[diyengineer]

I would see every ones opinion before i start a new thread. I have $10,000 saved up and i'd like to get into a cnc plasma machine.

Some things I'd "like" to use:
Hypertherm Powermax 85 Mechanized
Candcnc electronics, w/ THC

Welding: I honestly don't think i have the time and precision it takes to throw together a steel frame. (i wish i had more time, or i would consider it)

Bolting together: Probably more up my alley.

I have a few options in front of me:
1. Buy 1 machine.
2. Build 1 machine with all the bells and whistles (powermax 85, etc)
3. Build 2 machines that are lighter duty. (power max 45's instead of 85, etc)

I want to cut thin aluminum sheet metal, but would really like to have the ability to cut thicker steel. If i choose to do that, the table would have to be much stronger and cost a heck of a lot more compared to a 4'x8' sheet of .060" aluminum.

The reasoning behind the second machine was for increased production, and to have a 2nd machine incase one breaks down.

If i purchase a machine, i would be up and going quicker, but wouldn't want to sacrifice better components just for quicker turn key operation. I'm sure they wouldn't come with CandCnc electronics or a hypertherm plasma for 10K.

I'm sure some of you have been down this road, maybe you can throw out some suggestions.

Thank you,

Look forward to the discussion!

DiyE

[holbieone]

if i had the time i would build but if there was $10,000.00 of work waiting to be done I'd buy

[diyengineer]

No work waiting to be done, but i have a lot of prototyping to "get done". haha.

If i build, i will buy as many components as i can from places to speed up the process. Not trying to reinvent the wheel this time.

Today at work ill browse what's out there.

[diyengineer]

I just finished reading the Powermax 65/85 operator manual.

For the 45amp shielded finecut shielded consumables, in 1/32" aluminum they recommend best quality cut speed at 325 IPM, and a production setting of 450 IPM.


Holy smokes that's fast. So my machine is going to have to be capable of going really slow for the thick and really fast for the thin material. I rarely will do something thick, but i would like to have the capability.

[WSS]

The electronics you have listed in your "likes" list can do it. You might want to consider a servo system (PlazPak3 and up), they don't have as steep of a torque curve as steppers, so would work well at both ends of the speed spectrum. 325ipm sounds fast, I believe you can turn the finecuts down to 30 or 35 amps to lower the ipm some if you needed. Also, to save some $$, you could go with the 65 if 1/2' is tops you will do. The 65 still utilizes the HyTconnect (serial port version of the 65).

2cents

WSS

[vacextar]

I have almost exactly $10k in my table for everything needed. I built the table myself, purchased the gantry kit from Precision Plasma, the bladerunner kit from candcnc along with the Mach & sheetcam software packages. Bought a hypertherm 85 unit from Baker's. Used the plans for a 4x8 water table frame that Precision plasma provided with the gantry and upgraded to 3/16" thick wall 3" tube. Very happy with the set up and it works great!

Probably 75% of what I cut is .080" aluminum and it does a really great job. If you're planning on doing intricate shapes, you can forget the cut speeds in the HT manual. 325ipm sounds great, but it just is not going to work to do fine detail stuff. You can easily play with the cut speeds to get really high quality cuts at a much slower speed for detail work with next to zero dross......at a much more controlled 100ipm.

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[diyengineer]

Sounds good! Which gantry kit did you purchase through precision plasma? Any pictures? Also the table, did you weld that together, or use 80/20 aluminum.

I have almost exactly $10k in my table for everything needed. I built the table myself, purchased the gantry kit from Precision Plasma, the bladerunner kit from candcnc along with the Mach & sheetcam software packages. Bought a hypertherm 85 unit from Baker's. Used the plans for a 4x8 water table frame that Precision plasma provided with the gantry and upgraded to 3/16" thick wall 3" tube. Very happy with the set up and it works great!

Probably 75% of what I cut is .080" aluminum and it does a really great job. If you're planning on doing intricate shapes, you can forget the cut speeds in the HT manual. 325ipm sounds great, but it just is not going to work to do fine detail stuff. You can easily play with the cut speeds to get really high quality cuts at a much slower speed for detail work with next to zero dross......at a much more controlled 100ipm.

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[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UaK_fb7rUE&context=C36351e4ADOEgsToPDskIZhDjryBjXluHwshhCdUC-"]Precision Plasma LLC 3500ipm.MPG - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UaK_fb7rUE&context=C36351e4ADOEgsToPDskIZhDjryBjXluHwshhCdUC-"]Precision Plasma LLC 3500ipm.MPG - YouTube[/ame]

Those would be some really fast rapids!!

[diyengineer]

My other option is order an entire 4x8 kit from cncrouterparts, and modify to suit.

CNCRouterParts

[travmc1]

diyengineer
If you are interested I could build you a custom table with CabndCNC electronics and a Hypertherm 85 with all the bells and whistles for under your budget. You can check out my table it is called TravsmaCut.


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8BKYe_uy60]TravsmaCut CNC Plasma Table - YouTube[/ame]

[diyengineer]

[QUOTE=travmc1;1079260]diyengineer
If you are interested I could build you a custom table with CabndCNC electronics and a Hypertherm 85 with all the bells and whistles for under your budget. You can check out my table it is called TravsmaCut.

Thanks! I will keep that as an option as i decide this weekend.

[Al_The_Man]

Another option to obtain the basic table is to look for one of the older Oxy/Gas Trace cutting machines and convert it to CNC/Plasma.
The down side is the 'wasted' area taken by the old trace head, but this can be overcome and basics are all there.
Al.

