Here at Tormach, we love to tell your stories. So here's Bill Griggs, who runs
CNC Router Tips, and Tricks. Well I was looking to make one part. I only make one
thing, and I started looking around to see which machine could handle that, you
know, that could..I could do in my house, on my schedule, using, you know, my
creativeness to make it. And..and I started looking around and the Tormach
1100 just kind of answered that. There are other machines that cost more, but I
don't really need that. I really didn't need the the capacity. I do small runs.
And so this seemed like a perfect thing for me. It was a bit of a stretch, but I
went for it. In this case you're talking about 23 to 24 thousand dollars worth of
the machine. That's not something that I can just reach in the pocket and drop
down. So this is a major thought process. So I started saying well, okay I'm making
this little part. It would cost, so many dollars, and how many of these do I
need to sell to pay for this machine every month. And when I did the math, and
realized that I was selling, already, enough in a week to pay for it instead
of a month. It was a no-brainer, but I still had to convince the wife. I took
two or three months to get up the nerve to talk to her about it, and finally when
I told her about it, and I said I want to buy this Tormach, "I think this is the
greatest thing since sliced bread, and this is what I plan to do with it."
And she says, "okay, as long as you use it." "Who are you, what did you what did you
do with my wife?" Yeah, it was the most impressive move I have ever seen my wife
make, and I gotta tell you guys if you've got a woman who sticks beside you..
behind you, and helps grow your dream, cherish her because, that it was just...
Blew my mind!
The part that I make is a part that I designed to help people who use CNC
router tables to set up their workpiece. It's a real pain when you when you think
about setting up a workpiece in any machine, the mill, a router table, you know..
you've got the piece of paper, and you're you know going down and dropping the bit
down, and trying to to get it level, with the the Z. Well I wanted to automate
that, and so I started making a part I called the triple edge finder. And it
allows you to find your X,Y, and Z. And a few other things, and that's what I
wanted to continue to make, and that's why I got so much. I can come up with an
idea...instant prototype, and research it and,
pretty much push out a new product at will. I don't know any other way
than CNC that it, you know, guy in his garage can, you know, come up with a
product and get it out there so it's wonderful. I really love the PathPilot
interface because the conversational programming is very easy to use, and it
lets you do some things quicker than, you know, you probably could draw them up in
CAD. You just enter your variables and off you go. Once I understood each of the
boxes and what they did, there was no problem. I mean it was pretty easy and
you know, we're only talking a couple of days of playing around. My business
aspirations aren't just to sell parts, and you know, I can see this growing into
parts, and software, and services, and things like that, online channels, that
sort of thing. Not because I'm, you know... Well, I do like money.. I mean, you know, but
that's not you know, that's not the driving force. I want to see more
people getting out there, and taking a shot. My mom was a teacher, and she used
to used to always tell us that we needed to teach what we learned.
And she had this saying, she would say, "each one, teach one." I feel that
responsibility to carry on that legacy. Mom's gone now, but that lesson stayed
with me. That's why I do the CNC Router Tips podcast.That's why I talk about
Tormach when somebody asked me. Or when you know, I've already put up a video, because
any information I can gain in this lifetime that I don't share with
somebody or teach somebody is wasted information, you know. I can't be
everywhere, so I've got to help other people, to help other people.
As corny as it seems, it's all about the American dream. It's all about going out and
taking something and making it yours, and you know,
helping somebody with whatever
it is that you make. So that's kind of what's driving me. Thanks for watching.
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