In our latest conversation with our Tormaker Community, we caught up with Cesar Rullier who recently purchased the Tormach 1100MX for his specialist reverse engineering company.
Q: Tell us a bit about yourself, Cesar!
A: I live in Florida and own a shop specializing in reverse engineering parts for a wide range of customers. I use my Tormach in a professional capacity. It pays my bills. For me, it’s a business investment. I need to know it can handle higher volumes of work with accuracy
Q: What machine do you have?
A: I have the 1100MX!
Q: What do you make?
A: My company specializes in reverse engineering parts for clients. We used to give the resulting CAD files to clients so they could make the parts themselves. But I soon realized we were just handing money out of the door and decided to buy a CNC mill to make it a complete service.
I also do small runs for my wife’s small Etsy business. I can easily make aluminium coasters and Christmas ornaments on the 1100MX in next to no time, You can just shape the objects quickly without fuss. Aluminium is no issue for my Tormach.
Q: Why did you choose a Tormach?
A: Same as most people, I expect: size, cost and functionality.
But while I was sizing my options up, I noticed straight away the huge price difference. And I mean huge. My next nearest viable option after the 1100MX was almost double the price.
Plus, to get it installed also involved rigging, etc. That really put me off. For example, due to COVID, I’ve recently dismantled my 1100 mill in the shop and rebuilt it in my home garage so I can keep working. I couldn't do all that if I needed rigging every time I needed to move it.
Some of the other bigger machines also came with big costs for extra services such as rigid tapping, probing, etc. I don’t have any of those problems with my Tormach. It’s literally just plug and play.
I’d also say the CNC controller simulator Tormach offers (PathPilot HUB) is brilliant. It let me take the software before I bought and really helped me understand how the machines work. It's a great tool. Easy interface, simple to use, and having the controller interface built into the machine makes it nice and compact so I don’t have to balance a laptop on a bench.
Q: What do you like about your Tormach?
A: It’s compact, accurate, reliable, and quick. It’s everything I need from a CNC machine. It’s also easy to maintain and fix if required without getting in specialist outside help.
Would I recommend the 1100MX to others? Yes. Absolutely. Why pay over the odds for a machine that’s too big, powerful, or expensive for your needs?
Q: What advice would you give to anyone thinking about a Tormach?
A: I run a professional business with my 1100MX and can safely say it’s never let me down. It’s a very capable machine. I have no idea why anyone would pay double or triple for a CNC mill when a Tormach does the job perfectly.
The parts I mill are all accurate to within a thousandth of an inch and it can run easily for 10-12 hours a day, no problems.
Also, I'm not a machinist by trade and had to retrain myself on how to machine. The Tormach has been an easy learning curve for me. I mean, the better machinist you are, the more you can get out of a Tormach. But it's also perfect for the beginner. Its versatility is fantastic.
