Using CNC to Build a Business

Dear Desktop Engineering Reader:

Say you’re an entrepreneur thinking about starting a side business that does machining. Or maybe your clients keep asking when you’ll expand your design engineering services into physical prototyping or even short-run specialty manufacturing. You’ve noodled the idea, but all the so-called affordable CNC (computer numerically controlled) machines cost as much as a new Audi. But what if you could find a new manufacturing-class CNC machine with a base price less than a Toyota Corolla? Would you go for it? Today’s Check it Out takes you to a bunch of details that should make asking yourself this question a lot more realistic.

Tormach recently announced its new Tormach 15L Slant-PRO, a small footprint CNC lathe. Tormach offers reasonably priced CNC machinery with its Personal CNC Mill line of benchtop CNC equipment for prototyping, short-run production, education and hobby milling. The 15L Slant-PRO appears to be a step up from the PCML line in that it offers the performance and flexibility to tackle prototyping and specialty manufacturing of turned parts. Still, it holds true to the company’s mission to provide affordable CNC machinery to non-traditional users such as designers, engineers, educators and researchers as well as traditional users focused on short-run production and light manufacturing.

The 15L Slant-PRO is a CNC slant-bed lathe in a compact 58 x 66 x 29 in. (WxHxD) footprint. An advantage of the slant bed design, according to Tormach, is that it allows for an extra long (24.5 in.) tool carriage to support the tooling options for tool post, turret and gang tool setups. The tooling and work-holding options are configurable and provide capabilities such as quick change and automatic turret.

Key specifications include a 3-horsepower spindle, 15 in. diameter swing over bed, 6.2 in. diameter swing over carriage and 10 x 12 in. (X,Z) carriage travel. Additional features include rigid tapping support, integrated coolant and a D1-4 spindle nose. Chuck size is 6 in. The unit’s native 5C spindle taper has a removable insert, which increases the spindle bore to over 1.4 in. The maximum spindle speed is 3500 rpm, and the maximum feed rate for both X and Z is 60 in. per minute.

The 15L Slant-PRO comes with what Tormach calls an easy-to-use “conversational” programming interface. This means a couple of important things for you. One, it means that you don’t have to run out right away and make an investment in some third-party CAD/CAM software to use the 15L Slant-PRO. Two, it means that you can design and program many part designs right at the machine and without manually writing code. Three, its simple-to-use interface means you can start being productive once you get the 15L Slant-PRO installed.

Speaking of which, the only thing special about the 15L Slant-PRO’s power requirements is that there’s nothing special about them. Primary power is single-phase 230VAC 50/60Hz, and secondary power for the coolant and control is 115VAC 50/60Hz. So, between those requirements and its compact size, installing the 15L Slant-PRO should not be an issue.

Today’s Check it Out link takes you to the Tormach 15L Slant-PRO landing page where you’ll find a dozen videos on it in operation as well as links to full details, documentation and optional equipment. Take in as many videos as you like, no registration required. Most are in the five-minute range, a few are 10 or so minutes long. None of the technical documents appear to require registration either.

Watching the videos and reading some of the technical documents leaves the impression that the Tormach 15L Slant-PRO is a machine that you can start or expand a business with. Its base price starts at less than 12k. But even if you add a whole bunch of optional accessories, you’d probably run your tab up to near 15k. That’s still less than the base price for a Corolla, and far less than the norm for a CNC machine that can do what the Tormach 15L Slant-PRO does. So, go for it. Hit the Check it Out link and learn about the Tormach 15L Slant-PRO CNC lathe. Good stuff.

Thanks, Pal. – Lockwood

Anthony J. Lockwood

Editor at Large, Desktop Engineering

Go here for the details on Tormach 15L Slant-PRO CNC lathe.