Tormach Upgrades

Over the last year, I have been banging parts on the Tormach 440. I have proven I can get great parts off the machine and have paid the machine off with spec work. It is time to do some upgrades.

Photo by Igor Ovsyannykov / Unsplash

One of the first upgrades was to reduce the time and effort to change tools. One set of parts had three setups, each setup with 4 to 7 tool changes. After running 10 parts. thats 180+ Tool changes. For those not using a 440, you may remember tool changes on a knee mill like a Bridgeport. They go something like this:

G30 the Z axis
Open doors and blow off the tool
Open the spindle door, flip the mechanical spindle lock on
Grab the wrench and loosen the drawbar
Wrench down, mallet up and tap drawbar to release tool
Pull tool out and place on tray
Feel inside collet to ensure no chips
Grab next tool
Insert into collet and hold against spindle face
Grab wrench and tighten drawbar
Close spindle door, spindle lock is release automatically. IMPORTANT, failing to close the door can tweak the door or lift it off its hinges when you rapid Z down for the next operation.

Over, and over and over....

Fortunately, I was invited to get into the power drawbar beta from Tormach. The power draw bar makes tool changes much easier. They are a lot faster to change tools and zero chance of tweaking the door after changes.

Things go a lot faster now:

Now a tool change is G30 the Z axis, open the door
grab the tool and press the tool release
Remove the tool
Insert the new tool and release the toll release button
Close the door and cycle start

If youa re looking at upgrades for yout Tormach, the power draw bar should be one of the first you consider.