770 or 1100 ?

Hi guys. I have a gunsmithing shop with my friend. We have a MODERN 9x35 milling with a 14x40 lathe from MODERN Tool too. We do general gunsmithing with it and all is nice. We run the shop for 2 year now and we want to upgrade, we want to do something new.

We are thinking a lot about CNC machining. We want to make gun stuff like muzzle brake, AR parts, custom job on slide, etc.

I think the PCNC is the best for me. PathPilot seems to be user-friendly and we found a lot of documentation about Tormach on internet. I do a little bit of 3D printing so i will be ok for CAD and CAM, with the time of course.

Now the question is.. 770 VS 1100. We want the parts maker package (Power draw bar, ATC, all the kit) with the 4 axis.

Can you help me to define what is the best for me ?
What i can do more with 10,000 RPM between 5300 ?
Big price difference between the 1100 and the 770 ? The 1100 parts maker package with 4 axis is $45k (Canada). Dont know yet for the 770. Of course, if the difference is significant and we can do practically the same thing with the 770, and we dont use the maximum potential of the 1100, we will take the 770.


Thanks for your advice !! And sorry for my english, im from Quebec, i do my best.

Bluebird,
I have owned a 770 since 2011. I am retired and use it for personal projects so I'm not a heavy user. The 10K spindle speed is nice but the 1100 is much more machine. The 1100 has 50% more hp at the spindle and weighs almost twice as much. It can also run at a lower low end speed. Although the 770 can run at 175 rpm, it is very limited with regard to torque until you are up in the 400-500 rpm range which makes any low rpm operations iffy. I expect that the 1100 has similar low end issues but its 100 rpm low end means you will get into useful spindle speeds at about half or less that of the 770. If you need the higher spindle speed, there are options for the 1100.

For a business enterprise, I would recommend the 1100. Your price difference on the base mill, stand, and full enclosure is around $2K.

BTW, your English is a lot better than many US citizens.

After you buy the tooling, the price difference will be pretty small.
The 770's 10,000 rpm spindle is at it's best with small tooling.
If you are a growing business, perhaps in time you will need both.
Or a Haas mini mill.

Thanks to helping me. I waiting for the submission i make for the 770.

When you say the 10k rpm is the best for small tooling, can you give me a exemple please ? I want to make small and very precise parts for firearms like muzzle brake with the 4 axis. Thanks

Well, I guess it depends on what kind of gun smithing. If you plan to machine aluminum lowers and that sort of work primarily I'd go with the 770 for its faster stock spindle. If you plan to do real gun smithing like cut dovetails, drill holes for scope rails etc I'd be more tempted to look at the heavier and presumably more rigid 1100. If you plan to program and cut wood stocks repetitively I'd probably opt for a good quality CNC router instead.

Gunsmithing covers a pretty broad range. Years ago I used to hang out and watch Mike Scherz work over at Gila River Gunworks when he was in his first shop in Yuma (He's in Idaho now), and I seem to recall that he did a lot more work on the lathe than on the mill. Mikes builds match guns and guide guns.

Bob La Londe said:

Well, I guess it depends on what kind of gun smithing. If you plan to machine aluminum lowers and that sort of work primarily I'd go with the 770 for its faster stock spindle. If you plan to do real gun smithing like cut dovetails, drill holes for scope rails etc I'd be more tempted to look at the heavier and presumably more rigid 1100. If you plan to program and cut wood stocks repetitively I'd probably opt for a good quality CNC router instead.

Gunsmithing covers a pretty broad range. Years ago I used to hang out and watch Mike Scherz work over at Gila River Gunworks when he was in his first shop in Yuma (He's in Idaho now), and I seem to recall that he did a lot more work on the lathe than on the mill. Mikes builds match guns and guide guns.

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Hi thanks for the reply. We do general gunsmithing (like dovetail, machining hard receiver, drill and tap barrel, etc) on the big 2.2hp milling we have. We want a cnc to produce parts like muzzle brake, Hammer, trigger assembly, thing like that. Of course machining lower and bigger parts but mostly in aluminum. We want to machining steel but we can run less faster in time, not a problem for now. We have a lot of time ahah

High spindle speeds are much better for engraving. the 770 can make lettering of the same quality very close to twice as fast as an 1100. The diameter of 90 degree engraver cutting at .008" depth is .016"
The tooling for muzzle brakes, hammers and such does not need to be real small.
Getting good tool life is about surface feet per minute, SFPM or perhaps in Canada, surface meters per minute.
The radius of small diameter tooling requires higher RPMs to get enough SFPM for good tool life.

You can always get the speeder for the 1100. I expect with gun work the loss of z capacity using it would not be much of a problem.