i love my 1100m... got it as soon as they came out. it's been super reliable for me, and is a lot tougher than i need it to be. i've crashed the hell out of it many times with stupid mistakes, she just keeps on ticking. as long as you set them up proper (level everything, take the twist out of the base with shims etc) they're faster and more accurate than anyone considering one needs them to be. only real, major downside is the slow travels, which the servo upgrade will handle nicely. i'd strongly recommend one to anyone who is looking to install in a garage or somewhere without 3ph power... even maybe as a second op machine for someone with a bigger shop. the ROI on these smaller machines, properly utilized, is insane. i fully intend to keep and use mine after the DMU50 comes.
I am amazed at some of the stuff you've done out of steel. I'd love to see a video of the curved dies you made. I need to make a similar set of dies for a radiused sanding block I'm getting ready to produce. You've also given me ideas for stamping a ton of different sheet metal shapes... Is there a calculator that helps you figure out how much pressure you need to exert for a given metal gauge and length of cut? I'm trying to sort out how large of a press I need to buy. Thanks again. -Greg
Thanks Greg! I thought I made a video on it but I guess I didn't. I need to make more of the so I'll be sure to video one of them. Cool! I've learned so much from UA-cam, glad to help! There is a tonnage calculator for punching on the Unipunch website. Not sure about the bending. I just guessed on the bracket bending. Kind of trial and error for me. If it doesn't work, get a bigger press. I may end up with 5 or 6 presses. Lol. Not a problem though, I just dedicate presses to specific task.
Probably better Xometry rejected your part. I did the sample part for them and passed QC, I went on to do several jobs for them. They are a great company if you don't mind working for minimum wage. After I completed the jobs I put them into their "automated quoting" system to see what their markup was; for the parts I did they averaged 70% over what they paid me to do the parts. Which meant I had to order material, make the part, inspect the part, and ship the part and they made 70% of the total cost of the part in profit to them, for in essence just being a middle man. NO THANKS XOMETRY I'll go work at McDonald's before I do work for them again.
I've got a 770s3 with a 4th axis and it's been amazing. I mow through stainless and Ti without issue and something I truly love and glad I have. That said, I started with the smaller Carbide3d Nomad Pro, which is smaller and easier to manage starting out (plus significantly less expensive). It's still capable of milling aluminum (and steel if you're conservative), but for learning the ins and outs, it's been absolutely fantastic and the Carbide3d and Winston moy YT channel are great resources. I now use it for small engraving jobs or small projects since it's very well suited for that. Plus, it's fully enclosed and quiet enough to run inside in an office. You can even do some seriously complex setups and 3D milling with excellent precision. Check out the C3D channel and some of the stuff the nomad tackles. If you want to get experience without massive investment, included software designed for ease of use but capable of smaller complex cuts or If you're not sure about the whole machining thing or don't quite know what you really want to make yet, I'd definitely suggest the Nomad since getting a Tormach does require a decent investment in space, effort and most of all, tooling costs. Expect to spend A LOT on tooling and then some more while you start to figure out what works and what you get into. The Nomad is also easier to enter in the tooling respect since you'll be primarily using 1/4" and smaller endmills and engraving bits which are several orders of magnitude less expensive than 3/8"+ carbide endmills, facemills, indexable Mills, etc. My .02c from a few years and $20k+ investment. hope it helps.
It was great for me to learn on. I started by converting a harbor freight mini mill to CNC but had nothing but trouble with it since I was trying to cut steel. I must have put about $2500 into it The Tormach just worked and started making me money. I guess it depends on what you plan on doing with it.
used cnc is also a very good choice if you can personally check over the machine Like a Cincinnati arrow 500 can be found for 5000usd depending on condition. these machines are workhorses, many are 20 years old and still hold a .0005" backlash, 21atc, rigid tap sub programming with the A2100 controller, 6-8k rpm spindles depending on how its optioned cat 40 etc..
I started off with a 6040 router. Not a Good machine. But it served its Purpose, I did some stupid beginner mistakes, for ex i tested out some speeds and feeds then pressed stop. Without thinking I then pressed" go to zero" with a negative z value and spindle running. = spindle crash. That could have been very expensive on a real machine. A cheap machine is not forgiving when it comes to feeds and speeds, which is Good cause then one realy gotta learn that. I would recomend to buy a cheap 3040 and do some trail n error for a couple of weeks, then step it up and buy a used vmc.
I've been running a 1100s3 in my garage for two years. Still working great.
Nice! Wish I had the larger work envelope.
christ, I hope it still does
Awesome. Vid Craig. Glad you’re back uploading
Hey Jason, Thanks! Hope to keep it up.
i love my 1100m... got it as soon as they came out. it's been super reliable for me, and is a lot tougher than i need it to be. i've crashed the hell out of it many times with stupid mistakes, she just keeps on ticking. as long as you set them up proper (level everything, take the twist out of the base with shims etc) they're faster and more accurate than anyone considering one needs them to be. only real, major downside is the slow travels, which the servo upgrade will handle nicely. i'd strongly recommend one to anyone who is looking to install in a garage or somewhere without 3ph power... even maybe as a second op machine for someone with a bigger shop. the ROI on these smaller machines, properly utilized, is insane. i fully intend to keep and use mine after the DMU50 comes.
