Tormach xsTech & PathPilot Hub: Empowering Remote CNC Learning

Tormach Inc’s xsTech Router Mill, a ready-to-use tabletop system with full CNC capabilities, is a small-but-versatile CNC system for cutting plastics, wood and aluminum. 

Tormach recommends xsTech, which comes ready to run and requires no assembly, for students learning CNC fundamentals. It plugs into a standard 120V wall outlet, with an available 230V version for customers outside of the US. The xsTech comes with a wide variety of features including a 10.4” Touchscreen PathPilot Controller; keyboard, mouse and jog shuttle; WiFi module; electronic tool setter; 16-piece carbide cutting tool set; see-through enclosure for dust control and safe use; and several ER11 collets.

 “The xsTech is small and easy to use, and like all Tormach CNC machines, it uses our award-winning PathPilot control software,” says Andrew Grevstad, Tormach’s business development director. “PathPilot is intuitive and provides newcomers with the perfect entry into understanding CNC fundamentals.”

Tormach particularly recommends PathPilot Hub for teachers and remote educators. It provides a full software interface for any Tormach machine, including the xsTech, and allows students to learn CNC programming from a virtual hub. According to Lori Morrison Bufalo, Tormach’s marketing director, teachers have been able to make use of the free software during the COVID pandemic.

“Teachers are using PathPilot Hub to teach students remotely,” she says.  “When they are able to come into school to use the Tormach mills, the students have already learned their programming skills and can make their proven parts.”

PathPilot Hub provides a virtual digital twin, allowing users to test anything they might wish to do on a physical machine like the xsTech.