New Guy

[mike sr]

Hello to the guys on the Tomach section of this forum.

I will have the Tomach 1100 sometime next week, I am looking forward to it.
I have been a welder/fitter and do general machining on an old manual Bridgeport and a Chinese lathe, however I know very little about cnc other than what can be done with it, so this will be a real learning experience for me! I look forward to reading the posts about this machine......

mike sr

[philbur]

Welcome Mike, you'll get lots of help here when needed.

What do you plan to use your mill for.

Phil

[mike sr]

I plan to use it for manufacturing small aluminum parts used in the RC Boating hobby, I always wanted to learn cnc so this is an an educational thing too.

My son sells parts and he has trouble getting them made in a timely fashion, so hopefully I can learn the machine and make a few parts for him as well.

mike sr

[David Bord]

Mike, I had about the same background as you with no cnc experience. It's probably been the single best purchase I've made. The learning curve has been steep for me, but I've loved every minute.

Welcome and good luck on your journey!

David

[mike sr]

Thanks guys for the well wishes! I am anxious to get started.

[twocik]

Welcome Mike !!

Read every thing you can find on the Tormach and machining techniques. I read the manual every night before it arrived, got bored and started with the G & M codes to polish up. 8)

If you haven't already, start with learning the CAD & CAM before anything.


Good luck

[mike sr]

Welcome Mike !!

Read every thing you can find on the Tormach and machining techniques. I read the manual every night before it arrived, got bored and started with the G & M codes to polish up. 8)

If you haven't already, start with learning the CAD & CAM before anything.


Good luck

Thanks!

Thats what I plan on doing, cad/cam I know very little about, I read the manual last week, but I need the machine to relate it to. The software should be here Monday or so and I can get started on that.

[philbur]

Are they 2 1/2D or 3D parts? what CAM/CAM did you buy? If they are only 2 1/2D you might side-step a significant part of the learning curve (at least to start with) by using a simple 2 1/5D CAM program, rather than jumping straight into something like SprutCam.

Just a thought,

Phil

I plan to use it for manufacturing small aluminum parts used in the RC Boating hobby, I always wanted to learn cnc so this is an an educational thing too.
mike sr

[Jaynboom]

I used an online tutorial at Streaming Teacher to learn G-code programming initially. The guy who does the course is the same guy who writes the textbooks that the trade-schools use.

I was really impressed with his teaching methods. I think that's where I learned MasterCAM too.

[Don Clement]

Welcome. I too had never used CNC before purchasing my Tormach PCNC. What helped me most in learning CNC was to first learn G-code. The book by Peter Smid "CNC Progamming Handbook" was a great help for me in learning G-code. I also bought SprutCAM with my Tormach which is a really capable 3D CAM program for a bargain price when bought thru Tormach as a Tormach owner. SprutCAM has a sheer learning curve, however so do the other 3D CAM programs with similar capabilities that cost ten times as much. SprutCAM also does 2.5D. As for 2.5D CAM: IMO why not learn the whole capabilities of the 3D with SprutCAM as at some point a 3D project will come along and when it does one will already have learned the techniques if using SprutCAM. BTW I used the $9K I saved by not buying another 3D CAM program to get more advanced version of Solidworks CAD with non-linear FEA simulation.

Don

[mike sr1]

Are they 2 1/2D or 3D parts? what CAM/CAM did you buy? If they are only 2 1/2D you might side-step a significant part of the learning curve (at least to start with) by using a simple 2 1/5D CAM program, rather than jumping straight into something like SprutCam.

Just a thought,

Phil

I think they are 2 1/2d parts except for the hole that transitions from a rectangle to a round hole. That part of it could be designed differently I believe and get around that using angled cutters.

I bought albire cad and sprut cam with the machine, Dan did mention cut 2d, maybe thats what I should do, I will give him a call.

mike sr

I am having problems with my account.I set up another as mike sr1, this one works.

[mike sr1]

Welcome. I too had never used CNC before purchasing my Tormach PCNC. What helped me most in learning CNC was to first learn G-code. The book by Peter Smid "CNC Progamming Handbook" was a great help for me in learning G-code. I also bought SprutCAM with my Tormach which is a really capable 3D CAM program for a bargain price when bought thru Tormach as a Tormach owner. SprutCAM has a sheer learning curve, however so do the other 3D CAM programs with similar capabilities that cost ten times as much. SprutCAM also does 2.5D. As for 2.5D CAM: IMO why not learn the whole capabilities of the 3D with SprutCAM as at some point a 3D project will come along and when it does one will already have learned the techniques if using SprutCAM. BTW I used the $9K I saved by not buying another 3D CAM program to get more advanced version of Solidworks CAD with non-linear FEA simulation.

Don

I think maybe a simpler program would be the thing to start with. At my age I dont need anything really complicated ha!
The machine and software will tenatively be here the middle of next week, then I can get a better idea of what its like.

mike sr