I've made plenty of those stupid mistakes. lol. A checklist helps.
I am amazed at some of the stuff you've done out of steel. I'd love to see a video of the curved dies you made. I need to make a similar set of dies for a radiused sanding block I'm getting ready to produce. You've also given me ideas for stamping a ton of different sheet metal shapes... Is there a calculator that helps you figure out how much pressure you need to exert for a given metal gauge and length of cut? I'm trying to sort out how large of a press I need to buy. Thanks again. -Greg
Thanks Greg! I thought I made a video on it but I guess I didn't. I need to make more of the so I'll be sure to video one of them. Cool! I've learned so much from UA-cam, glad to help! There is a tonnage calculator for punching on the Unipunch website. Not sure about the bending. I just guessed on the bracket bending. Kind of trial and error for me. If it doesn't work, get a bigger press. I may end up with 5 or 6 presses. Lol. Not a problem though, I just dedicate presses to specific task.
Great video! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Always enjoy your videos. Your like the guy next door, casual but interesting. Keep up the great videos and success to you in 2020.
Thanks Roy! Casual tends to be easier. Making a whole production of it is a lot of work.
How many Tormachs in the Phoenix area. They had one at Techshop in Chandler. They closed down before I could train on it.
I thought I heard that they reopened. Not as Techshop but ASU?
Looks like Tormach has your back...
Yeah, they have always been very helpful when I had to call them also.
What are the covers used for?
They are electrical covers.
Probably better Xometry rejected your part. I did the sample part for them and passed QC, I went on to do several jobs for them. They are a great company if you don't mind working for minimum wage. After I completed the jobs I put them into their "automated quoting" system to see what their markup was; for the parts I did they averaged 70% over what they paid me to do the parts. Which meant I had to order material, make the part, inspect the part, and ship the part and they made 70% of the total cost of the part in profit to them, for in essence just being a middle man. NO THANKS XOMETRY I'll go work at McDonald's before I do work for them again.
Lol. Yeah, I am much happier I focussed on making my own products.
I’m kicking around the idea of buying a small cnc mill to learn on. Is Tormach the way?
I've got a 770s3 with a 4th axis and it's been amazing. I mow through stainless and Ti without issue and something I truly love and glad I have.
That said, I started with the smaller Carbide3d Nomad Pro, which is smaller and easier to manage starting out (plus significantly less expensive). It's still capable of milling aluminum (and steel if you're conservative), but for learning the ins and outs, it's been absolutely fantastic and the Carbide3d and Winston moy YT channel are great resources. I now use it for small engraving jobs or small projects since it's very well suited for that. Plus, it's fully enclosed and quiet enough to run inside in an office. You can even do some seriously complex setups and 3D milling with excellent precision. Check out the C3D channel and some of the stuff the nomad tackles.
If you want to get experience without massive investment, included software designed for ease of use but capable of smaller complex cuts or If you're not sure about the whole machining thing or don't quite know what you really want to make yet, I'd definitely suggest the Nomad since getting a Tormach does require a decent investment in space, effort and most of all, tooling costs. Expect to spend A LOT on tooling and then some more while you start to figure out what works and what you get into. The Nomad is also easier to enter in the tooling respect since you'll be primarily using 1/4" and smaller endmills and engraving bits which are several orders of magnitude less expensive than 3/8"+ carbide endmills, facemills, indexable Mills, etc.
My .02c from a few years and $20k+ investment. hope it helps.
It was great for me to learn on. I started by converting a harbor freight mini mill to CNC but had nothing but trouble with it since I was trying to cut steel. I must have put about $2500 into it The Tormach just worked and started making me money. I guess it depends on what you plan on doing with it.
i love my 1100m. does everything i need it to very reliably.
used cnc is also a very good choice if you can personally check over the machine
Like a Cincinnati arrow 500 can be found for 5000usd depending on condition. these machines are workhorses, many are 20 years old and still hold a .0005" backlash, 21atc, rigid tap sub programming with the A2100 controller, 6-8k rpm spindles depending on how its optioned cat 40 etc..
I started off with a 6040 router. Not a Good machine. But it served its Purpose, I did some stupid beginner mistakes, for ex i tested out some speeds and feeds then pressed stop. Without thinking I then pressed" go to zero" with a negative z value and spindle running. = spindle crash.
That could have been very expensive on a real machine.
A cheap machine is not forgiving when it comes to feeds and speeds, which is Good cause then one realy gotta learn that. I would recomend to buy a cheap 3040 and do some trail n error for a couple of weeks, then step it up and buy a used vmc.
Interesting video
Thanks.