Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Quick Look: Tormach XS Tech Desktop CNC Router”.
Welcome to make workshop, where we check out tools, toys and tech built for makers. Today we’re going to be looking at a desktop cnc router from tormach. I really feel like. I should explain this is not an in-depth review.
This is just a look at the hardware and i believe tormach was a sponsor of maker faire a couple years ago. They don’t currently sponsor anything. This video isn’t sponsored this unit will go back after i do the video, but i think they were a sponsor at some point, so i feel like i should disclose all of that. Let’S jump into it. This is the tormach xs tech.
It’S an itty bitty cnc router for your desktop. As far as the specs on the machine go well, it’s got a 125 watt, 20 000 rpm spindle belt drive x and y axis. It has 8.6 inches by 6.3 inches by 2.4 inches of workable space. The tormach comes with a complete control system.
You get the computer that goes with it, keyboard, mouse and jog wheel, and that’s really interesting and it plays into what tormach’s vision for this product really is. As far as like horsepower and capabilities. This is on the lower end of the the machines in this price bracket uh, but the goal here isn’t necessarily to have a production machine.
If you look at tormach’s lineup, this is the lowest end of their lineup and really what you’re getting with this machine is. The ability to train for the whole lineup all at once. You see this machine uses path, pilot which is the exact same software and control system that the larger machines use.
So if you were in a school or a makerspace, or even a business that had multiple different sizes of machines, it would make sense to have something like this, so that you could train on this and move fluidly without having to retrain up to the larger machines. Another interesting thing that you get whenever you get the xs tech and the path pilot control software is the online simulation ability. So, let’s say, for example, you had a class full of students at your makerspace and you wanted to teach them how to mill. So you could run them through your cam in something like fusion 360 and then they could open up these virtual machines to simulate it all, and you could train them all at once without having to have that many physical machines. They could try out some designs on this small machine like this and then when they are ready to move up to say a 440 or a 770 or an 1100 that whole series that tormach has all they would have to change, would be their feeds and speeds For you know the the horsepower upgrade that you get and speed upgrade that you get as you move along the the actual experience of operating the machine is going to be nearly identical as you move up the line, so it makes perfect sense for an educational system Like that, every time we put out one of these videos with a cnc router or a cnc mill, people ask me like where they can learn how to do this stuff. What software i use and things like that cnc, routing and milling, is confusing. It’S a lot. More complicated than 3d printing, but you can learn it. We have a special right now in the maker, shed a whole bundle of books, six books for you that are all about learning, how to do c and stuff the cam for it, the cad for it. How to run your machines, how to design for it? You know things out of wood things out of metal click on the link down below to see where you can get the special offer it’s 34.95 for six books to learn how to do this stuff. It’S a great deal, so, let’s talk about my experience with this machine, i had a lot of fun with it. I cannot express how pleasant it is to have a fully enclosed, cnc mill on your workbench, whether it’s this machine or others in this price range.
It doesn’t matter having a full enclosure is fantastic. I love it, and since this is for schools, of course it has the safety feature, you open the enclosure and it stops cutting and stuff like that, but just even for just tinkering around in the home shop. It’S so nice not to have chips everywhere and and dust everywhere having an enclosure is nice.
This enclosure actually has a bonus feature that you can pop out a screw on the back and open a trapdoor and be able to put in a vacuum or even use larger objects on your table. If you wanted that’s kind of a nice little addition on a tiny machine, this size to be able to do as far as its abilities, like i mentioned earlier, this is kind of on the lower end uh. In of the machines of this kind of class that we’ve looked at, this is on the lower end of raw power and stuff like that, but it was able to machine aluminum just fine.
I had no issues. Machining aluminum i’ve been doing these little skulls. I really like how they turn out, and you know how they look kind of half done and coming out of the aluminum and it chewed through it. Just fine. I had no issues. You just have to be a little more conservative with your feeds and speeds than you would be on a slightly beefier machine when it came to wood. Of course it ate through it, like it wasn’t even there. Personally, i love the fact that this comes with the full controller and the shuttle a jog shuttle on a machine like this is fantastic on any cnc router a jog shuttle or a controller is wonderful, not using a keyboard to move it around is just fantastic and They i mean, i know that they’re trying to prepare you for their larger machines, but just in general having a jog controller is wonderful and having the controller come with.
It is great uh. The computer inside this controller is maybe on the lower end of specs. For what is necessary to run it, so there are some, you know. If you hit cut, there is a little bit of a delay before it gets started, but other than that it runs fantastic and the machine.
The computer actually feels insanely solid uh. I’M not gon na damage this thing in my shop, even if i i mean it feels like i could knock it off my workbench and not have an issue there. They were pretty smart in how they went about that waterproof keyboard, waterproof mouse. They were really thinking more about your experience, using it than anything else, and i think they did a fantastic job. I enjoy pathpilot as software to run it. I run mach 3 on some of my other mills and it’s fine. It’S a little bit older version of mock path.
Pilot i like how clean it is, how crisp it is. The errors are nice and easy to read and it does have conversational milling included, so you could do like if i wanted to throw this in there and just flatten the top of it. I wouldn’t have to go to my cam software. I could type in a few commands into path pilot and do it from there, which is nice, it’s small enough to be quasi portable. I could lift it, i could carry it around, but it has everything it needs included, which is nice and at a price range of just under 3 500.
It’S an acceptable thing to put in a classroom or a makerspace to learn more about the tormach, xs tech or any of the other machines that tormach sells go to tormach.com. There will be a link to that down below thanks for watching. I hope you enjoyed this quick look at tormach’s, desktop cnc router, be sure to like this video and subscribe to this website for more cool stuff.
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