[Mudslug]

I am in the middle of building my TM1 and I have some questions on accuracy and keeping tip bounce to an absolute minimum. I am following the advice of (mostly) everyone here a using a linear bearing on the gantry but I am wondering if I should go the extra mile and use two linear bearings and three or four bearing blocks for the table as well. Is this over kill? Is it worth it? Any thoughts? I just want nice clean super accurate cuts so the finished product is clean and ready to use with little clean up

Thanks

[Mike@Torchmate]

My best advice on the subject would be that it depends on your mounting situation and the tool you intend to use. How much leverage is going to be applied to it? On our other tables we oversize the slide and cassette to provide extra rigidity, because when a tool is mounted on it, especially with routing, and it is offset from the mounting surface a large amount, it can create a small amount of movement at the cassette which translates into a lot of movement at the tool.

Obviously running dual slides with one cassette a piece will improve a certain directions rigidity, and running two cassettes on the same slide will help it with another. For Plasma cutting the system doesn't need to be nearly as rigid as a routing table because there is no force being applied against the torch body.

[Mudslug]

Interesting, I was worried that the rollers on the table itself would transfer any inconsistencies in the steel and "shake" the cutter. That shake would ruin the cut quality...

Or am I being to finiky? It happens in this line of work...haah

[Mike@Torchmate]

Interesting, I was worried that the rollers on the table itself would transfer any inconsistencies in the steel and "shake" the cutter. That shake would ruin the cut quality...

Or am I being to finiky? It happens in this line of work...haah

You're worries are legitimate, and that is a concern to be had. This shaking is usually not just the cassette however, but rather the whole gantry as everything is solid mounted together.

I have seen many Torchmate 1's with the standard cassette cutting flawlessly for many years, and with a little bit of forethought to where and what you are cutting this doesn't tend to be an issue. The typical complaint in the cam follower type cassette is that there is a small amount of rocking that can occur if you grab it and try and wiggle it. Most plasma cutting customers don't seem to mind it since those are abnormal forces that one wouldn't experience everyday cutting. Also if you cut out another two brackets and add two more cam followers this motion is eliminated entirely.

-Mike