[diyengineer]

http://www.trucutcnc.com/features.html

Anyone ever seen this company? Looks like a really solid frame, and well crafted. Seems like they have a downdraft option and even a water table option.

I could order it without electronics or plasma cutter so i could use Candcnc + hypertherm.

[I Lean]

Check out the Bulltear tables too...they already use CandCNC, and their newly-introduced 2012 model looks to be pretty dang nice.

Link: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bullte..._bulltear.html

[diyengineer]

Check out the Bulltear tables too...they already use CandCNC, and their newly-introduced 2012 model looks to be pretty dang nice.

Link: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bullte..._bulltear.html

Looks good, i guess there are a lot of options out there!

[Diverdude]

I went through the same debate as you did, as much as I wanted to build my first table I decided to buy one ready to go beacuse as fast as I talked about it people wanted parts made. So spend time making machine or money? also didn't want to go through the development stage of costly mistakes. I'll build my next one. I ended up going with a plasmaroute, I went there for training and it uses a lot of candcnc parts, also comes with a water table built in. I'm new to this also and I'm still a few weeks out from my table arriving.

[vacextar]

I used the standard 4x8 precision plasma gantry kit and welded up the table pretty much according to the drawings provided by PP.

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[osphoto]

If you think you would enjoy building a machine setting aside on your "prototype" work, then build.

I do a lot of prototype work and I certainly don't want to spend my time building a table, etc, etc. If you have the funds to purchase and get up and running do it.

I built my first table and although was fun, I don't care to build another one. I'd rather be making my prototypes. They can take enough hours of time with out having to build a table. There are better suited folks that are worth paying to build my table correct the first time. I just need to verify the work they did with a few accurate measurements and I'm off to building my parts.

As for buying two tables, not a bad idea but don't short yourself on quality and a big work surface.

The larger work surface means cheaper purchasing of your stock. I now if I purchase my aluminum sheets in large sheets, it cost me less. My suppliers often charges "cut" charges on aluminum. A 4x12 foot sheet of aluminum is two cuts and I just lay the 4x4ft sheet on my table and away I go.

My original machine was barely 8.5 x11 inches and I hated it!!! my 5x5 foot table has been awesome. Savings on buying my supplies in stock have made up for the cost & time in having to cut my stock down to size. And obviously I can make bigger items.

Grats with cash in hands!

[diyengineer]

Thank you everyone!

So far i have been really liking these guys!
TruCut CNC Photo Gallery

Naked 5'x10' table, no electronics, pc, software, or plasma $3800

ADD ONE: Down draft $1895, Pneumatic water table $2695 OR Water pan $1295.

Optional Plate Marker: $1295

ADD: Roughly $1700 shipping. (6'x11' crate).

I would obviously have to go with the pneumatic water setup and plate marker. which puts me right at $9500 shipped.

I would then supply the CandCNC electronics, Plasma, and PC with software. (A couple overtime weekends and i could supply the rest of the cash). I don't mind spending more as long as it gets me quality.

My only doubt:
The table does use "precision roller chain", and also doesn't state anything about the linear ways/bearings. Maybe someone can give me there 2 cents about these things. Seems to be well built and made in America. I want it to be easily rebuild-able once it wears out in the future, like all mechanical things.

Cutting area 60W x 120L
Weight Approx 1400 lbs
Motor Type Stepper
X and Y Resolution 0.0006
Z Resolution .000008
X Axis Drive (Dual Side Drive) Precision Roller Chain
Y Axis Drive Precision Roller Chain
Z Axis Drive Ultra-Smooth Lead Screw
Travel Speed (X and Y) 600 IPM
Travel Speed (Z) 50 IPM
Max Recommended Acceleration 50 I/S^2
Warranty (Mechanical Components) 1 Year
Warranty (Electrical Components) 90 Days

[Torchhead]

I went through the same debate as you did, as much as I wanted to build my first table I decided to buy one ready to go beacuse as fast as I talked about it people wanted parts made. So spend time making machine or money? also didn't want to go through the development stage of costly mistakes. I'll build my next one. I ended up going with a plasmaroute, I went there for training and it uses a lot of candcnc parts, also comes with a water table built in. I'm new to this also and I'm still a few weeks out from my table arriving.

PlasmaRoute no longer uses any CandCNC electronics in any of their tables. The THC is not ours and the controllers are wired from parts in their shop. There are other OEMs that do use our stuff (Bulltear included). I don't know when you bought your table and did the training but your electronics are different from what is currently shipping.

TOM caudle
www.Candcnc.com

[Torchhead]

Thank you everyone!

Cutting area 60W x 120L
Weight Approx 1400 lbs
Motor Type Stepper
X and Y Resolution 0.0006
Z Resolution .000008
X Axis Drive (Dual Side Drive) Precision Roller Chain
Y Axis Drive Precision Roller Chain
Z Axis Drive Ultra-Smooth Lead Screw
Travel Speed (X and Y) 600 IPM
Travel Speed (Z) 50 IPM
Max Recommended Acceleration 50 I/S^2
Warranty (Mechanical Components) 1 Year
Warranty (Electrical Components) 90 Days

The Z leadscrew needs to be courser and be able to hit 120 to 150 IPM (5 turn gets you to about 120) or your DTHC performance (speed it can move while cutting) will be pretty slow and limit how quickly it can climb up a rise in the metal. Typical Z velocity under THC control is about 30% of the max Z velocity setting.

i don't think there is anything wrong with roller chain if it is tensioned right.

Confirm the shaft sizes for the interface to the mechanics. On the BladeRunner Dragon-Cut,the 620 motors are 3/8 while the 300's are 1/4" both are 23 frame

TOM caudle
www.candcnc.com