[monkeyevil]

I'm getting extremely tired of replaceing the mounting sleeves on our t60m (128643) every time the torch catches a lip on the plate, a half fallen part, etc...

At $80 a peice they are ridiculously priced. Any ideas for a breakaway system? Springs?

[Pandinus]

Jim Colt has a nice one he built... not sure where the pics are.

I am thinking along the same lines IIRC, but a slight mod.
3 magnets and 3 ball bearings, I was going to seat the magnets into a steel plate and mount the bearings into plastic or epoxy sockets, with the addition of a wired circuit that runs through the magnetic contacts which will be wired into the controller as some sort of a stop switch ... z limit maybe?? Not only will it break away but it will stop the feed and the torch as well.

I'm going to experiment when the time come tho, might be 3 ball bearing sockets in a triangle for alignment and only one heavier magnet in the center with a spring on it... Oh the fun of designing.

[WSS]

Here are some pics of the dual torch holder we built last year. So far so good. No broken parts. I will do a small modification to it next week, I will add some 3/16" detent balls to both sides. The magnets are magswitch 30mm mags and the clamps are from stafford manufacturing. They had the flat milled on them already with a hole for a 10-32 flat head screw. They were $15 each I think. They were called cap style due to the flat milled on the one side.. 1.375".

The T handle switches the magnet on and off for easy repositioning. We do some stuff that is 6" off the surface of the slats, so it comes in handy. Just slide it where you want it and let the THC do the rest. The mount that the mags are on is aluminum and the mounts that the torches are on is .25" X 2.5" cold rolled, clean and good magnetic hold. I did put a 50 grit surface with a belt on the torch mounts to make them stick better.

WSS

[WSS]

Found some info on the clamps:

http://www.staffordmfg.com/ProductDe...mUrl=Home.aspx

[monkeyevil]

Wow, great pictures and idea. Perfect for my application.

So the torch will pull off the magnets before it breaks the "sacrificial" sleeve?

We are using the z axis from K2 CNC, and it's a great piece. I have never been that happy with the torch mount that bolts to it though, your solution fixes it that as well.

[WSS]

K2 is not too far from us in Anaheim I believe. Their stuff looks good. That slide will work nice.

Here is a link to magswitch 30mm squares. I use their 300 amp ground on our plasma table. In our weld shop we use the 600 amp Grounds. We have each table grounded via the power source and have short (10' or so) leads with the magswitches on them all over the table.

http://www.magswitch.com.au/magsquar...gsquare-2.html

WSS

[Pandinus]

I LOVE that idea for the additional magnetic work piece "ground"

[jimcolt]

Here's mine....on a PlasmaCam machine with a Hypertherm Powermax45 torch:

Jim Colt

I'm getting extremely tired of replaceing the mounting sleeves on our t60m (128643) every time the torch catches a lip on the plate, a half fallen part, etc...

At $80 a peice they are ridiculously priced. Any ideas for a breakaway system? Springs?

[jgramlich]

On my table, the breakaway system uses air pressure to hold the torch head in place. It's not very high...I think 40psi. Air pressure pushes a plate that the torch head is connected to against a frame...this keeps the torch head in place while cutting, but if it collides with anything, the seal between the frame and the torch mount is broken, allowing the torch to move off its base without too much resistance.

An added benefit to this is you can put an air pressure sensor in the box so that if there's a pressure change the torch stops firing. This system might not be as cheap or as easy as magnets, but it is a simple design.

[jimcolt]

The air type breakaways (there are a few companies that produce them) are rather expensive (over $1000)....as they were originally designed for high production industrial robots. They are widely used on high end industrial plasma systems, and work very well. They also have a proximity switch that senses collision and instantly stops all machine motion. Hypertherm offers these collision sensors on their high end THC systems.

Jim Colt

[magma-joe]

Jim, the magnetic break away on your plasma cam looks like a Hypertherm unit? How much does it cost? Is it available to purchase from Hypertherm separate from the lifter station? In your picture it looks like one of the round magnets is missing, did you remove it to lower the breaking force required to dislodge the torch during a crash?

The collision sensor is the one last piece I need for my table. I have been looking for awhile and need to buy one soon.

Magma-joe

[jimcolt]

The breakaway (magnetic) on my machine is a Hypertherm device as used on the Sensor PHC torch height control system. It is not normally sold separate from the tHC....but I'll see if I can find the part number and price. I suspect it is rather expensive...but lets see!

Jim

[jimcolt]

The breakaway is only available as a complete sub assembly from Hypertherm....it is over $1300. I would suggest looking at the design and building your own.....the main body is aluminum with magents imbedded. It does have a couple of rounded dowels for registration.....and to help it pop off the magnets when a collision ocurrs......it also has a proximity switch that stops motion when it breaks away.

Jim

[magma-joe]

Jim,
Thanks for the info. $1300.00 is a bit more than I would like to spend. I have looked around and all the robotic crash sensors are very expensive. I have been considering building one.

Magma-joe

[jimcolt]

I agree. It would be relatively simple to design and build a simple magnetic breakaway. I really don't know why the Hypertherm one is so crazy expensive.....although it is a very low volume item for us and was not developed to be marketed as a standalone item for sale.

[landmark]

Found some info on the clamps:

http://www.staffordmfg.com/ProductDe...mUrl=Home.aspx

WSS

Where did you buy these collars. I'm have a hell of a time finding one of their distributers that carry them

[WSS]

WSS

Where did you buy these collars. I'm have a hell of a time finding one of their distributers that carry them

landmark,

I purchased them directly from stafford at the link listed. It took about two weeks to get them if I remember right.

WSS