Tormach stuck

Metalshop
1

I got the Tormach stuck on the X positive limit. It refuses to move because a limit switch is active on startup.

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My mistake was using the vise while it was so far to the right. Then, not paying enough attention to the bed while I was jogging. This seems to be the intended behavior for the machine. I have a good feeling that the switch was not damaged, but won’t know until I look under the bed skirt thingy. I wrote “Out of Order” on the sign.

2

We noticed the sign last night and fixed the limit switch issue. The Tormach is fine now.

3

Thanks for letting us know. In the future, this should be reported when it happens. Paul and I were both there. If something like this happens in the future, please report it immediately to any metalshop leads, and send an email to metalshop@makeict.org. Also please don’t write on our signs. There is paper in the classroom. Please get with Zac, or Jason so you can figure out what you did wrong, and know how to fix it. Thanks

4

Thanks! Did you simply override the limit switches as suggested by the Tormach video? Do the switches look like this?

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I was looking this morning and I see that Tormach changed their website. Our manual hyperlink is dead now and I keep getting to the manual for the Tormach 1100M. Do you know where a correct manual is for the Tormach?

5

Here’s a current link to manual for our mill: https://www.tormach.com/support/wpdmpro/um10349-pcnc1100-manual-0916a-web/.
Here’s the general support page: https://www.tormach.com/support/mill/1100-mill/.

Our Tormach mill is a PCNC-1100 Series 3 mill running PathPilot 2.x software. If the link doesn’t work you can google for this. There used to be at least one copy of the printed manual around the Tormach, though this one is probably somewhat out of date.

Tormach recently came out with a slightly modified version of their mill, called the PCNC-1100M.

This newer version is still similar to our mill, but not exactly the same.

Curt

6

BTW, hitting the limit switches should be a fairly rare occurrence, but only IF you homed or “ref’d” the machine before you start jogging. Without first homing the machine, the software doesn’t know where the table or spindle is within its range of motion (it doesn’t have absolute encoders) and so can’t enforce software travel limits that would normally keep you from hitting the limit switches. If you do manage to hit a limit switch, you have to disable limit switch checking and jog off the switch. This is pretty similar to hitting a limit switch with the Shopbot.

7

Thanks for the links! If I click on “documents” from the support page it takes me to the wrong manual.

I thought I did ref each time I did the 'ole “lean on the e-stop” trick (twice), but that does seem to be the most likely explanation. I figured the procedure to override the switch would be doable, but I am not authorized yet.

8

I didn’t think to alert you or Paul, that was my bad. I didn’t think to send an email to metalshop either, It seemed like this post was sufficient. Maybe you should subscribe metalshop@makeict.org to the metalshop tag on here so it gets new posts? Did you have trouble getting the dry erase marker off the sheet?