Tormach 8L Lathe Promotes Affordable CNC Turning

Tormach Inc.’s 8L Lathe, is a compact CNC machine that can fill a variety of turning needs. The company promises the machine is rigid enough to cut plastic, stainless steel and titanium, and says its 5C spindle accommodates parts up to 1” diameter – which it believes should meet the needs of most lathe users. If users need to machine pieces up to 8” in diameter, they can add a three- or four-jaw chuck to cut the stock.

Like wtih all Tormach CNC machines, PathPilot software will control the 8L Lathe and allow users to leverage conversational lathe programming, do rigid tapping and use built-in Dropbox support for transferring programs.

Tormach’s 8L uniquely offers a 1.5 hp (1.11 kW) spindle that runs at 180-5,000 rpm. It already comes with the machine in a fully assembled enclosure as part of the base model, but the footprint remains small (26 in. x 50 in.), and the lathe itself is attached to a hand-scraped 140-pound cast base. 

The company also says the travels on the 8L are impressive for its compact size, with a maximum workpiece length of 10” with the tailstock and an X-axis travel of 4.5” that allows users to machine parts that fully utilize the 8” swing. The stepper motors on the X and Z axes provide a feed rate of 150 ipm (3.8 m/min).

“We are excited to introduce this new lathe to the market,” says Cory Bailey, Tormach’s product engineer. “Tormach was founded on the idea of bringing cost-effective and capable CNC equipment to market and this one provides users with everything needed to face, turn, bore, groove and thread.”