[scottandme]

The ATC on the Tormach seems like a waste - it's pricey compared to the overall cost of the machine, and FIRST teams generally have enough manpower on hand to hire a "student powered toolchanger". For the Haas it makes a lot more sense. The power draw bar on the Tormach is a necessary addition.

When you're looking, don't forget to consider freight/installation, space for the machine, power and air requirements, and money for tooling.

The Tormach is a 220V single phase 20A line. The Haas (TM-1P) needs a 50A line or a 208V 3 Phase @ 30A. The Haas also needs 4 SCFM @ 100psi, not sure if a drier is recommended or not.

The Tormach 1100, stand, and power draw bar ran us almost exactly 12k with freight (add another 2-3K for vises, tooling, misc). If money matters, I can't see justifying a TM-1P for triple the price, unless you're considering running production on the machine or something like that. The extra HP, spindle, rigidity, etc is nice - but it's not like we're cutting stainless in production where time is money. The table travel is really the biggest plus, but that really only comes into play for machining frame rails, or squeezing more parts on a fixture plate.