[jeepsterjc]

Well, I've been reading for 2 months and asking questions here and elsewhere for almost as long. I've made my choices on a plasma water table system for home/small business jobs and this is what I've come up with.

I've purchased the Candcnc Dragoncut 620x4 package with THC, Shopdroid Ultimate Geared Reduction running on IVTAAS and G v-groove rails and the TNG Z, a Hypertherm PM45 with machine head and also a hand torch, Mach 3 and Sheetcam. Everything has arrived and the design continues on the water table setup.

I want the table to be able to drain. I'll likely use 2 x 1/8 stock for slats and I'll build the table to sit on adjustable feet but also with locking iron casters that can each take 1000 pounds. The casters will be mounted to flip down and lock into position to move the table around. I need to do this for 2 reasons- 1: the garage space is very small so it will often sit in a corner or must be moved to accomdate other jobs, and 2: I have an auto hoist that I intend to use to load heavy plate onto the plasma table with... Back the truck in, lift the plate up and off the truck, wheel the table underneath then lower the plate onto the table... The table will never be used sitting on casters. Period.

I bought enough stock to build a 5 x 10 table but will likely go with 4 x 8.

Who says go for 5x 10?? Who says go for 4 x 8?? I dunno yet...

I've read that the longer IVTAAG extrusions torque under rapid accel and decell and know that beefing the extrusion up may be needed. I hope to understand the flexing situation before the build is finished and have a remedy for it. I do have a boat-load of aluminium angle and a massive aluminium extrusion for a centre section of an aircraft wing spar to play with, too.

Here are some poser pics for the time being. I'm working on the table design right now and hope to have it finished in 3 weeks.


The bracketry and whatnot. The gears need to get drilled out to 3/8 and new set screws drilled into place.


The new Hyperterm and candcnc goodies.


28 feet of gear rack


The long awaited for IVTAAS and G in good shape after a cross-continent delivery.

So please everyone- don't hesitate to offer suggestions. I'm a real computer nerd and wanted to use Linux and EMC but the candcnc just had too great of a reputation. I couldn't ignore it. I've built, soldered and programmed a couple of awesome working 3D printers but have never seen a real plasma table before in my life. I just know I need one for a job I have to finish at home and want to do jobs for others around where I live as a part-time job at home.

Here's the project that I'm working on at home:
Jim's new hybrid Scrambler build- tons of questions coming! - JeepForum.com

Thanks, Jim

[WTF-J]

Nice setup.

We get to swap roles on this board. Unlike the WTF-J, you're well ahead of me on this one. I'm still lurking and studying, but have to agree with your CandCNC selection; it's at the top of my list.

Good luck with the build.
TomH

[ozon]

where did you find the gear rack and how much was it?

how is the Candcnc Dragoncut 620x4? Im looking to get that one too

[jeepsterjc]

where did you find the gear rack and how much was it?

how is the Candcnc Dragoncut 620x4? Im looking to get that one too

Hi there. I don't have the bill in front of me right now, but I bught the rack stock from Moore Gear. The shipping cost a lot... 1/3 to 1/2 of the total cost. I paid duty at the border when I drove it across. The bill, if I remember, was $532 US.

It was well packed and crated and arrived clean and in good shape.

I live only 7 miles north of the US/Canada border so these jobs are easy to make happen.

I should say also, that Moore was very accommodating and have, it seems, a steady series of orders coming from builders of diy cnc machines, and were not bothered to take my small one-time order.

[jeepsterjc]

ozon- One more thing. Candcnc didn't send any home/zero axis switches or wiring with the system. I was a little surprised as it was advertised saying " You get all of the electronics between the PC and the table."

I'll be doing a little more shopping, wiring, soldering and what-not but ....

A asked about this in an email and the response was "HOME/Limit switches are not included on any of our packages. Too many variables and there are dozens of ways to mount and and use them. Z home should be in your floating torch holder. Some builders do not even use XY homes and limits are more for decoration that function. Steppers will stall if you have hard stops on an axis and not damage anything"

So I'll just build the table then fret over how to manage the axis homes.

[jeepsterjc]

A few weeks have passed and it is soo easy to forget that while you create something new you may (almost always in my case) need also to renovate, apply feng shui skills to re-arranging storage spaces and work amost entirely during the worst weather you could dream of.

