sure. But the height of the part being machined will depend on what size vise you are using, and the height of the tooling. Next time I have my vise on (Kurt D688) I will measure it, probably something I should know as well

As for limited space? What does that have to do with the coolant? If you use the 770 stand it slopes under the machine and empties in the back, so even without coolant you will still end up with chips out the back of the machine. That is why I moved mine to a different location when I got it, you will need access to the back of the machine or build a plug to close of the back.

o) What Do you recommend the automatic manual / oiler?

I did. I didn't want to have to remember to manually oil it. It has been great so far no issues. You can even manually oil it if it has been sitting for a long time before you use it.

[Magnum164]

You should like the 770 very much. The only possible limitation I see is the size, in case you need to make large part or you need to make fixture to make several small one at a time. I am myself very happy with my machine.
Christian

Same here. I do need some fixtures made that are bigger than the machine can machine. Have to think outside the box and consider modular fixtures... Maybe make two small one and then bolt them together on the machine.

[al010964]

Hi All,

Sorry for the tardy response, been flat out. Will try and comment against everyone's post(s). The room that I am going to put the 770 in is getting built at the moment, so just instructed the sparky to run a non ELC line, which I will get hard wired to the machine, for safety reasons.


Magnum164

" As for limited space? What does that have to do with the coolant? If you use the 770 stand it slopes under the machine and empties in the back, so even without coolant you will still end up with chips out the back of the machine. That is why I moved mine to a different location when I got it, you will need access to the back of the machine or build a plug to close of the back. "

Was planning on not getting the full stand and just making a custom stand, which wouldn't be able to catch the coolant. But now starting to think that I should possibly get the stand anyway .... just going to be a really tight fit in my home workshop. Anyone currently have this setup ? or am I just asking for a big mess ?

Mike
"Is ELC the same thing as GFCI here in America? If so, you might well have a problem running a VFD on a circuit equipped with that device. Something to do with feedback from the VFD triggering the GFCI."

Having a quick look at the definition of a GFCI ... I would pretty much say yes. Don't know enough about the systems to say they are the same... but I think the principal is the same; e.g. stops you frying yourself when you do something stupid

Christian
Thanks for your comments - will check out that gcode command. Hopefully the size of the 770 won't be a real limitation as I plan on using for rc model plane stuff not production- that's the plan for this minute.

Cheers,
Adrian

[philbur]

I think they have a similar function but achieve it in a different way. I seem to recall searching my power distribution board for the desirable initials GFCI. I'm sure Google will tell you the difference, if you ask him nicely.

Phil

Having a quick look at the definition of a GFCI ... I would pretty much say yes. Don't know enough about the systems to say they are the same... but I think the principal is the same; e.g. stops you frying yourself when you do something stupid

[Magnum164]

What setup are you referring to? I have the 770 and stand. Its real nice. The stand is a lot Different than the 1100 stand. Better. I think in design.

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[al010964]

Hi Mangnum164,

Sorry the setup I was referring to was the 770 setup, on a custom stand as opposed the stand provide by tormach. I was thinking of doing this to reduce the foot print.

Cheers,
Adrian