will a Tormach be enough or just a stepping stone

[BrendanRuby]

I’m thinking seriously about buying a Tormach mill because it seems like a good entry point: compact size, affordable price, and good enough for smaller jobs and prototyping. I saw that even the smallest models are cast-iron based and advertised as capable of machining metals, plastics, and composites. What worries me though is longevity. I read comments from people who say these machines are fine for small runs and hobby work but struggle when pushed into heavier materials or production-level loads. Before I commit, I want to hear from those who tried to grow from hobby projects to serious machining on a small mill. At what point did you end up wanting more rigidity, more power, or more capability? Did your Tormach keep up or did you end up upgrading?

 

[Alan]

Tormach machines hold up well for light to moderate work, but most people who shift toward higher volume or tougher materials start wanting more rigidity and torque pretty quickly. They are great for dialing in CAM skills and smaller parts, just not ideal for trying to run aggressive cuts all day. It could help to talk to yourself about what “outgrowing” the machine means for your workflow. Do you see yourself doing longer runs or just more demanding single parts?

 

[stanstocker]

That's a "it depends" question. Size, material, and mass of work, required accuracy and repeatability, 3,4, or 5 axis, probing and tool setting, volume of work, number of tools needed in a typical cycle, all that "stuff" adds into the decision process. Don't overlook available power and required vertical space as well as the foot print of the machine. Chip management is a big deal for some sorts of work or to allow easier recycling of chips from expensive materials. Floors that can hold a small machine may not deal with the weight of industrial stuff, or the forklift needed to get it in place.

Audacity Micro on youtube runs a commercial job shop specializing in small and quite persnickety parts. He's running a Tormach MX1500 and Haas machines and seems quite pleased with the Tormach, runs plenty of work on it.

Others cycle through Tormach fairly quickly as their production ramps up and land in the world of Haas, Akuma, DMG, and in the case of Grimsmo Knives Kern and Turnos high end stuff in addition to workhorse machines many would consider industrial beasts. He started with the usual hobby level machines retrofitted with steppers in a garage, now he's a multi million dollar business. Get the best you can afford, figure out how to get he best of the machines you have, use the heck out of them, upgrade when you must sort of deal.

JohnSL does injection molds on a used Haas OM1, loves the machine.

I've met guys who were delighted with a Tormach 440, it met their needs. Heck, I did my parts making for a clock restoration business on a 4 axis Sherline, just replaced the lead screws and nuts now and then. It met my needs, required very little investment to upgrade, and held better than required accuracy. My needs were low volume, but some of the parts had a fairly long run time. CNC simply gave me the time back I would have spent making the same parts by hand. Got to know what you want to do and what you need to do it. I knew a guy who made carefully researched and accurate scale cannon barrels for model ships. He had something like 20 CNC Sherline lathes in his basement with some slick fixturing and gang tooling he designed. Made a living at it, maybe still does.

Spent a year working out a business plan and sorting out machines to acquire to set up a light manufacturing business aimed at knife makers and specialized tools for clock makers. I was fairly well settled in on a Haas mini mill and a Tormach slant bed lathe with an added bar feeder. Today I'd consider an MX series machine from Tormach, but at the time they were still a stepper only outfit. Life changes made that a non starter, just one of those overcome by events sort of deals. Now at 67 I'm not really looking to start another business, but the itch is still there now and then.

A standard grade 440 may be OK for a while if it checks all the must have boxes, if you upgrade it can sit on the side for those one off jobs, prototypes, or to run the stuff it can do well. Better to get the show started than to sit in analysis mode for a long time and never get anywhere. On the flip side, if you need a fully tooled up MX1500 and plan on running long jobs while doing lights out manufacturing looking at lightly used big name machines or the entry point Haas stuff might avoid having to upgrade at a loss in a short period. Haas had a reputation for some creative financing and deal making, no idea if they still are so flexible.

Not a machine issue, but have a business plan. Review and refine it for a while. If 50K / yr is a reasonable income expectation for a side gig, you will know what machine you actually can afford. A business is a lot more fun if some of the profits go into your pocket then having all earnings go out in machine payments. Break even is OK for a while as you get established, but break even forever doesn't cut it.

 

[mhenry]

I bought a Tormach PCNC 1100 mill shortly after they were first marketed nearly 20 years ago and it's still working just fine for work I do with prototypes and very short production runs, around 10 pieces or less. That might speak to the quality a bit, but mostly to the support. Tormach still supplies spare parts for these as well as some upgrades and they still answer the phone if I have questions. The control software is upgraded a few times a year, usually at no cost to the owner. Mine uses steppers for motion and most of the current models use servos and mine lacks an ATC, though it's available.

Maybe you could comment a bit on what sort of parts and materials you will machine, how often you will use it and what sort of tolerances you need to hit.