Any advice on a 6m x 2m CNC Plasma / Router build

Hi All,

Hoping someone with experience in this field may be able to get me started, looking at the possibility of building a 6m x 2m CNC plasma / Router combo, would have a water table for plasma work, and a sacrificail board fitted on top for the router work.

Are there any plans for this size of machine anywhere you know of?

Also, anyone who has built a machine, i have got several quotes from know suppliers of these type machines, but i know i could build one myself and save a lot of money, Just wondering if it would be worthwhile,

I have an Aluminium boat building business, also Marine Engineering and Fabrication, so the machine would be well used in a professional environment, Just wondering if the saving of a self build will be enough to make it worthwhile.

Just need to know where to start so to speak.

Looking forward to your replies.

What value do you place on your personal time? If your business is flourishing, time may be at a premium. Does the router need the same capacity? To combine the 2 functions within the same machine may cause some unexpected compromise to functionality. Separating functions within the same machine may offer some options not considered. Is it reasonable to think the router could function with a smaller work envelope? What about out sourcing the router or plasma work? Depending on how you go about building your machine (kit or from scratch), it can be a long drawn out affair. What's more important; the satisfaction of building your own machine or building a successful business?

I'm not interested in probing here. Its just that I've had to struggle thru these same issues and know that they can be very difficult.

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Originally Posted by MARV

What value do you place on your personal time? If your business is flourishing, time may be at a premium. Does the router need the same capacity? To combine the 2 functions within the same machine may cause some unexpected compromise to functionality. Separating functions within the same machine may offer some options not considered. Is it reasonable to think the router could function with a smaller work envelope? What about out sourcing the router or plasma work? Depending on how you go about building your machine (kit or from scratch), it can be a long drawn out affair. What's more important; the satisfaction of building your own machine or building a successful business?

I'm not interested in probing here. Its just that I've had to struggle thru these same issues and know that they can be very difficult.

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Hi Marv
Thanks For the reply my business is Just in the early phases I don't want to take on any more debt at the moment, would rather build the machine on my own just now.
Instead of building one big machine maybe I could build 2 smaller? Or what I was thinking to do was make the machine so was 6 meters long by 2.5 meters wide and only use 1 end section of it for the router machine and the rest of it would be a plasma all the time.
So big enough to take an 8x4 sheet sideways.
Do you think that would work?

I would be interested to learn how you've got on building your machine if you have started already? and where you got the plans from for the table, the table it's self is pretty easy to make it's the gantry part and the running rails etc.I'm not sure about.




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I built from a basic kit (Avid Pro 4 x 2, for chair work), but modified much of it to accommodate specific functions. Got backed into a corner along the way and ended up building my own control. My original intent was to build a fairly simple machine and then make stuff on it. I had prior experience doing cnc work, but now retired, I wanted to keep my hand in and make stuff. The kit seemed to fit the bill while allowing for future expansion

The notion of building 2 different capabilities into one machine may have some merit as long as you separate work envelopes. Beyond that, all the usual concerns should be part of your deliberations. Things like vibration/harmonics, frame rigidity, accuracy, etc. Resale value and ease of moving the machine will have a bearing as well. Something that jumped out when I first saw your post was the length of gantry. It will be a challenge to keep the weight down to pare drive line expense while still keeping harmonics and vibration out of it. All doable, but difficult to get right first time out.

I think the best way forward is build the plasma, to take a 6x2m sheet and then at a later date tackle a 4x8 router, the plasma doesn't have to be as accurate in leveling terms, so i would say that would be the one to start with.

I have designed the frame of it in Rhino, but just not sure about how best to design the gantry system, and then how do you work out what you need in terms of servo motor size (N.M)?

Keep the 2 machines seperate i think is the way to go.