I started off by building a small steel work bench to replace an old burned up wooden bench. I figured that if I could get it built accurate to +- 1/32" without trying to hard that I'd be able to do the same for the 5 x 9 table.

Here is my effort of 3 weeks ago. It is piled up with junk from moving things around to make room for the plasma table but it is only a temporary pile:



Then I had to dump a huge 4x8' work bench and I replaced it with this sporting a 1/4 steel plate table top- more practice:




You can see the third table in the back ground and it is definitely the plasma table. Here's another shot of it parked in its future shop space.



I'm installing the 4 casters on it tomorrow (on the floor- cast iron and green) and they should roll nicely with an extra 1000 - 2000 pounds on it later on. The table also has adjustable feet using 1 inch grade 8 bolts for leveling. I'll also be attaching tags to the table and cement knee wall for anchoring the table solidly to the wall. I may leave the adjustable feet turned up and use the casters exclusively.

I have a 3 inch 53x108 inch water table formed using 1/16 mild steel awaiting cleaning and priming in the carport.

Gantry and rail work should be underway this weekend. Man, that Hypertherm PM45 is a fine machine. I'm glad I bought both the machine head torch and the hand torch. I've used it numerous times already. Cutting 16 bolt holes and severing several chunks of bar never even turns on the cooling fan. Crazy.

I hadn't anticipated the extra difficulty that I had building the 5x9 foot plasma table compared to the 34x64 inch or 30x48 inch little steel tables. They all use the same 2x2 x 3/16 square tubing. The differences are just the sheer size and weight of the pieces. I've come in for dinner a couple times in the last 2 week with pains that I haven't felt for some time!

[johndjmix]

Done with the table yet? Im back at my shop and made some progress! Should have the electronics next week and it should be going! Go check my build thread!

--John

[I Lean]

I've read that the longer IVTAAG extrusions torque under rapid accel and decell and know that beefing the extrusion up may be needed. I hope to understand the flexing situation before the build is finished and have a remedy for it. I do have a boat-load of aluminium angle and a massive aluminium extrusion for a centre section of an aircraft wing spar to play with, too.

One way to stiffen up the IVTAAG: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/cnc_pl...lasma_any.html

I'm actually happy with my machine now.

[jeepsterjc]

One way to stiffen up the IVTAAG: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/cnc_pl...lasma_any.html

I'm actually happy with my machine now.

Thanks for the link to how you stiffened the AAG. I've been thinking alone the same line. It really is a fine little noddle in cross section. The AAS- now there's another story. Husky beggars, those are.

Done with the table yet? Im back at my shop and made some progress! Should have the electronics next week and it should be going! Go check my build thread!

--John

Your table looks great. I've been unhappy with my 2x2x3/16 Y - axis steel tube and removed it. I replaced it with 2x4 x 1/4 and now the table "feels" more rigid moving it around and now the Y -axis and the entire table will always remain the way I built it- level, plumb and square.

[jeepsterjc]

Here's where I'm at, now.

Wheel in place, and new 2x4 x 1/4 Y-axis rails swapped in.

[jeepsterjc]

I've got a major build thread over at Jeepforum.com. Here's the link to my latest work with pics:

Jim's new hybrid Scrambler build- tons of questions coming! - Page 102 - JeepForum.com

[jeepsterjc]

I finally bit the bullet and cut my IVTAAG V-Groove gantry rail to length. This is what I have now. Tomorrow I need to tap the ends for 8 bolts and to bolt the rolling ends and motor mounts together.

[jeepsterjc]

I spent a bit of time drilling more pulleys and pressing little do-dads together for most of the day. I pressed one motor pulley on too far and had to slide it back an 1/8th. I'll know soon enough if I killed the stepper motor.:violin:

Here's the water table waiting cleaning and edge welding. I've made it removable for a few reasons- cleaning, replacement, versatility of the table structure to name a few.

Are these any good for using for plasma cutting??
CNC 3 Axis USB HandWheel Pulse Generator MPG pendant for Mach 3 engraving Router | eBay

Any how- the table- mostly hidden by the giant cart but not for much longer. For an idea of size... the cart is 48x96".



Here's the table with more goodies on it. Those v-groove rollers are sure smooth. I'm looking forward to awesome cuts.



My table measures 15 inches from the top of the 2x4 Y-rails to the table support crossmembers.

A closeup of a Y-motor with the belted gear reduction.



Here's 28 (I think) feet of gear rack. I bought extra... The rack was cheap. The shipping wasn't so cheap!



