Bulltear 5' x 10' table with intergal rotary axis

I am finally getting around to documenting my 5’ x 10’ Bulltear plasma table with tube cutting area build.

There is 64” x 124” sheet cutting area and a 12” trough area to one side for tube cutting. This way I should not have to interrupt the flat plate cutting area when I need to cut some tubing. There is clearance for up to a 17” diameter tube. I have yet to design the tubing tail supports.

The following renderings show how the table was designed with as built updates.
Attachment 229020

This view shows the display/keyboard/mouse cabinet on a rotating arm. There is a 186-gallon water storage tank and table control cabinet behind aluminum side panels.
Attachment 229022

This view shows the slide out tray for the Hypertherm 85 on the side and the support and opening for a three-drawer cabinet. Also shown is the rotary axis.
Attachment 229024



The upper frame is 3/16” thk 3” x 5” tubing. The legs and under table laterals are 1/8” thk 4” x 4” tubing. The lower laterals are 1/8” thk 2” x 3” tubing. The 5” deep water tray is 12 gauge along with the water tank, and rotary trough. There are two fork truck tubes under table made with 3” x 5” tubing laid flat.

Frame Assembly

All the tubing was cut out with remarkable accuracy on a 1950’s era Marvel 8 bandsaw.
Attachment 229028
The three leg assemblies were assembled first. The three 3” x 5” tubing pieces were used as a assemble fixture on the leveled sawhorses.
Attachment 229030
Attachment 229032
The completed legs were installed upside on the three 3” x 5” table tubes. Two additional sawhorses and two 6” I-beams were leveled to create a flat assembly surface.
Attachment 229034
The two fork truck tubes are shown in this view.
Attachment 229036
The lower 2” x 3” tubing was installed along with legs gussets, trough gussets, and bottom leg plates. I got a little over zealous welding the center leg gussets and ended up with 1/8”+ arch in the 3” x 5” side rails. This shouldn’t be a problem since the Bulltear x-axis rail will be mounted leverl and the THC will maintain proper torch height. That said the table is perfectly square and flat in every other direction.
Attachment 229038
Each side opening was picture framed with ¾” x ¾” x 1/8” thk angle. The 3/32” aluminum panels will mount to the angle with Southco quarter turn panel fasteners for easy access.
Attachment 229040
With the table flipped over it is starting to look like something.

Mounting Accessories

The basic table structure assembly was pretty quick and painless taking less then a week since that part was fully designed. I decided to design the under table component mounting on the fly because I thought it would be easier. It took over a month and a half to mount toolbox, control box and plasma cutter slide. Changing designs on the computer is always easier then cutting out and re-welding.
Attachment 229086
On the right side of the table is the pivoting control console support. On top of the support is a plate for a 12” lazy susan bearing. The console will be a computer cabinet from Global Industrial with clear monitor door and slide out keyboard/mouse drawer. All the wiring will be routed trough the 2” x 3” tubing arm and through the lazy susan bearing to the bottom of the cabinet.

Attachment 229088
Here are a another view of the 3-drawer toolbox mounting. A 1” x 1” x1/8” thk square tube lower frame was diagonally tied back to the upper lateral tube with more 1” x 1” tubing.

Attachment 229092
Two 200 lb 24” full extension slides were mounted between a lower 3”x 4” x 3/16” angle iron frame and 1 ½ ” x 1 ½ ” x 1/8” angle iron slide frame.
Attachment 229090
A hinge door will allow the plasma cutter to be easily slid out for manual cutting or maintenance.

Drain tank

The table drain tank has slightly more capacity then the table with about 180 usable gallons. It is constructed of two pieces of 12 gage to minimize seams. The tanks seams were welded by welder friend to make sure they were leak free. The table fill/pickup tube is 2” black pipe that sticks out of the top about 1” and is welded to the inside bottom to hold the tank together when pressurized. At the bottom of the pickup tube are four 1” notches to draw water in and to leave the 1” of sediment at the bottom from being picked up. That is the theory. I also installed three ¾” steel rods that attach to both the top and bottom to hold the tank together when pressurized.
Attachment 229708

There are two clean out holes with 3/16” cover plates and six 5/16” bolts. I made gaskets from ¼” polyurethane belting but once I pressure tested it I realized six bolts was not enough. The 12 gauge flexed enough to let air pass between the bolts. I was hoping not to have to use RTV to seal it. Eight bolts per cover should correct that.
Attachment 229716

The tank is located under one end of the table with just enough clearance for the fill/vent plumbing.
Attachment 229718
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Two inch pvc fitting and ball valves were used. Since there will be side panels I needed a way to acess the ball valves. I created these couplers that slide over the handles and pilot on the valve body. 1” square tubing handles are attached to ¾” steel shafts that insert into the couplers.
Attachment 229722

Here are the handles on the outside of the panel. The bracket on the underside table is the mount of the air toggle and regulator. All the controls for the table fill and empty will be close.
Attachment 229724

The table fill/drain has a trap to hopefully collect some of the debris before it enters the tank. This was created from a 2” long piece of 4” id tubing with 3” long piece of 2” black inserted in the center.
Attachment 229726

Really cool design, and awesome fab work! It makes me want to build another one!

Nice work! Thanks for posting. I'm may borrow some of these ideas.