Why did you buy a Tormach?

[matt_g_shaver]

Why did you choose a Tormach milling machine over similar machines sold by Bobmill, Little Machine Shop, Microkinetics, Mikinimech, Industrial Hobbies, Novakon, Smithy, Syil, etc (I tried not to leave anyone out )?

[TXFred]

Product support. Tormach is known for supporting their product. Some of the other companies out there are known for doing the exact opposite.

Also, Tormach is the only company with an ATC.

Frederic

[Don Clement]

Are you the same Matt Shaver that posted "I do engineering consulting for Smithy"?

Don

[zephyr9900]

There are not "similar machines" sold. There are just "other machines" than Tormach sold.

My reasons:

1. Features
2. Quality
3. Price
4. Tech support

Of course, that was all from reading existing users' postings since it was before I bought my machine. But since I've owned mine since Oct. 2008 all have been proven in use. And I have been, and am, happy to demo my machine. Word-of-mouth from existing owners is, I think, a powerful factor in Tormach's sales.

Randy

P.S. Don, check out Here we go 924 cnc lathe on the way . I don't know why I'm even taking this question seriously.

[matt_g_shaver]

Are you the same Matt Shaver that posted "I do engineering consulting for Smithy"?

Don

Yes!

[matt_g_shaver]

P.S. Don, check out Here we go 924 cnc lathe on the way . I don't know why I'm even taking this question seriously.

It's a serious question. I really want to know what factors influenced people to buy from Tormach. They are obviously successful judging from the number of forum posts here vs the forums for the other brands I mentioned. Was it their advertising? Web site? A particular feature? Trade show presence? Reputation?

I posted this question (and everything else I've ever posted on the internet since day one) under my real name and I'm not completely unknown in the hobby CNC world. Would it be better to hide behind a pseudonym?

[tbaker2500]

I bought my machine in '08. My company wanted to do prototype work, and back then Tormach was the ONLY machine in this price range that I could easily find. For the price got me first, $8k for a hefty CNC.

But what made the sale was the company. They are very, very open about their design decisions, and that let me understand that they were an engineering company. While the machine was made in China, they designed it and made it clear that this was their product.

I've done a little browsing recently looking at machines, and I don't get the feeling from most of the suppliers I looked at, that they design the machine. I don't even get the feeling that they understand machining. They appear to resell a white label product. Those who did design their own machine, did so very poorly from the photos on site. (I'm not sure I investigated all the machines you listed, but most.)

[matt_g_shaver]

Thank you! This is exactly the type of thing I was interested in hearing about.

I bought my machine in '08. My company wanted to do prototype work, and back then Tormach was the ONLY machine in this price range that I could easily find. For the price got me first, $8k for a hefty CNC.

But what made the sale was the company. They are very, very open about their design decisions, and that let me understand that they were an engineering company. While the machine was made in China, they designed it and made it clear that this was their product.

I've done a little browsing recently looking at machines, and I don't get the feeling from most of the suppliers I looked at, that they design the machine. I don't even get the feeling that they understand machining. They appear to resell a white label product. Those who did design their own machine, did so very poorly from the photos on site. (I'm not sure I investigated all the machines you listed, but most.)

[beanbag]

Why did you choose a Tormach milling machine over similar machines sold by Bobmill, Little Machine Shop, Microkinetics, Mikinimech, Industrial Hobbies, Novakon, Smithy, Syil, etc (I tried not to leave anyone out )?

Because it's clear from looking at the other mills that they were garbage chinese mini mills ghetto converted into CNC. The tormach looks purpose built.

The Mikini also seems purpose built, but they can't seem to get their act together. Also, in their youtube videos, the machine makes a sickly sound when taking a deep cut.

Also, Tormach has done a lot for the community like provide instructional videos for free.

[zephyr9900]

There is more than ample evidence here as to why people choose Tormach. Out of my 900+ posts, at least 90% are in this forum. How many have you read through?

And no, I have no financial ties with Tormach, other than sending them money to buy their stuff.

Randy

P.S. Truthfully, if I were buying a mill today I wouldn't buy a Tormach 1100 again. I'd buy a Tormach 770 for the 10krpm spindle. Most of what I do is 3D contouring on fairly small workpieces and spindle speed is everything beyond accurate motion (I can interpolate bearing bores that are closer than .001", as close as I can mesaure with an inside mike...)

[cheetahcnc]

I really like the complete package Tormach offers. I started out years ago buying 3/4" shaft tooling to be compatible with Tormach's power drawbar. The concept of no collet change made tool changes quicker and easier on my large Lagun. Right after the ATC was made available, I started picking up pieces of their TTS tooling system, knowing a PCNC 1100 with ATC was inevitable. They offer an excellent machine, excellent service and support, tons of compatible additions/upgrades, a quality tooling system, and even a CAM software. There are plenty of machine companies and machine parts companies etc. which offer part of the package, but only Tormach offers the complete turn-key package for a smaller budget and shop like mine.

I recently met with some of the Tormach crew at a local show. They were very friendly and knowledgeable, and addressed all questions and concerns with the utmost professionalism and confidence in their product. There was no sales pitch, or pressure to buy, and they didn't even take my info - as some companies do to turn up the heat later. (I know how that works, as I had worked machine shows in the past.) When you offer a great product, why would you have to tell anyone that, your great product will tell it's own story. And the Tormach's do a pretty good job of that. I was able to see their machine run right before my eyes, and the parts coming off it were fantastic.

Even their website is excellent, with plenty of information and videos on their products, and very user friendly - just like everything from Tormach. And yes, I see another one in my future.

Jim

[TXFred]

DELETED

Randy,

This is absolutely uncalled for. If you don't want to answer the man's questions, don't answer them. There is no reason for you turn this into a flamewar.

Frederic