End mills and tool holders
A mill cuts with end mills held in collets or tool holders sized to its spindle taper (R8, BT30, ER). The taper decides which holders fit, so buy tooling to the machine's spindle rather than generically.
Tormach
Tormach 1100MX - Specs, Score & Price
CNC millProduction hobbyist$29,594.00
Rigidity & frame
The Tormach 1100MX is built on a cast iron frame and table frame. Rigidity is the property that separates a mill from a router: the frame has to resist the forces of cutting metal without deflecting, and mass is how it does that. It is the single most heavily weighted axis in our mill score for that reason.
The ways are Dovetail ways, which carry the axes and set how squarely the machine holds its geometry under load.
Spindle & power
The spindle is rated at 1490 W and turns to 10,000 RPM. On a mill, power and the torque behind it matter more than peak RPM - torque is what drives a cutter through steel without stalling, where a high-RPM router spindle would rub and burn.
Tool changer
The Tormach 1100MX has a 12-pocket automatic tool changer. An ATC turns a multi-tool job from a series of manual stops into an unattended run, and it is the headline feature of this whole segment - most desktop mills do not have one.
Work envelope
The travels are 457 × 279 × 413 mm. Mills are deliberately small and deep rather than wide - metal parts are thick, not sheet-sized - so a modest envelope with generous Z is exactly what this class is built around.
Metals it cuts
Tormach rates it for aluminium & brass, steel and titanium & hardened stock. On a mill, what it is rated to cut is its whole reason to exist - and the honest reading is that the hardest listed metal is the ceiling, not a promise for every depth and feed.
Unsure whether you need a mill or a router at all? Read how they differ - routers cut wood and plastic fast; mills are rigid and slow for metal, and buyers regularly buy the wrong one.
Full specifications
| List price | $29,594.00 Tormach's stated starting price, configured with the 12-pocket automatic tool changer. Tormach does not publish a lower bare-machine price on the current page. |
|---|---|
| Frame | Cast iron frame and table |
| Machine weight | Not published |
| Ways | Dovetail ways |
| Work envelope (X × Y × Z) | 457 × 279 × 413 mm |
| Spindle power | 1490 W |
| Spindle speed | 10,000 RPM |
| Spindle taper | Not published |
| Tool changer | 12-pocket automatic |
| Coolant | Flood coolant available |
| Enclosure | Not published |
| Software | PathPilot |
| Metals rated | aluminium & brass, steel, titanium & hardened stock |
How we scored it
Mill scoring model 2026.07-mill-1. Each axis is scored 0–100 against an absolute reference and weighted below.
| Axis | Weight | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Rigidity The defining property of a mill - the frame mass and material that let it hold a tolerance in metal. Scored from frame material (cast iron and epoxy-granite over welded steel over cast aluminium over extrusion) and machine mass, because mass is rigidity you can weigh. | 24 | 100 |
| Spindle power Rated spindle power in watts against a reference ceiling. On a mill, power and the torque it implies matter more than peak RPM - torque is what drives a cutter through steel without stalling. | 18 | 68 |
| Tool changer Automatic tool changing and how many pockets it carries. An ATC is the headline feature of this segment and turns a multi-tool job from a series of manual stops into an unattended run; a manual-tool-change machine scores low here but is not disqualified. | 16 | 68 |
| Metal capability The hardest material the manufacturer rates the machine for - aluminium and brass, through steel, to titanium and hardened stock. What a mill can be trusted to cut is its whole reason to exist. | 14 | 100 |
| Work envelope X, Y and Z travel as a volume, on a logarithmic scale. Mills are deliberately small and deep rather than wide, so envelope is weighted below rigidity and spindle. | 14 | 100 |
| Value The weighted quality of the five axes above per dollar of manufacturer list price. | 14 | 4 |
Frequently asked
- What metals can the Tormach 1100MX cut?
- Tormach rates it for titanium and hardened stock. On a mill the rigidity and spindle decide how hard a metal it holds tolerance in - read that as the ceiling, not a guarantee for every cut.
- Is the Tormach 1100MX a CNC router or a CNC mill?
- A mill. The difference matters: a router removes material fast in wood and plastic across a large bed, while a mill is rigid and slow and built for metal. See our guide on choosing between them if you are unsure which your work needs.
- Does the Tormach 1100MX have an automatic tool changer?
- Yes - a 12-pocket automatic tool changer, which lets a multi-tool job run without stopping to change cutters by hand. That is the headline feature of this segment.
What you'll also need
A mill is not a finished setup out of the box. These are the parts a working metal setup needs alongside the machine itself.
A vice and workholding
Metal has to be clamped hard and square. A precision milling vice, and a set of clamps or fixture plate, is what actually holds the tolerance the machine is capable of.
Cutting fluid or mist coolant
Metal cutting generates heat that dulls tools and welds chips to the work. Flood or mist coolant, or at minimum a manual cutting fluid, keeps the cutter alive and the finish clean.
A touch probe or edge finder
Finding the exact zero on a metal part is what makes the second and third parts match the first. An edge finder is the minimum; a touch probe automates it.
Sources
Every figure on this page is transcribed from Tormach's published specification. Where a figure is not stated, the page says so rather than estimating it.
Specifications last verified July 28, 2026.