So I'm waiting for a couple of McMaster-Carr orders to arrive then I'll have the hardware to bolt down the y-rails. I think I'll hook up the CandCNC electronics in the mean time and do the software installs for Mach3 and Sheetcam and play around while waiting.

[johndjmix]

Jeeps ther. I got my heavy duty adjustable feet off eBay, they have a 3/4 stud so you know they are beefy! I then got some pneumatic casters and welded some 3/4 x 2" bolts to them. So I can lift the table, unscre the feet and screw on the wheels to move it. Might do a flip down wheel system like you are in the future.

But word to others, when you build a table it gets heavy! You better have some way of moving it around (casters/forklift/etc)! Epically during the build when you need to move it for various reasons!

--John

[jeepsterjc]

Jeeps ther. I got my heavy duty adjustable feet off eBay, they have a 3/4 stud so you know they are beefy! I then got some pneumatic casters and welded some 3/4 x 2" bolts to them. So I can lift the table, unscre the feet and screw on the wheels to move it. Might do a flip down wheel system like you are in the future.

But word to others, when you build a table it gets heavy! You better have some way of moving it around (casters/forklift/etc)! Epically during the build when you need to move it for various reasons!

--John

Hi John. I decided to set the wheels to a solid table mount. The table is soon to become so heavy that the moving energy of the ganrty will not move the table. Plus, the massive locking wheels may prove enough alone to keep the table in one place. I don't think I'll even need wall anchors to keep the table in place.

No kidding about the forklift. I had to have two friends come over to help roll the table over so I could weld the 4x4 tubes into place. Now that it is on wheels I'm moving it regularly- but my shop is small. Those casters will also be essential for loading steel. I'm glad I went with them.

[jeepsterjc]

I've made some progress on the plasma table. I've built another, yes another table! Woohoo! I'm the local steel table king now around here! <ego off>

I built it to house the electronics package, the computer and lcd and a drawer toolbox. The drawers aren't in place yet.



I've also got the 3 gear reduction units built and mounted and wired into the electronics.



The Mach3 system is up and I can contol the steppers from the computer so things are on track. I need to drill my Y-rails down and install 16 feet of cnc electronics cable chain. I bought it used off of ebay for a great price and it is the opening kind, so I'll also feed my machine torch through it as well. I'm using the cable chain full length rather than the more common 1/2 lengths to provide more protection to all of the wiring.



You can see a heavy T extrusion that I'm thinking of welding to the rear of the main gantry to stiffen it some people with heavy routers are having troubles with this extrusion flexing under rapid accel and decell. I don't know if I need to or if I should just wait and see how accurate the table can cut without making the main beam more rigid first.

My next job, before I do any more plasma table work, is to build a new welding cart that will hold and protect my Miller and the Hypertherm. I upped the size of my tank of Blueshield and the little HarborFreight cart is near collapsing right now and the Hypertherm isn't even in it yet.

[johndjmix]

Love how your table is almost exactly like mine -) I like those gear reductions....wonder how much of a difference it makes in accuracy?

--John

[xalky]

Love how your table is almost exactly like mine -) I like those gear reductions....wonder how much of a difference it makes in accuracy?

--John

It's not just accuracy, it's acceleration, which is really important when cutting corners and radii on thin sheet. It all depends on the weight of your gantry but if your gantry is on the heavy side gear reduction is a must for cutting sheet metal.

The table is moving along nicely. Looks Good!

[jeepsterjc]

It's not just accuracy, it's acceleration, which is really important when cutting corners and radii on thin sheet. It all depends on the weight of your gantry but if your gantry is on the heavy side gear reduction is a must for cutting sheet metal.

The table is moving along nicely. Looks Good!

Thanks. I'll be back at it in a day or so. I'm just finishing off a new plasma/mig/tank cart to house all of the expesive heavy stuff with good protection.



Then I have a big water table basin to finish weld the corners, clean (omg it is so rusty already) and treat with bed liner. After that I need to finish wire the candcnc box to the table. I'm thinking of using a PC atx 24 pin male and female plug to join my plasma control table to the plasma table. I've got a small garage and this method just seems to work better for me.

The atx power plug cable will usually stay connected so don't think it should give any issues. It's hard to find a good 24 pin male/female plug... or 2 12 or 16 pin plugs...

[johndjmix]

Nice bends in that plate.....you have a brake?

--John