7 months by cncdivi
4-jaw on the left and 3 jaw on the right. The round posts have little cutouts that engage the cams in the spindle nose. These need to be adjusted to the proper height for best engagement…
If you’ve never set up a chuck like this, your reaction is probably to tighten down the cam locks as far as they’ll go and then slap the chuck onto the spindle nose. Note that there is a socket head cap screw that engages a cutout on each cam lock to prevent it from spinning loose, so “as far as they’ll go” would be the lowest position that will engage properly with the socket head cap screw. If you do that, you’ll find the chucks don’t fit properly to the spindle. In fact they may bind up and require some persuasion to get them back off.
The right way to do this involves a bit of measurement and some trial and error. First thing is to take some type of depth gage and get all 3 cam locks to the same height–I just used the depth gage feature on my digital calipers to do the job:
Set the height of each cam lock to be the same using a depth gage…
On my chucks, there could be as much as two turns of the cam lock on its threads difference between each one when setting their height, so it is important to actually measure and not just assume things will be the same based on the threads. This is not a function of there being different threads, but rather of the depths and exactly where the threads start.
Start by setting them all as deeply as you can get them to match up. Try the chuck on the spindle. If you haven’t already, you’ll want to use a punch to mark the “unlock” position of the locks. If things don’t work pretty smoothly and easily, don’t force it. Pull the chuck back off the lathe and back the cam locks out a turn so they raise up. You should notice things get easier when mounting the chuck and then they get harder again. Return to that “sweet spot” where they’re easiest and you’re good to go. I was able to get my chucks adjusted so they go on and off the spindle extremely easily and they are a pleasure to work with.
One more thing–put down some protection on your lathe ways in case you drop a chuck (DOH!):
It’s a little harder on a slant bed lathe to use a piece of lumber to protect the ways from a dropped chuck. I found a nice long piece of wood could be wedge into place between the ways and the front of the coolant pan…
I haven’t yet managed to drop a chuck (knock on that wood!), but that’s probably because I always put down a piece of lumber to protect the ways. Mr Murphy realizes it’s better to wait on dropping the chuck until there is no protection available.
I’ll have another installment on the Tormach shortly that will cover my Swiss Multifix QCTP and tooling. I just need to finish up an ER collet chuck holder for twist drills and the like before posting.
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Bob is responsible for the development and implementation of the popular G-Wizard CNC Software. Bob is also the founder of CNCCookbook, the largest CNC-related blog on the Internet.
Have you thought about a GT-27? I know you got this free, but it can’t actually do any production parts efficiently.
Brad, I did not get the lathe for free, LOL. A GT-27 is a lot more money, though a nice lathe. Why do you say it can’t do any production parts efficiently? I think’ll it’ll be just fine for light production work. I am set up with 5C collet closer, gang tooling and turret for that sort of work.
Cheers,
BW
You didn’t? Well gotta be close. Anyways my phone cut me off. The speed is 60-100ipm? You doing gang was a smart move for slow rapids. I don’t figure you will do production work well… Until you do a Kickstarter. Haha. I’ve learned everythinf from Peter(hawaii), blame him on my opinion, lol.
Peter is a good man!
Depends on the part. The rapids penalty is a function of tool changes, whether on gang or turret. Send me some g-code and I’ll tell you the per-part difference for a GT-27 versus a Tormach. Easy to run it through the G-Wizard Editor and see. My suspicion is it won’t amount to an awful lot, but I could be wrong.
The other diff is the GT has 5 HP vs 3 here, and some more rpm. That’ll matter for big taps and big twist drills, so again, depends on the part.
I think the real answer is the two machines don’t actually compete, which is what I told Peter. If you got a shop and business coming in the door, sure, buy a more expensive machine and make parts faster. But if you either aren’t in the business of making parts (me) or the budget is a matter of having a machine or not having a machine, the Tormach is in a sweet spot, just like their mill.
I’m going through this right now, so another thing for the new guy is the cost to tool up the machine. It all adds up. Tormach’s are good first or only machines. I also hear from people who want two machines so if one goes out they have spare capacity.
I got mine used, with a price comparable to Tormach. I agree, but that means you know the Tormach Cost? Or ball park? Anyway, can’t wait to see it in action. I love my Tormach Mill.
Bob
Do you know why Tormach is so slow at releasing info on the lathe. There have to be a lot of folks out there that are waiting on price and info on the lathe.
Dave
Guys, I can’t comment on why Tormach does or doesn’t do things, why not ask them? They have published quite a few specs on the machine.
As for price, when we were talking to people at the Open House here at Santa Cruz Electronics, Andy G. was here and telling people it would cost just a little more than the mill because it has more required options. For example, you can’t buy it without the stand.
The turret is a little less than the Mill toolchanger. I’m not going to get any more exact than that on prices because that’s Tormach’s job, but that’s the ballpark. It’s a whole lot of machine for the money and the people that saw it at the Open House were very impressed.
I’ll try to post some videos here before too long as well as writing more about using it.
Hi Bob,
might be a good idea to put a > on the spindle nose and a < on the chuck so you always line it up with the same orientation.
Cheers
When you say collet closer…. Manual or is there an option for a pneumatic/hydraulic closer (with hopes of adding a puller)? I own an 1100 now and am trying to decide whether to go Tormach on the lathe or GT-27
Zach, there will be both a lever operated closer like what I have and a pneumatic/hydraulic closer with a bar puller.
BTW, things are designed so you can leave the closer in place and stick a chuck over it if you need to, which is very convenient. There will also be a tailstock as an add-on, but I don’t think that’ll be ready for the initial shipments.
I also recommend the match mark Phill suggested. What I did with my lathe was put a match mark on the head then put the chuck on chucked up some stock and measured run out. Then indexed the posts to the next position and measured run out again. When I found the position with the least run out I made another match mark on the chuck to be sure I align it the same way every time.
Tom and Phil, it’s a great idea. If you can reduce runout on a mill by always clocking your toolholders to the same position (a good reason for the spindle to stop in the same place even if your taper doesn’t use drive dogs), it’s a good idea for lathes too. Matter of fact, I had already done this on my manual lathe and chucks, just hadn’t gotten to it for the Tormach yet. So many projects, so little time, LOL!
That board may protect your ways but it looks like chute headed right to your foot, knee or maybe higher!
Charlie, no doubt about that “chute” aspect. I call it my lathe chuck luge and I’m careful to stand to one side and not directly in its path, LOL.