Ned DIY build

Alright CNC gods, I need some suggestions, I have a large amount of 80/20 rails from a failed project. Looking to turn those into a cnc/plasma table. I lots of rails, TONS of fasteners, enough steppers and electronics to build a killer robot and the space for a 8x4 or 4x10 table.

I have the following 80/20 parts, willing to cut what is needed but would like at least an 8x4 table out of this, or will buy some to extend to make 4x10.

1503-LS x6 105”
1503-LS x5 10”
1503-LS x10 57”
1517-LS x2 105”
1517-LS x4 96”
1517-LS x2 57”
1545-S x6 78”
1530-ULS x2 100”
1530-ULS x3 52”

4441 x4
4352 x12
4302 x142
4340 x2
14117 x4
3778 x300
3943 x24
3941 x250
2826 x50
3910 x40
13-3940 x80
3663 x36
14161 x36
Bunch of openbuild v-slot wheels, bearings.


Now I would like to not spend another arm and leg to make this as I have about 4k into the above parts, I have about a grand set aside for the cnc and torch. I have NEMA 23s, power supplies and drivers for all. My goal with this project would be to have a cnc/plasma table with switchable head between torch and spindle, I would also like direct drive control. Thanks for your time and effort any any help you can provide.

Where do you live?

I'm in Southwestern Ontario and I want to sell a machine that I think would make a nice 5 x 10 plasma table. Way too big and heavy to ship, so it would need to be a local sale.

The other thing I have is a new (never used) kit with carriages and what not. I believe it was "no sleep studio" "shopdroids" that I bought it from. I bought it a few years back. It would require you to buy IVT rails for the V groove. I don't recall what series of 8020 it's compatible with. I'd need to look it up, which I'll do if anyone is interested.

That kit can be shipped anywhere, but the machine can't. Let me know if you are interested in either via PM for pics and more discussion.

As for the design, 8020 does have some CAD stuff you can download to make your life easier when designing with their parts. They have an autocad add on plus files and things available for different programs I believe. It's been a few years since I messed with it, but I'm sure it's still there.

I'd suggest building two separate machines for CNC routing and plasma cutting, and keeping them in different rooms. You certainly seem to have enough aluminum extrusions to do it. Plasma cutting is a very messy process, best done in an enclosed shed on a machine with a water table that catches most of the hot flying spatter. This table is usually covered with an open framework of replaceable metal bars, which isn't easy to convert into the smooth level bed you'd use for mounting wooden workpieces. I've seen some designs where people have mounted an extension arm on their router which held a torch over an adjacent plasma-cutting table, but this isn't ideal. You really want to keep your wooden parts out of the vicinity of the plasma, with a dedicated dust collector to service the routing operation. Having wood shavings and dust in the same room where red-hot bits of metal are flying around is a recipe for disaster.