I have a local shop that i introduced to rotary tube cutting awhile back, and he is considering adding the capability to his shop. He currently has a plasma cam table, and in order to add tube cutting, he has to get the tube table upgrade $2k and the software update $2k and not sure if there is any more needs. That may work for him, but some things that would be nice is better handling of long lengths of tube and possibly square tube.
I had talked to him about building him a tube cutting setup using Mach 3 and Sheetcam, but he is not a computer guy and is comfortable with the Plasma Cam software as he has learned it. I personally have not used it. I am curious if anybody has any experience in either making a modified setup using the Plasma Cam controller and motors and/or with the software as far as configuration capabilities, if anything is adjustable like Mach 3?
Ideally I would build him a standalone tube cutter for round with 3 axis (think square wouldn't be an option with plasma cam) using plasma cam motors and then configuring it in the software for tube, and maybe a separate install or easy way to switch to normal sheet operation using the same controller, just swapping cables??
Is this doable with the plasma cam software and controller?? Or is this a horrible idea? If i can convince him to let me use mach 3 and sheetcam and build it like i normally would, that would probably solve a bunch of headaches for me. Is it possible for him to use his plasma cam software for drawing and such and then save the file and import it into sheetcam for round and square tube if he so chooses???
Thanks,
Brian