Our Speeder is a great option for doing small end mill work on a lower RPM spindle.  Its a mechanical RPM increaser that takes whatever the speed of the primary machine spindle is and multiplies it 3x.  On the PCNC 1100, that means that 5000 RPM becomes 15000 RPM.  For the PCNC 770, you can take 10000RPM up to 30000RPM, although we rate the device for that speed for short duty cycles.  Continuous operation should be limited to 20000RPM. The Speeder really excels at small pocketing and engraving applications.  Here's an example of a small engraving around a bar that we did for a recent product demonstration.

  You can set up a companion spindle with our Horizontal Spindle Arm Mount for milling in the XZ (G18) or YZ (G19) plane.  This can be a great technique for doing light milling on the end of a very long workpiece.  In this episode of Tormach Fab Lab, Mike C. demonstrates how to get this setup right.

Although not nearly as common as 3- or 4- Jaw chucks, a 2-Jaw Chuck can be quite handy for certain 4th Axis jobs. The jaws on a 2-Jaw chuck are opposite each other (obviously!) and they are driven by a scroll plate, just like the jaws on a 3-Jaw chuck. They are typically used in 2 scenarios:

  We've seen lots of Tormach owners and users launch their ideas through Kickstarter.  In that vein, here's a neat project with a Tormach connection from just a few miles down the road from our offices -  the Radiant Lionhead 3D Printer:

A popular tech line request is  for more information about setting up a 4th axis.  Earlier, we showed how to true a 4th axis to the mill motion using shims and how to set up a 3 Jaw chuck.   In this new video, Mike  C. demonstrates  how to set up a 4-Jaw chuck on a 4th axis.  He also shows basic tail stock setup.

There are lots of ways to find the center of a hole.  In a previous Fab Lab Video, we showed how to do this with an essential shop tool, the dial test indicator.