PCNC770 – The Wait Is Almost Over….

[Grant NicholasParticipant @grantnicholas81434]

Been quiet in the CNC forum so thought I would spark some life back into it with the arrival of my PCNC770.

There it is, in English waters after almost 2 months waiting and the excitement is building.

Needless to say, I have a steep learning curve ahead of me but have had some time to absorb a heap of information regarding operation of the PCNC770, CAM, G-Code, Conversational Programming, Speeds and Feeds (Extremely different to manual milling), Tooling, Workholding and Fixturing.

As I am a total NOOB to CNC I thought it may be helpful not to mention amusing, if I keep this thread updated with the entire installation of the 770 as well as my failures and successes with various operations and projects.

More to come….

G.

[Grant NicholasParticipant @grantnicholas81434]

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

I hope the one coming in the opposite direction doesn't collide…….

[Grant NicholasParticipant @grantnicholas81434]

Posted by not done it yet on 18/08/2016 07:39:11:

I hope the one coming in the opposite direction doesn't collide…….

LOL. Fortunately not! Now docked safely at Berth 207 Southampton Harbour. : )

G

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

You will be pleased with it, they are a nice machine and I have never seen any bad press on these machines.

[Martin ConnellyParticipant @martinconnelly55370]

I can give you bad press for the publicity photo, those sleeves look far too long and baggy for safety to me.

Martin

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

It's a CNC machine.

You press go which is away from the machine and walk away.

And yes I realise it was said tongue in cheek.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Oh dear:

[Martin ConnellyParticipant @martinconnelly55370]

Oh look, someone caught their long sleeve on the wrong switch.

Martin

[Grant NicholasParticipant @grantnicholas81434]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 18/08/2016 09:53:13:

Oh dear:

Glad it was not on that one then!!!!

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

You don't need to get near the big switches, you can sit in your armchair and use that little control box he has in his hand, more risk of sitting on that than catching your sleve

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Now that was funny. LOL

[Grant NicholasParticipant @grantnicholas81434]

Posted by John Stevenson on 18/08/2016 08:28:04:

You will be pleased with it, they are a nice machine and I have never seen any bad press on these machines.

Good to know John. I spent weeks obsessing over which CNC to choose for my requirements, but the Tormach was always the obvious choice, good support, lots of documentation, and lots good videos on YouTube.

G.

[Grant NicholasParticipant @grantnicholas81434]

Its finally here! Don't think the 1100 would have fit in my garage….. Will post pics of the build in a different thread.

G

[Bob RodgersonParticipant @bobrodgerson97362]

BobHi Grant,

take your time when building the mill up. Read the manual through a few times and familiarise yourself with how it all goes together.

When I got my 1100 it took close on two weeks to build it up and wire in all of the accessories, it was straight forward and the instructions were absolutely perfect but only if you follow them to the letter. As John says you will be pleased with it. There is a very steep learning curve to climb if you are new to CNC like I was but I am improving all the time and the conversational programming is great and very easy to use.

I've just posted some video of my Rapid Turn turning attachment being used for the first time. It's got a lot of potential.

[Grant NicholasParticipant @grantnicholas81434]

Thanks for the good advice Bob. I am pretty fastidious with my stuff, so plan on taking things step by step with the build and getting it right first time round.

Yes, I am new to CNC and have used the time waiting for the Tormach to do as much research as possible. Feeds Speeds and chip loads was mind numbing, but think I have finally got a better understanding of it now. I am not to bad with Fusion360 and have completed a few 2D CAM stratedgy setups with success. Still I realise there is a lot more to it than completing a simple toolpath. Steep learning curve it is, this world of machining.

Keep us updated with your progress on the Rapid Turn Bob and happy machining!

G

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

You may have noticed there are a few videos relating to assembly of PCNC machines. Probably more 1100s than 770s and 440s but even then I assume they share a lot in common.

Sounds exciting! Good luck with the new toy and let us know how you get on.

Murray

[Grant NicholasParticipant @grantnicholas81434]

Cheers Murray! Will start a new build thread when I eventually get round to it. Work and family commitments always seem to be interfering with my garage time….

G

[Anonymous]

Grant: I'm sure you'll be very pleased with your PCNC770. I've had a PCNC1100 for a bit over 8 years and overall have been impressed. The old Mach3 controller was a bit quirky but the new PathPilot seems to be a lot more logical, although slightly biased to imperial. I think Tormach have now changed the metric jog increments to more reasonable numbers.

Even after 8 years I'm still feeling my way with feeds and speeds. The key point is you can run much faster than you think. The last part I machined was with a 3mm cutter and that was running at 200mm/min in steel. The steepest parts of the learning curve for me were CAM and workholding. I've gradually changed my approach and now tend to use smallish cutters running at fast spindle speeds and high feedrates. I rarely use a cutter over 10mm. That has fed back to my use of the manual mill as well. Both mills are R8 so I've adopted the TTS system for my manual mill for most milling and drilling.

The main limitation of the PCNC1100 is maximum spindle speed, which should be less of an issue with the 770. My next planned accessory is a high speed spindle and VFD from Arc. Although I see that Arc are no longer listing the smaller of their high speed spindles.

Keep us posted on progress.

Andrew

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